You can't blame Berbatov for Ronaldo's departure and Rooney's arsing around.
I haven't blamed Berbatov for the departure of Ronaldo or Rooney's poor form anywhere; I have simply shown Tevez scored 14, Rooney got about 20 from memory and Ronaldo got 42 - compared to Berbatov's current 19, Chico's 11 and Rooney's 7 or 8; a lot less than the former strike force we had.
What? Yes, he would tell me that because we did. That doesn't change the fact that the title is generally decided by how you play against the weaker teams.
The title is decided by the team with the most points mate - you seem to be saying it doesn't matter Berbatov doesn't play and/or well against the bigger teams or even if we lose to them because Berbatov scores a few hat-tricks against smaller teams to win us the league. This is contributing, it certainly does not win it.
I couldn't really care less what he does at city or did at West Brom, when we're talking about Tévez, we must talk about him in the context of being a United player, a role that demands completely different qualities than the aforementioned clubs. For starters, playing a different position. And anyway, he may be just one goal behind Berbatov, but 5 of those were penalties by recollection, and he's played about 15% more as well.
What different qualities does it require, him running around with a rubber glove on his head? He's the same player at City he was with us, as he was at West Ham, as he was at Corinthians and at Boca and for Argentina and whilst I'm not a betting man, there's still two months left of the season - I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Tevez overtakes Berb in that time for Golden Boot even if his haul includes some penalties...perhaps Berbatov should step up and take some himself, experienced player he is?
Well you said 'big games'. It's clearly our biggest game, the one we want to win the most. Liverpool 07/08 was included as one of Tévez's big game goals in 07/08, when they finished comfortably off the pace in 4th. In terms of importance and not emotionally that was pretty much another game, as they had no chance of the title. If you're therefore not including non-direct title rivals, Tévez's big-game goal numbers drop even further, to two. And you've castigated Berba for just one, even though as I've already stated he hasn't played a lot of them and when he has he's generally played quite well, which it is actually possible to do without scoring y'know.
It's clearly our biggest DERBY, you mean - just as West Brom's biggest game is playing United or Arsenal but their most passionate game would be against Wolves. At the end of the day, us playing Liverpool is terms of ultimate significance was not title-deciding, but the Chelsea and Arsenal games in April/May will be. Of course each game contributes but these big games are the major factors and we need our best players to contribute; I categorise Berbatov as one of our major players due to his talent, so he best start doing, just as he should in Europe. As for the non-scoring, I've seen Berbatov play well without scoring but he just hasn't since Blackpool, if you think otherwise you're kidding and by this logic, that can be applied to Tevez despite only getting 14 league goals as his work-rate and assists were spot-on...
What? Ridiculous. Of course they wouldn't. Who in their right mind would say he'd been "always below par" if he left the summer after he was the PL top scorer, or close to it. FWIW I didn't share the general enthusiasm about Tévez, he had his plus points sure, but his positioning was average, he was caught in possession too much and he frequently scuffed excellent goalscoring opportunities. He wasn't the reason that team was so good, and SAF recognised it.
I bet they would because people tend to recognise the entire time he's been at the club - Veron had a good second season for United, again riddled with inconsistency which is why he is so comparable with Berbatov. I saw Veron play for United against Boca in a pre-season and he was mesmeric. Other times he just couldn't get in the game, similar to Berbatov or Forlan, another I would categorise as contentiously hit & miss.
As I've said, people were very quick to state Tevez and Veron were 'crap' for us as soon as they left whilst they sang their praises whilst still with us. I'm not saying Tevez was the best thing since sliced bread but he was certainly a very effective player and one who was more effective for us than Berbatov has been for us in his time here.
Generally I find that people are rehashing their previous rants about Berba, with a slight qualification for this season (albeit they still have ridiculous gripes), because they've hated being proved wrong.
Honestly? I LOVED being proven wrong about Berbatov in September, I was singing his praises and then he went dead for a couple of months, back to life and then has gone dead again - that's what I hate. I don't hate HIM personally, not at all, I've stated this several times, but I hate the fact he's so hit and miss and in the majority, miss.
Put it this way, United were keen on signing Benzema in 2009 before he went to Real. The partnership would have been Rooney-Benzema. We were also keen on Villa last summer; the partnership would have been Rooney-Villa.
Ferguson has clearly indicated, intentionally or not, Berbatov is not his first choice player and he was bought to be a first choice player as per Ferguson's statement and the fact he paid so much. I'm disappointed by it, I want him to succeed but the fact remains clear as day he is simply NOT, or otherwise mate, he'd be playing in the big games and in Europe.
I think you know this too but just don't wanna admit it; this is a reality, it doesn't make you any less a fan you know. Just accept it...
