Dimitar Berbatov has proved his finishing excellence this
season, with the first of three hat-tricks coming against
Liverpool. Photograph: Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar
There can be no doubting the fact that Dimitar Berbatov has
silenced his critics this season. A total of 19 goals from 19
Premier League starts is phenomenal by any standards and not only
does the Bulgarian lead the scoring table but he now leads the
Manchester United attack. Berbatov has
scored around 40% of United's goals in the current league campaign
and, with Wayne Rooney famously becalmed and Javier Hernández
mostly being introduced from the bench, the previously maligned
striker is largely responsible for his side's position unbeaten at
the top of the table.
Only the hyper-critical would point out that eight of Berbatov's
goals have come from only two games, against supine Old Trafford
opponents in the form of Blackburn and Birmingham. The striker's
first hat-trick of the season came against Liverpool, his finishing
excellence effectively proving the difference between the sides,
and he was not far from a fourth hat-trick at Blackpool the other
night when his two goals were instrumental in turning a losing
position into a winning one in the last quarter of the game.
Berbatov managed only 26 goals in his first two seasons at
United, roughly half the strike rate he had been achieving at
Tottenham, and questions over his effectiveness were largely
justified. He may never have been the complete flop that some
United fans claimed – his touch rarely let him down and some of the
goals he did score or help create were sublime – but £30m strikers
have to be measured by their strike rate and even Sir Alex Ferguson
seemed to harbour doubts when the big games came around. Berbatov
made only the bench for the 2009 Champions League final in Rome and
was not selected to start in either of the games against Bayern
Munich last season that marked the end of United's European
journey.
In both those seasons Berbatov could fairly have been described
as a luxury player at Old Trafford. Around half the supporters
enjoyed what he could do, and the other half became increasingly
irritated by what he did not do, but for the most part it hardly
mattered because United had other players capable of scoring goals
and winning matches. Cristiano Ronaldo pitched in with 26 in his
final season in 2008-09, even if he never hit the heights of his
annus mirabilis the previous year, and Rooney was in
blistering form 12 months ago, winning games virtually on his own
and ending up with 34 goals. Now Rooney appears to have turned into
the old Berbatov, winning praise for his attitude and his all-round
play but gradually being shunted towards the periphery because of
his lack of goals, while the new Berbatov scores for fun and has
even added a bit of tackling back to his repertoire to confound
those who complained about his work-rate.
United will not worry too much about where the goals come from
as long as they keep coming, though Ferguson originally envisaged a
partnership between Rooney and Berbatov as the spearhead of his
attack, and in three seasons that has never happened. In terms of
the goalscoring burden it has been either all Rooney or all
Berbatov. Again that might not seem the worst position in the world
to be in, yet United's over-reliance on one striker cost them at
the business end of last season. They missed Rooney most notably in
stumbling uncharacteristically during the title run-in, though it
was in the Champions League quarter-final that he picked up the
injury that seems to have altered the course of his career.
This season, with Hernández and Nani chipping in behind Berbatov
and the possibility of a sudden Rooney recovery never to be
discounted, United appear to have enough firepower to hold on to
their lead and reclaim the title. When the Champions League
recommences in a few weeks, however, there is a decision to make.
Though Berbatov's finishing for Bayer Leverkusen was what alerted
Ferguson to his talent in the first place, the Champions League has
not been as rewarding of late. Berbatov has not scored in Europe
since a couple against Aalborg in September, 2008, partly because
Ferguson has not made him a regular selection.
His domestic form demands that now, whereas Rooney's form, as
opposed to potential or track record, makes him the likelier
candidate to be left out. Some United fans already believe
Hernández has done enough to deserve more regular starts, knowing
full well that it would be perverse of Ferguson to drop anyone but
Rooney to accommodate him. Even if Ferguson feels the Mexican is
not quite ready for the Champions League – though it has
to be said he enjoyed an impressive World Cup – United have tended
to employ only one recognised striker in their European
line-ups.
Rooney was the man this time last year. Leading the attack more
or less on his own, he pulverised Milan in the last 16 with four
goals over the two legs. Now that he is struggling to match that
total for the season it is far from automatic he will be asked to
do the same in Marseille. Contrary to popular opinion United are
not playing badly this season, they are simply playing differently.
They can no longer rely on Rooney for fireworks and, though
Berbatov has come to the rescue, the Bulgarian has done so in his
own elegant style and the explosiveness of previous seasons is
missing. Whether this is a lasting change, or a temporary
adjustment, will shortly be discovered in Europe.