who cares about how many games he played? Phil Neville won more then him and played more then he did. That doesn't make him a fantastic player but just a player who was lucky enough to be at the right club the right moment. With the difference that Phil costed us nothing and he actually bothered doing things like running and tackling (the latter he did far more then he should have done)
Berbatov's Appreciation Thread
- Thread starter phonics_tid
- Start date
who cares about how many games he played? Phil Neville won more then him and played more then he did. That doesn't make him a fantastic player but just a player who was lucky enough to be at the right club the right moment. With the difference that Phil costed us nothing and he actually bothered doing things like running and tackling (the latter he did far more then he should have done)
He was a good player for United. Just came in at the wrong time. Gave his all for the club, didn't kick up a fuss against fergie when he was dropped. He is a bit like forlan when he was at United. Great player, just at the wrong time at the club. We are allowed to appreciate him. Ozil comparisons or not.
Qualify your statement that he is a flop. So far all you have said is he's not a fantastic player.
I find him as frustrating as Pogba TBH.. Both had all the talent in the world to become legends at the club and yet they lacked that attitude to make it happen. Which is why I am genuinely curious why people appreciate him. I actually met Pogba and spoke with him for nearly an hour (thus I do have bias towards him) but even I fail to see how one can write an appreciation thread about him. Same thing about Berba.
That doesn't mean that I hate the person (which I don't). Ironically the two United players that I don't like the most (not hate) are Owen and Blanc
Last edited:
In my opinion a flop is a player who is one (or more)
a- doesn't live his price tag
b- the team is worse with him then without him.
Berbatov adds another layer of frustration because he clearly had the talent to be a far better player then he showed with us but lacked the attitude to do so. I mean I am not Phil Nev or Nicky Butt no 1 fan but even I acknowledge that they gave their 100% for us and had reached the limit of their talent with us. I like to call that extra layer of frustration as the Pogba effect.
Ferguson wrote about it in his biography:
SAF said:
Yeah Aguero should never have ended up a City legend but he moved right at the peak of "No value in the market" era
Tevez was always a head case. Some people keep clinging onto that one season but the guy was unstable and not someone you'd build the team around.
His first touch was brilliant, technically one of the most gifted. Unfortunately he didn’t suit our style of play. That hat trick against Liverpool and the 5 against Blackburn are good memories. The turn and flick for C.Ronaldo too.
Well in all honesty I am not a Berbatov fan boy Im just fair enough to accept he had a great season for us. Something Pogba, Veron or Heinze never did. And he did produce a ton if magic something this thread should be all about
a phrase no one at the time would use to describe him on the pitch
genius ability but never the intensity of a great player and I think he struggled with big club pressure. But over time we'll only remember his great moments and he had some amazing ones for sure
That was Valencia. Berbatov set up the chance.
Last edited:
Absurd thing to say about Heinze. Was fantastic for us til injuries did him in and he lost his place to Evra. He even won Matt Busby player of the year in 2004/2005, something Berbatov never did. So how in the world can you say Gabby Heinze never had a great season for us. Did you ever even watch him?
Fair enough. However may I remind you that Pogba had 1 great season for us as well.
I adored Berbatov, interesting to hear some folks say he'd have been perfect born ten years earlier or so, I think that's a good take too.
That said, I don't think I've enjoyed watching a player more. I never particularly agreed with the idea he lacked effort, I remember watching him in a few games seeing him floating around the CDM area, then as was so often the case, we'd break and begin a counter, and by the time the camera had planned across he was somehow in the forward line, and if he wasn't, he was on the ball about to place it with absurd accuracy, so many times I wondered if he really meant to do it the way he did, or if he was just born in the Bulgarian equivalent of a field of four leaved clovers.
Classy, stylish, with the appearance of effortlessness, and he's a player I personally miss for sure.
