Berbatov | Fulham player

[Devil may care]

who started this rumor about him leaving the stadium? Is this even true? The media loves to make shit like this up

The Sky sports touchline reporter was the one that said Berbatov was very upset at not starting and had not came out to sit behind the dugout with the other players who didn't make the bench, he then said he had heard Berbatov had left the stadium, Fergie later said Berbatov had not left the stadium but had remained in the dressing room.

 

[CentreForward]

The Sky sports touchline reporter was the one that said Berbatov was very upset at not starting and had not came out to sit behind the dugout with the other players who didn't make the bench, he then said he had heard Berbatov had left the stadium, Fergie later said Berbatov had not left the stadium but had remained in the dressing room.

Ok. Thanks. As I said earlier. Berbatov offers qualities Fergie did not need for this particular game. It's harsh on him, given his 20+ goals this season, but not a big deal. Owen is a proven poacher, plus the plan was never either one to be used. Nani was a sure sub, scholes and or Anderson, a defender maybe. Berbatov should be bigger than that. I'm sure it wasn't easy for SAF either.
we are all making too big a deal out of it.
I blame Sky

 

[Devil may care]

Ok. Thanks. As I said earlier. Berbatov offers qualities Fergie did not need for this particular game. It's harsh on him, given his 20+ goals this season, but not a big deal. Owen is a proven poacher, plus the plan was never either one to be used. Nani was a sure sub, scholes and or Anderson, a defender maybe. Berbatov should be bigger than that. I'm sure it wasn't easy for SAF either.
we are all making too big a deal out of it.
I blame Sky

Maybe, I don't know. All of the other lads that didn't make the bench apparently came out to sit with the squad and support the team, when Fergie was asked in the post match press conference if Berbatov had played his last gamefor United he didn't answer and looked resigned to the fact according to the poster here who saw it.

 

[CentreForward]

Maybe, I don't know. All of the other lads that didn't make the bench apparently came out to sit with the squad and support the team, when Fergie was asked in the post match press conference if Berbatov had played his last gamefor United he didn't answer and looked resigned to the fact according to the poster here who saw it.

Just watched the interview myself. Sir Alex said, we were looking to have as many options available in midfield and between M. Owen and Dimitar, if you are looking for someone who can score a last minute goal, it would Owen. Picking the team was easy, picking the subs was not

Simple. People read too much into it. Sir Alex has always been almost brutal in that regard, but always done whats best for the team. No sentiments

If Berba is to leave the club, that won't be based on the tonights game and whether or nor Berba was in the stands. If he sees no use of him, he'll let him go. The question is, where's the replacement going to come from. Does it make sense to let him go.

On a different note, it is hard to see the great man down. Hope we get our partial revenge in the summer. I'll be there and cheering

 

[Brwned]

To be fair, do you think we'd ever see Fergie saying he fecked off? Thats not really his style of management. He's always protected his players no matter how stupid or ignorant they have been.

I think if Berba is looking for a pay rise, we will part ways. It's not hard to find a striker that can score goals against cannon fodder and the odd one against a top premier league team, but you can't pay somebody 100k a week + to sit on the bench in big games or not get picked at all.

It's pretty hard (and expensive) to get a striker that can score 20 goals against 'cannon fodder'.

 

[Treble]

It won't be easy to replace him with a player who is as good at scoring and creating goals and who is content to be third choice.

I very much doubt that the likes of Benzema would come to United to play second fiddle to Chicharito.

Welbeck is a good prospect. Imagine, however, that Rooney gets injured. We'd be left with Welbeck, Chicharito, Diouf: hardly a strike force that would allow us to compete for the league with Chelsea, City, and Arsenal.

 

[Devil_forever]

It won't be easy to replace him with a player who is as good at scoring and creating goals and who is content to be third choice.

I very much doubt that the likes of Benzema would come to United to play second fiddle to Chicharito.

