Adam Dennehey WAFU manager
Dimitar Berbatov has said that he will never change his languid style of play which has certainly come under intense questioning during his three seasons at Manchester United so far.
Last year Berba scored 21 goals in all competitions and jointly held the golden boot with Carlos Tevez last year as he had his best season at Old Trafford without a shadow of a doubt.
Despite that though Berba still splits opinion amongst United fans. Some love him for his casual and laid back approach to the game whilst others predictably want to see him be more of an all-round player who runs around and works for the team in a style that we’ve seen accustomed to seeing Wayne Rooney do for example.
Speaking to the Press Association, United’s number 9 spoke about how his style has worked successfully in his career saying:
“You are not going to see me puffing around the pitch. There is a saying in Bulgaria that great quality doesn’t require much effort.
“I always play like this. That is what got me here. Last season was proof that even if you have some downs in your career, if you believe in the way you play, in your style of play, you can do it as well.”
Whilst it would be foolish to argue with our Bulgarian forward and twist his words around, last season at times he certainly did appear to be more ‘energetic’ for us than he was before.
Whether that was because he’d had a word in his ear from Sir Alex Ferguson to improve that aspect of his game and body-language we don’t know but Berba certainly seemed a more confident player last season who certainly took the most of his chances.
His style of play has certainly worked well in his career and in some aspect fans even before he moved to Old Trafford in the summer of 2008, should have been aware that we had not signed a player who was going to hustle and bustle players and run around the pitch.
Ruud van Nistelrooy was not that kind of player either, but perhaps due to Ruud’s incredible goalscoring record at the club, fans forget about that. The way United play when Berba is in the team does not require him to run around the pitch. He is there to hold up the play and bring other players into the game.
If he were to start running around it would obviously cause problems as he would not be in his normal position and in terms of movement it would certainly cause Javier Hernandez and Rooney lots of issues playing alongside him.
Regardless of Chicharito this season, United obviously need Berba to keep up his form from last season where his goals particularly early on in the season were crucial to our Premier League success last season.
Despite that though, sadly you get the feeling that even if he does do that, some fans will still always find something wrong with his game. But criticism of course is something all the top players know how to handle and you get the feeling Berba has the right mental approach to get along just fine.
By @ADennehey87