That said, I don't think I've enjoyed watching a player more. I never particularly agreed with the idea he lacked effort, I remember watching him in a few games seeing him floating around the CDM area, then as was so often the case, we'd break and begin a counter, and by the time the camera had planned across he was somehow in the forward line, and if he wasn't, he was on the ball about to place it with absurd accuracy, so many times I wondered if he really meant to do it the way he did, or if he was just born in the Bulgarian equivalent of a field of four leaved clovers.
Classy, stylish, with the appearance of effortlessness, and he's a player I personally miss for sure.
Ill give him the city game (3 2 comeback) and thats about it
Always a bit overrated IMO aldo he did well for us. No Irwin or Evra though
From about a month ago. He's still got it
Interesting. Thanks for posting
Are you simple? Tevez didn’t want to be here and rejected the deal offered.
Heinze won the Matt Busby award on a side that featured a prime Nistleroy, Scholes, Giggs as well as Ronaldo and Rooney. Yeah, he did "well" for us. Massively underrated if anything, due to his flirting with Liverpool. An award mind you, never won by neither Evra nor Irwin.
Well I guess they both should be satisfied with the CLs they won
Heinze was always more of a cult hero all passion blood and guts type player. Fans always get drawn to players like that who fly into a tackle and wear their heart on their sleeve.
He was never anywhere near the likes of Irwin or Evra as a full back though
He's a flop in your opinion. A lot of United fans don't see Berbatov as a flop.
Why are there so many comments from so many different posters? This is Berbatov's appreciation thread, not yours!
a backheel to start the clip, nothing could be more fitting
i love him so much. random touches of his are more memorable than most games.
Which is curious indeed. Why would be the case. I mean a striker who scored just 5 goals in 25 CL matches is a flop especially since they came against Benfica(1), Celtic (2) and Aalborg (2)
Tevez wanted to join us up until SAF made it obvious that he preferred to sign Berbatov rather then make his deal permanent. Its a shame because Tevez proved himself to be a way better striker then Berbatov was.
He did nothing for the team but was ruthless for goals.
This is anyway a de-facto Berba hate thread, but this is the strangest angle to go with...He was an extremely unselfish striker, too much in fact.
actually he wasn't. The guy scored like 5 goals in the CL and just 56 goals in 159 games. He only scored 20 goals+ in one season with us and during the 11-12 season he just scored 9
For the record I don't hate Berbatov. I don't think that he was anywhere as good as some fans makes him to be but he was always respectful towards our club. Making it with United at the time was tough very tough. We were spoiled with some of the finest forwards in the world and the bar was set sky high. There's no shame in failing to succeed and there were many players who suffered a similar or even worse fate (Blanc, Veron, Barthez etc)
To add some more context it would seem Fergie was a sucker for flashy and technical number 9s so it's easy to see why we gone after him, but unfortunately he didn't have the consistent to justify the freedoms say a Cantona would have been afforded, as it's been already said time and time again we would have been better off with a workhorse like tevez than such a silky smooth but admittedly lazy player like berbatov.
he was also often played behind the striker, especially at the beginning.
And those 20 goals came in about five or six games.
It's a strange one how I feel about Berbatov. When he was at Spurs I always felt we should go for him and he would fit in well at United.
Then he came and while he showed he was talented enough his work rate was pathetic.
It just grates that there were players at United even more talented than him but they knew it was about the team and running so adapted their game and did what was needed.
He just couldn't do that and it was no surprise Fergie lost the faith in him.
He could have been a true legend who would be remembered as such for years but instead he's a cult player adored by few mostly forgotten by most
0:52
How the did the linesman miss that 5th goal being offside?
A nothing player... Could do some tricks.. Never clutch..missed goals when we needed the most.. Lukaku had better killer instincts than him.. Yeah but he had better skills.. Tevez was the one we should have kept
One of the most naturally gifted footballers ever to play in the Prem, bordering genius at times. Shame he never really reached the heights he should have done.
I loved watching Berba play but I think Spurs and even Fulham got more out of him than what we did.
The treble he scored against Liverpool was what dreams are made of and the five for was special.
The treble he scored against Liverpool was what dreams are made of and the five for was special.
Well that's me told. But I'm still fuming over the miss