Welbeck is a good prospect. Imagine, however, that Rooney gets injured. We'd be left with Welbeck, Chicharito, Diouf: hardly a strike force that would allow us to compete for the league with Chelsea, City, and Arsenal.

Well, that's just not true.

Arsenal: RvP (sick note), Chamakh (tired after a half a season and hardly prolific) and Bendtner (or replacement)

Chelsea: Drogba (who looks to be off), Torres (no guarantee he'll refind his form) and Anelka (more miss than hit nowadays)

United: Rooney, Hernandez, Welbeck, Young (can also play there if he's signed) and Owen/Diouf/Macheda

I think we could more than compete.

 

[Randall Flagg]

what are you on about? Are you fcking drunk?

well yes I was as a matter of fact.

 

[Jacob]

Berbatov hasn't had that good of a season some make out, he scored half of those goals in three games ffs, against bottom table teams, at home.

 

[Treble]

Well, that's just not true.

Arsenal: RvP (sick note), Chamakh (tired after a half a season and hardly prolific) and Bendtner (or replacement)

Chelsea: Drogba (who looks to be off), Torres (no guarantee he'll refind his form) and Anelka (more miss than hit nowadays)

United: Rooney, Hernandez, Welbeck, Young (can also play there if he's signed) and Owen/Diouf/Macheda

I think we could more than compete.

I was talking about the scenario that Rooney gets injured. You are confident that in Chicharito, Welbeck, Owen, Diouf we would have a strike force capable of competing with City and Chelsea? That's good but I wouldn't be that optimistic. Both City and Chelsea are going to sign new forwards in the summer, the likes of Aguero, Zlatan, Pato, Lukaku etc.

 

[Treble]

Berbatov hasn't had that good of a season some make out, he scored half of those goals in three games ffs, against bottom table teams, at home.

most winners in the league, 20 league goals from 24 starts, no one expected such a return before the season

and; BTW, Liverpool didn't finish in the bottom half of the league

 

[Devil_forever]

I was talking about the scenario that Rooney gets injured. You are confident that in Chicharito, Welbeck, Owen, Diouf we would have a strike force capable of competing with City and Chelsea? That's good but I wouldn't be that optimistic. Both City and Chelsea are going to sign new forwards in the summer, the likes of Aguero, Zlatan, Pato, Lukaku etc.

Only Lukaku is likely to move to either of those clubs this summer and it'll be Chelsea. For all his potential, he's unproven in the Prem and if Drogba were to leave, they'd be in big trouble.

I don't know why you're going off the scenario that Rooney will get injured. If you then apply that scenario to each of the other teams, with their best attacker getting injured, they'd have far more trouble dealing with it than we would. In terms of strength in depth, its not even a contest.

 

[Jacob]

most winners in the league, 20 league goals from 24 starts, no one expected such a return before the season

and; BTW, Liverpool didn't finish in the bottom half of the league

You got my point, I don't think Berbatov really suits the United way of playing football. I still believe the signing was weird, he was coming of age and the fee was a bit large. The idea was good, to have somebody to set Rooney up, but we all know Rooney should be the one setting things up, that's why Hernandez-Rooney will always be a better partnership than Rooney-Berbatov. I think that is why Hernandez was brought in, one to play off the last defender's shoulder, in order to give Rooney roaming space and time to set the ball up.

When Berbatov starts scoring away against the likes of Everton, Arsenal etc. I'll give him more credit. Until then, I withstand my opinion, Berbatov doesn't really suit our needs.

 

[mariachi-19]

It's pretty hard (and expensive) to get a striker that can score 20 goals against 'cannon fodder'.

No, it is when you're silly enough to buy a player that doesn't suite your system. Chelsea are learning this right now. You don't need however to score 20 goals against lesser opposition from your 3rd choice striker. Berbatov could have score 14 goals this season and been just as effective. If we get 20 goals from our reserve strikers combined in a single season i'd be well chuffed. But if one of those strikers is earning 100k a week then something is very wrong.

