Berbatov's Appreciation Thread

A lot of talk about running and work rate here, but Berbatov's actual problem had as much to do with what he offered on the ball as off it.

One of the worst players we've ever had for going hiding when the team needed him to step up. Hattrick against Liverpool (in one of their worst ever seasons of the modern era, let's not forget) aside, his record against the better teams in the league was:

vs. Man City: 1 league goal in 11 appearances - scored for Spurs, in 06/07 when City were shite anyway
vs. Chelsea: 2 goals in 11 appearances - one for us (the third in a 3-0 win)
vs. Arsenal: 3 goals in 12 appearances - none for us (1 for Spurs and 2 for Fulham)
vs. Spurs: 2 goals in 9 appearances - one for us (surprisingly enough, the fifth in that 5-2 win)
vs. Liverpool: 4 goals in 11 appearances - three for us, all, naturally, in that incredible performance

Loved himself some Blackburn and Wigan, though!

But yeah, since this is an appreciation topic, I will say I loved watching him at Spurs and at Fulham - where you could enjoy the silky touches and moments of magic without needing to rely on the guy to win too many football matches :wenger:
 
Is this thread about what happens if Martial were a player during that era?
 
The_Midfielder said:
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
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Nothing player who is a Bulgaria's greatest goalscorer, consistently score many goals in the PL, won a couple of PL.

A nothing player who scored a hattrick against Liverpool. Clutch performance that was.

Say it again, a nothing player. For you at least.
 
Berba was a player who played at his own pace. He created space and he should have been playing for a European top team. He is not going to change his way of playing in the PL. He fell out with Fergie when he missed a couple of chances against City. It actually was a brilliant game by Joe Hart.
 
tenpoless said:


Wearing United training kit :devil:
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Just saw this on YouTube and came in to post it.

I think I've warmed up even more to him after he retired (not sure if it's a backhanded compliment or not). Such an enjoyable personality and a true fan at heart (so many of Fergie's players end up being one!).
 
harms said:
Just saw this on YouTube and came in to post it.

I think I've warmed up even more to him after he retired (not sure if it's a backhanded compliment or not). Such an enjoyable personality and a true fan at heart (so many of Fergie's players end up being one!).
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I have always liked him. He's down to earth and never disrespected United or anyone related to United. Eventhough most people saw him as a lazy player, we won the league because of him when he was our top scorer. Can never forget that 5 goals against Blackburn too.
 
The_Midfielder said:
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
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:wenger: Incredible opinion this - a nothing player. He would be your best player by a distance if he was playing for you now.
 
tenpoless said:
I have always liked him. He's down to earth and never disrespected United or anyone related to United. Eventhough most people saw him as a lazy player, we won the league because of him when he was our top scorer. Can never forget that 5 goals against Blackburn too.
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It’s not that I disliked him — I always liked him too, but since his retirement my appreciation of him grew even more. Maybe it’s down to him establishing a strong online presence (or me discovering it a bit too late).
 
He’s exactly what we need upfront now. Prime Berba elevates us so much right now. Even prime Saha. We need those kind of strikers.
 
He was always unfairly contrasted at the time against the all-action styles of Rooney, Ronaldo, and Tevez. It was a constant criticism levelled against him but he was a very silky and skilful player who would excel in the modern game. Likeable guy, too. I feel he never really reached his full potential with us.
 
Zen86 said:
He was always unfairly contrasted at the time against the all-action styles of Rooney, Ronaldo, and Tevez. It was a constant criticism levelled against him but he was a very silky and skilful player who would excel in the modern game. Likeable guy, too. I feel he never really reached his full potential with us.
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The modern game is highly athletic with lots of running and pressing. Would Berbatov really excel?
 
VorZakone said:
The modern game is highly athletic with lots of running and pressing. Would Berbatov really excel?
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I think so. We were very fast and direct back then, whereas now the emphasis is always on control and possession. His technique would certainly do well in the modern game, whether he could press is another matter though I suppose.
 
Zen86 said:
I think so. We were very fast and direct back then, whereas now the emphasis is always on control and possession. His technique would certainly do well in the modern game, whether he could press is another matter though I suppose.
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He always knew how to close the space down. He even then he was encouraging the defense to get up the pitch to make it smaller.
I have seen the old Ajax of the 70s. Piet Keizer never ran unnecessarily. But he was great in closing down the angle.
Berbatov would have done better with a continental midfield. He rarely loses possession and he sees space where most others don't. Rio said he wanted to play tiki taka but United don't play that way.
 
