Berbatov turns luxury item into essential goods
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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.