 

[Treble]

Only Lukaku is likely to move to either of those clubs this summer and it'll be Chelsea. For all his potential, he's unproven in the Prem and if Drogba were to leave, they'd be in big trouble.

I don't know why you're going off the scenario that Rooney will get injured. If you then apply that scenario to each of the other teams, with their best attacker getting injured, they'd have far more trouble dealing with it than we would. In terms of strength in depth, its not even a contest.

The point is that they would have more depth than us, unless the likes of Welbeck and Diouf progress in their development faster than expected. And there is no guarantee that Chicha would have such a good season again. Next season, the expectations toward him will be completely different, he will feel the psychological burden to have to peform consistently well, which won't be easy. Sometimes, the second season is more difficult than the first one.

But Fergie is great at signing quality strikers. Should Berbatov leave, he will find a solution. IMO, it won't be Welbeck/Diouf/Young but someone more experienced.

 

[SATA]

What was he doing alone in the dressing room? Sulking and pouting in there? Why not be out there watching and supporting the team like everyone else?

 

[Jacob]

Should Berbatov leave, it would come at huge loss. Nobody would pay anything more than £15M imo.

 

[Sultan]

It won't be easy to replace him with a player who is as good at scoring and creating goals and who is content to be third choice.

Drogba would be a good stop gap for a couple of seasons.

 

[Sultan]

Should Berbatov leave, it would come at huge loss. Nobody would pay anything more than £15M imo.

Would be a bigger loss if he was allowed to run his contract down.

 

[Neutral]

We'll see the best of Berba next season, when we get in that much needed central midfielder.

 

[Devil_forever]

The point is that they would have more depth than us, unless the likes of Welbeck and Diouf progress in their development faster than expected. And there is no guarantee that Chicha would have such a good season again. Next season, the expectations toward him will be completely different, he will feel the psychological burden to have to peform consistently well, which won't be easy. Sometimes, the second season is more difficult than the first one.

But Fergie is great at signing quality strikers. Should Berbatov leave, he will find a solution. IMO, it won't be Welbeck/Diouf/Young but someone more experienced.

My point in the initial post was that we have more depth than them, therefore we'd deal with an injury to our star player better than they would. There are also some serious question marks hanging over our rivals' strike options, e.g. RvP injury record, Chamakh inability to play a whole season, Torres not looking anything like a premier league quality striker.

I feel that you're vastly underestimating our strike options/overestimating our rivals'. SAF has said that Welbeck will feature heavily next season, so we'll see what his plans are. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if we don't sign a replacement for Berbatov, as I feel that SAF is bringing in Young with the idea of him also playing off the striker in a few of the matches, if needed.

 

[Hitchcocker]

Drogba would be a good stop gap for a couple of seasons.

Why would he trade one bench for another?

 

[Kaos]

Should Berbatov leave, it would come at huge loss. Nobody would pay anything more than £15M imo.

I think SAF will bite off anyone's hand that offers that much. A £15million 'loss' isn't all that bad considering that he's helped us to two league titles.

I have a feeling that he might already be lined up as a part-exchange in a transfer for someone else. Not a striker though since I think SAF will tend to give Welbeck a shot with Rooney, Hernandez and perhaps another season of Michael Owen.

I'm a big fan of Berba and it saddens me to say this but I think it'll be best for all parties concerned if he were to leave us this summer.

 

[Treble]

You got my point, I don't think Berbatov really suits the United way of playing football. I still believe the signing was weird, he was coming of age and the fee was a bit large. The idea was good, to have somebody to set Rooney up, but we all know Rooney should be the one setting things up, that's why Hernandez-Rooney will always be a better partnership than Rooney-Berbatov. I think that is why Hernandez was brought in, one to play off the last defender's shoulder, in order to give Rooney roaming space and time to set the ball up.

When Berbatov starts scoring away against the likes of Everton, Arsenal etc. I'll give him more credit. Until then, I withstand my opinion, Berbatov doesn't really suit our needs.

