Dimitar Berbatov's display against Everton removed all doubt
about his appetite and mental toughness. Photograph: Michael
Regan/Getty Images
There are still times in games when Dimitar Berbatov looks as if
he might stop to spark up a fag and phone an old mate back in
Sofia. But more often these days he appears intent on filling the
creativity gap left by Eric Cantona.
At Goodison Park at the weekend an Everton defender was allowed
to receive a pass from the goalkeeper in a space Berbatov might
have raced across to occupy had he been Wayne Rooney's twin. Paul
Scholes observed this relapse into indolence and waved to indicate
a little defensive scampering was required. Berbatov dipped his
shoulders, as if about to sprint, but then thought better of it,
using the time instead to plan his next flourish.
Manchester United fans need no
pleading to sing about Cantona: their ideal exotic compound of
skill, muscularity and defiance. At Everton those supporters broke
into their sacred "Ooh-aah Cantona" anthem just as Berbatov was
relaxing into his best repertoire of chips, flicks, feints and
link-ups.
A floaty, slow-footed but quick-brained master of space,
Berbatov has put pressure on Sir Alex Ferguson to reverse last
season's Champions League policy of starting
with his £30m Bulgarian striker on the bench. As Rangers roll into
Old Trafford tonight there seems only the slimmest chance that
Berbatov will return to the subservient role.
In Rooney's absence on Saturday the carpe diem spirit took him
as Ferguson asked him to capitalise on a promising start to his
campaign by leading the attack. His encouraging response removed
the doubts about his appetite and mental toughness in
adversity.
Only a reversion to 4-5-1 with Rooney the lone centre-forward
could consign Bulgaria's six-times footballer of the year to the
seat he occupied for all bar one of United's Champions League ties
in 2009-10. In that season his strike rate dropped from 14 in his
debut year to 12 and speculation spread that United would give up
on him in this summer's transfer window.
"I am going nowhere. I have arrived where I want to be. I have
arrived at the summit," Berbatov announced as the crows on the wire
predicted his departure.
It sounded like bravado as Ferguson signed Javier Hernández and
Bébé and spoke again on the pre-season tour of America of the
long-term potential of Federico Macheda and Danny Welbeck.
A cynic might speculate that Berbatov's rebirth is related to
his knowledge that the four-year deal he signed on 1 September 2008
expires at the end of next season. He would hardly be the first
top-level player to see his contract slide into the two-year danger
zone and then shake a leg. He will be 30 in January. His
international retirement in May was framed as a surrender to
weariness with Bulgarian football politics but was probably more an
attempt to revive his club career.
The symbolic declaration of intent was his spectacular chip in
the Community Shield against Chelsea. "He's an important player for
us. It's an old habit when players who come to United and they're
not scoring three goals a game or making 50 passes they get
slaughtered," Ferguson said. "He has great talent. You can't
dispute the man's ability – he's a genius at times. Maybe it's
going to be his season now."
In the weekend's 3-3 draw with Everton it was noticeable that
United's midfielders were more confident in believing Berbatov
would keep his feet in motion and dash on to the end of ambitious
passes rather than wait around like an elegant refugee from the
1970s.
His goal, United's second, came from a classic ball over the top
of a centre-half, from Scholes, which asked Berbatov to hunt then
sprint before he could set up an artistic finish with the out-step
of his right boot.
Scholes and Ryan Giggs are marking fewer allowances for him now.
Berbatov has responded by signing up to the harder half of a United
striker's job specification. Not unreservedly, but enough to stop
him drifting like a passenger. With 32 goals in all in European
competition and two Champions League final appearances already
there is not a doubt about his talent.
Cantona was on a permanent war footing: cocked and combative.
Berbatov, "the man with the Dracula haircut", according to one
Community Shield report, is a lone wolf too, but more of the
suffering kind. No longer, though, are the cognoscenti dismissing
him as the right player in the wrong team. The rise in his
productivity this autumn could yet prompt Rooney's return to the
more withdrawn position Fabio Capello has allocated him with
England.
Industry is non-negotiable for all United players but we all
know Berbatov was not bought to charge around. The qualities that
caused him to cost an initial £23.4m were those on show at Everton:
the ones that are impossible for opponents to predict.