Zen86 said:
He was always unfairly contrasted at the time against the all-action styles of Rooney, Ronaldo, and Tevez. It was a constant criticism levelled against him but he was a very silky and skilful player who would excel in the modern game. Likeable guy, too. I feel he never really reached his full potential with us.
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Surprisingly, even though Fergie chased after him for a long time, I never felt we had the right set-up around him to get the best out of Berbatov.

He's a static player that needs runners around him to pick out, Rooney was never that striker. And we played with a 4-2-3-1 where the two in midfield played fairly deep, so he didn't have those late runs from midfield either.

A more fluid team would have been better to get the best out of him.
 
Giant Midget said:
Surprisingly, even though Fergie chased after him for a long time, I never felt we had the right set-up around him to get the best out of Berbatov.

He's a static player that needs runners around him to pick out, Rooney was never that striker. And we played with a 4-2-3-1 where the two in midfield played fairly deep, so he didn't have those late runs from midfield either.

A more fluid team would have been better to get the best out of him.
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I thought he was more a chance signing. From what I remember, he seemed destined to go to City until we swooped in and took him at the 11th hour. He seemed like an odd fit otherwise.
 
Foxbatt said:
He always knew how to close the space down. He even then he was encouraging the defense to get up the pitch to make it smaller.
I have seen the old Ajax of the 70s. Piet Keizer never ran unnecessarily. But he was great in closing down the angle.
Berbatov would have done better with a continental midfield. He rarely loses possession and he sees space where most others don't. Rio said he wanted to play tiki taka but United don't play that way.
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Very true. I can't remember many United players who could control a ball like him. It would stick to his feet like glue. He had his moments but yeah the way we played wasn't really getting the best out of him.
 
Zen86 said:
I thought he was more a chance signing. From what I remember, he seemed destined to go to City until we swooped in and took him at the 11th hour. He seemed like an odd fit otherwise.
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Absolutely not. City only went in for him on deadline day after an entire pre season of him training alone because he was pushing to move here. He was target number 1 that summer.
 
I have no problem with his playstyle but he really didn't step up in big games often, he played 4 years for us and only scored once against Chelsea (third goal in a 3-0 win), once against Spurs (final goal in 5-2 win) and THOSE 3 goals against Liverpool in the league, he failed to score against Arsenal or City. 5 goals in like 30 games is quite a shabby return.

He also failed to score a single Champions League goal for us for like 20 games in a row.
 
JeffFromHK said:
I have no problem with his playstyle but he really didn't step up in big games often, he played 4 years for us and only scored once against Chelsea (third goal in a 3-0 win), once against Spurs (final goal in 5-2 win) and THOSE 3 goals against Liverpool in the league, he failed to score against Arsenal or City. 5 goals in like 30 games is quite a shabby return.

He also failed to score a single Champions League goal for us for like 20 games in a row.
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But he created so much. That defeat against Bayern he created a clear chance for Carrick and he missed with only the keeper to beat.
He would be the ideal player in a diamond as the 2nd striker.
 
Giant Midget said:
Don't think so, we were interested when he left Leverkusen for Spurs, and again in 2007 before signing Tevez.

Robben off, United go for Berbatov | Daily Mail Online
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phelans shorts said:
Absolutely not. City only went in for him on deadline day after an entire pre season of him training alone because he was pushing to move here. He was target number 1 that summer.
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Makes sense. I just remember it being a deadline day thing with City thinking they had him.
 
I used to get frustrated with Fletcher because Berba would be screaming to get the ball and Fletcher won't pass. Berbatov don't care if he has a player on him so good is his first touch.
 
My first exposure to the Caf came from the summer long transfer saga involving him. All those Bulgarian press memes in the transfer thread, the rollercoaster of the day we actually signed him, all the creative gifs made in that thread.

I was really excited when we signed him, because he was my favourite non-United player to watch at the time. I have deadline day memories of Sky Sports cameras camped outside OT and catching footage of Gill, Ferguson and Berbatov walking through the OT corridors :)
 
One of my favourite moments live at OT was that ridiculing skill he did to set up Ronaldo against West Ham.

All in all didn't fit in the team he signed for, but scored a few of my favourite United goals, and though was treated harshly in his last two seasons. Was on fire for half a season then just seemed to be dropped for no reason and season after barely played despite looking pretty good on the few occasions he did. Obviously hard to argue with SAF when it comes to the bigger picture but I remember thinking it was weird and quite unfair at the time.
 
I never quite took to him really although he had his moments. I remember a journalist saying when he signed that we'd signed a player who was better than Cantona. Was he feck!
 
meamth said:
The only Man Utd player to score a hattrick against Liverpool. That is some accolade to be remembered considering how many great players we had.

Berbatov still is my favourite player ever.
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:eek:

How is that real!
 
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