If Berbatov didn't suit United way of playing fotball, he would have been sold long ago. You don't score as many hat-tricks in one season as RVN in his best season if you don't suit the play of your team.

He did a great job for us in the first 2/3 of the season, our results in the league didn't improve after he was benched. We won as many points in the second half of the season, as we did in the first, actually we won 2 points less than in the first half of the season.

After he got benched, his started to lose confidence and form, so his last 3-4 games weren't as good as expected. But it was a bit naive to expect that he wouldn't lose form while sitting on the bench.

For the record, he scored 29 league goals for titles No 18 and No 19. He made telling contributions in the league.

 

[Sultan]

Why would he trade one bench for another?

New challenge?

 

[Olly Gunnar Solskjær]

When Berbatov starts scoring away against the likes of Everton, Arsenal etc.

 

[Hitchcocker]

New challenge?

If he had wanted a new challenge, I don't think he'd move back to France given the offers from Spain and Italy he has had (if the Madrid and AC offer is correct).

 

[Scoreboard Red]

If Berbatov didn't suit United way of playing fotball, he would have been sold long ago. You don't score as many hat-tricks in one season as RVN in his best season if you don't suit the play of your team.

He did a great job for us in the first 2/3 of the season, our results in the league didn't improve after he was benched. We won as many points in the second half of the season, as we did in the first, actually we won 2 points less than in the first half of the season.

After he got benched, his started to lose confidence and form, so his last 3-4 games weren't as good as expected. But it was a bit naive to expect that he wouldn't lose form while sitting on the bench.

For the record, he scored 29 league goals for titles No 18 and No 19. He made telling contributions in the league.

Come on mate, it's clear he doesn't suit our 'favoured' formation when we play big teams in bug games, which at United is quite often.

He had enough chances to make a difference against Arsenal, Chelsea, City and in Europe since 2008...

 

[Jonno]

Why would he trade one bench for another?

If we got Drogba, I would have him playing every game, he's a beast of a striker!

 

[Treble]

And he scored vs Everton away in the previous season, too, when we lost 3:1.

 

[Treble]

Come on mate, it's clear he doesn't suit our 'favoured' formation when we play big teams in bug games, which at United is quite often.

He had enough chances to make a difference against Arsenal, Chelsea, City and in Europe since 2008...

True that, except for Liverpool at home...But he suits our style when we play smaller teams. And you know Johnno, you win the league title if you beat the non-top teams. Otherwise, Liverpool and Arsenal would have finished in top 2 this season.

 

[Jacob]

Would be a bigger loss if he was allowed to run his contract down.

Agreed

I think SAF will bite off anyone's hand that offers that much. A £15million 'loss' isn't all that bad considering that he's helped us to two league titles.

I have a feeling that he might already be lined up as a part-exchange in a transfer for someone else. Not a striker though since I think SAF will tend to give Welbeck a shot with Rooney, Hernandez and perhaps another season of Michael Owen.

I'm a big fan of Berba and it saddens me to say this but I think it'll be best for all parties concerned if he were to leave us this summer.

As much as I would love that, how often do you see part-exchange deals these days?

 

[Jacob]

And he scored vs Everton away in the previous season, too, when we lost 3:1.

I meant consistently, and I said the "likes" of X. I know you get my point, you couldn't possibly be content with what we got for a relatively old £32M signing. The thing that annoys me the most is not his way of playing, it's his constant sulking and poor showing of team playerism. His negative body language would feck me off had I been playing alongside him.

 

[Scoreboard Red]

True that, except for Liverpool at home...But he suits our style when we play smaller teams. And you know Johnno, you win the league title if you beat the non-top teams. Otherwise, Liverpool and Arsenal would have finished in top 2 this season.

He also started the games we lost to Liverpool and Chelsea, obviously I'm not blaming him specifically for them but we looked very flat with him.

Of course the total points accumulation wins, but you figuratively win the league beating Chelsea and other teams in April and May, which he hasn't contributed to in each of the three seasons he's been with us.

