Fergie "we are about to see the best of Berbatov.â€
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Berbatov, on the brink of recapturing his top form.
ALEX FERGUSON reckons Dimitar Berbatov is on the brink of recapturing his top form. And that will help Manchester United cope with the loss of Wayne Rooney.
Berba, the Red Devils’ £30million summer signing, has had a low-key start to his Old Trafford career, with just four league goals so far.
The champions have struggled to find the net in the Premier League — scoring eight times in their last eight games — and the loss of Rooney with a hamstring injury will not help.
But Fergie insists he has been delighted with Berba since his arrival and predicts the Bulgarian could be about to come to the fore. He expected the former Tottenham man would need time to find his feet after his deadline-day move but feels he has fitted in perfectly.
The United boss said: “I am delighted with the way things are going and I am especially pleased by Dimitar’s progress in settling into the team. When you pay a lot of money for a player, he inevitably comes under close scrutiny.
“It happened to Juan Veron and Rio Ferdinand — and Dimitar has also suffered from the impatience of people when a new guy makes a big move. “At Tottenham, he orchestrated most of their play. If at times he has looked a bit isolated, it was because our players needed to adjust to him as much as he has needed to learn our ways. “But he has settled in very well and I have the feeling that we are about to see the best of Berbatov.”
While the onus will be on Berba at one end when United face Bolton tomorrow, Fergie has not much to worry about at the back. United secured a club record with their 1-0 shut-out against Wigan on Wednesday.
That was their NINTH clean sheet in a row in the league, beating a previous-best run from 1997. Now they could equal the 10 Chelsea put together back in 2004-05 by thwarting the Trotters at the Reebok.
Defender John O’Shea reckons the defence has been the cornerstone for success this term. He said: “It was a battling performance against Wigan and a clean sheet at the end of it is a positive. “We’re proud of the record but that’s the basis for every successful season we’ve had. Keeping clean sheets is important.”
SunSport revealed on Wednesday that United are ready to join Spurs in the chase to sign Wigan ace Wilson Palacios. And O’Shea admitted there were a few players in Steve Bruce’s line-up who caught his eye on Wednesday.
O’Shea said: “Some of their attacking players are excellent. I had a tough night against Valencia. He’s quite quick! “You can understand why there has been interest from other clubs in some of their players. “They have good attacking talent and it might prove difficult for Wigan to keep hold of them.”
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still unsure on Berba.. seems still not linked into MU free-flowing game.
and now with Rooney out, how he fits in with Tevez will be surely tested.
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I agree with SAF's take on Berba. Actually he is an intelligent player, his passes are very creative - just like Carrick when he first arrive. He is not that type of forwards that rush forward or dribble (Ronaldo) or headers. he is the smart type who use positioning or use incisive passes to open up opponents. With the game against Stoke heading 0-0,it was his pass that opens the scoring. Simiarily, his head-on allows Vidic to score the opening goal against Chelsea. For me, he offers something that Man U needs, creativity in passing. Maybe Man U needs someone now to go up and score goals through headers or something - perhaps Rooney can now do this role (provided he is not injured).
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Originally posted by red_amoeba:
I agree with SAF’s take on Berba. Actually he is an intelligent player, his passes are very creative – just like Carrick when he first arrive.
He is not that type of forwards that rush forward or dribble (Ronaldo) or headers. he is the smart type who use positioning or use incisive passes to open up opponents.
With the game against Stoke heading 0-0,it was his pass that opens the scoring. Simiarily, his head-on allows Vidic to score the opening goal against Chelsea.
For me, he offers something that Man U needs, creativity in passing. Maybe Man U needs someone now to go up and score goals through headers or something – perhaps Rooney can now do this role (provided he is not injured).
undeniable, this guy got quality.. a few of the latest goals seems to involve him be it a flick, with his foot/head..
I think the thing is he is not as dominant as a Cantona or a RVN. cause once they are on the field, you can sense a difference.. but with Berba, he difts in/out so perhaps his genuises are there but like some said, it just takes 1mins out of 90 and you win the game..
however, I recall his goals/assists rate while in Spurs were quite good.. hopefully he can pick up now in the 2nd half of the season... and truly justify his 30M price tag..
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Berbatov is still very new to the club, Unfortunately for United, he came only in Sep where most players could already had 3 months of preparation... He didn't got that therefore his form has already been better than expection for a new player to a club.
Berbatov is a creative player and not just a goal getter, a goal getter's job is quite straight forward, you stay upfront and wait for others to pass it to you... But a creative players needs time to get to know the players around him to make the kind of pass that only those who plays with him regularly would come to expect... The United players also need to get to know him and his style.
The only reason he is not standing out fully is because United still have Ronaldo and Rooney but Berba certainly does make his presents felt... And Ice is right, he has a good goal assist rate at Spurs and he seemed to have carried that to United too as the commentator said last night he is currently the highest goal assist player in the premiership...
I belief he will only get better... As we have already seem a great deal of improvement to when he first arrived... and I think Berba will really start to take off by March after having been in the squad for a few month...