 

[Bryan_Munich]

He also started the games we lost to Liverpool and Chelsea, obviously I'm not blaming him specifically for them but we looked very flat with him.

Of course the total points accumulation wins, but you figuratively win the league beating Chelsea and other teams in April and May, which he hasn't contributed to in each of the three seasons he's been with us.

Don't you ever get bored of repeating the same points over and over and over again.

Clearly Fergie is happy with his contribution, hence the club opening contract talks with him back in February.

 

[Kaos]

Don't you ever get bored of repeating the same points over and over and over again.

Clearly Fergie is happy with his contribution, hence the club opening contract talks with him back in February.

He's happy with him to the point that he doesn't trust his £30million striker to sit on the bench in the European cup final?

I dont think SAF trusts him in the big games where he's opted to partner Hernandez with Rooney, and for the most part its pulled off.

I hate bringing up the price again, but when Sir Alex splashed out £30million for Berbatov, I don't think he was looking for a striker to score goals against the weaker sides, only to drop him for the big games. If anything he'd expected Berbatov and Hernandez's roles to be reversed.

 

[Bryan_Munich]

He's happy with him to the point that he doesn't trust his £30million striker to sit on the bench in the European cup final?

I dont think SAF trusts him in the big games where he's opted to partner Hernandez with Rooney, and for the most part its pulled off.

I hate bringing up the price again, but when Sir Alex splashed out £30million for Berbatov, I don't think he was looking for a striker to score goals against the weaker sides, only to drop him for the big games. If anything he'd expected Berbatov and Hernandez's roles to be reversed.

He's happy with his contribution to the squad.

 

[Treble]

He also started the games we lost to Liverpool and Chelsea, obviously I'm not blaming him specifically for them but we looked very flat with him.

Of course the total points accumulation wins, but you figuratively win the league beating Chelsea and other teams in April and May, which he hasn't contributed to in each of the three seasons he's been with us.

Arsenal have won more points against the top 4 teams than any other team but weren't even close to winning the league.

Liverpool managed to beat Chelsea twice, they won their home games vs United and City and didn't lose against Arsenal. That was a brilliant return in terms of points from "big" games. But they finished 6th. So much for the importance of the "big" games. If you struggle to beat the "small" teams, you cannot win the league. There is no guarantee that if you win against the top teams, you will win the games with the non-top teams. You have to have rich options in the squad in order to have a successful league campaign.

As long as you keep winning against the non-top teams, you have a great chance to win the title. This is why it's good to have a player who is good at scoring/creating goals against those non-top teams.

 

[Scoreboard Red]

Don't you ever get bored of repeating the same points over and over and over again.

Clearly Fergie is happy with his contribution, hence the club opening contract talks with him back in February.

Don't you think these same points are being repeated more and more by more and more people as time goes by?

Did I start this thread? Did I start the rumour he left in a huff after being snubbed?

I tell you what Bryan, Fergie might be happy with his contribution but not enough to play him so you have to finally admit that Berbatov isn't the signing that we fans hoped he'd be and hasn't for the majority of the three years at the club.

 

[Scoreboard Red]

Arsenal have won more points against the top 4 teams than any other team but weren't even close to winning the league.

Liverpool managed to beat Chelsea twice, they won their home games vs United and City and didn't lose against Arsenal. That was a brilliant return in terms of points from "big" games. But they finished 6th. So much for the importance of the "big" games. If you struggle to beat the "small" teams, you cannot win the league. There is no guarantee that if you win against the top teams, you will win the games with the non-top teams. You have to have rich options in the squad in order to have a successful league campaign.

As long as you keep winning against the non-top teams, you have a great chance to win the title. This is why it's good to have a player who is good at scoring/creating goals against those non-top teams.

Mate, how many points did Arsenal take in April/May? They beat us but they fell spectacularly from second to fourth, we took our points and in doing so, relied on Rooney and Chico to do so, Berb wasn't considered in the must-win games.