One of the interesting sub-plots of the season so far at Old Trafford has been the fact that Manchester United’s £30m striker Dimitar Berbatov appears to have fallen behind Danny Welbeck in the pecking order at the club.
Now whilst I think it’s great for Danny that he’s come back from his loan spell from Sunderland last season and been given a chance by Sir Alex Ferguson to prove his worth this season (which so far he has done, scoring 5 goals), clearly Berba has rightly or wrongly (depending on which view you what to take) has been a victim of Danny’s promotion this season.
Berba has been criticised in the past for his languid playing style and the fact that sometimes when not on the top of his game, his play can be at times too predictable, which can play into the opposition’s defenders hands. But he’s never particularly been the most mobile of strikers so it’s surprising, that people have only begun criticising that aspect of his game since he joined United.
He was hardly running around all over the pitch at Spurs and Bayer Leverkusen beforehand was he? In any case he has struggled this season and incredibly his only start of the season came in United’s 3-0 Carling Cup win at Leeds where due to an injury suffered late on by Ezekiel Fryers, he slotted in at centrehalf for the final 10 minutes or so seeing as our three substitutions had already been made.
It’s hard really to think of anything else that Berba has done this season; after all he has only been limited to two starts this season. So it’s worrying that even with the fact that he is behind Welbeck in the pecking-order at United that his most significant memory this season was slotting in as centrehalf in the closing stages of a Cup tie that United were coasting to a win in.
Many United fans were surprised when Sir Alex left out Berba from our starting line-up against Basel in the Champions League and partnered Ryan Giggs and Welbeck up top in the absence of Rooney and Chicharito. The Bulgarian only came on with 8 minutes when United were 3-2 down and despite the side getting a late equaliser, wasn’t with that time available able to make a real impact.
In a recent interview with the club’s official television channel MUTV, Berba revealed that he is happy to stay at Old Trafford and be part of a successful team for many years to come:
“I’m happy here, My family is together in Manchester. I hear people complain about the weather, there’s nothing to do and the food. But, for me, it’s not like that. I play for a club I love, the biggest club, and everything else doesn’t matter.”
Now this may sound controversial to say but although it’s clear Berba wants to stay at the club and fight for his place, the facts are that if the strikers ahead of him in the pecking order continue to play in the same then I would not understand why he would want to stay and just be a bit-part player.
He is better than that and it’s not as if he’s Micahel Owen who sadly has lost his legs and is well past his peak. Berba still has the ability still to be a first-choice striker at most of the top clubs playing in European football. There has been alot of speculation linking him with a move to PSG who after many years of turmoil appear to be moving quickly forward thanks to their new Qatari owners.
PSG, the current French League leaders are a club that are going to be offering players European football every year giving thand there would be alot of players who would prefer to be playing a leading role at a club as they enter their 30’s rather than sitting on the bench being limited to sub appearances of the bench or starts in minor cup matches.
If I were Berba I would be thinking about packing up and taking a fresh challenge elsewhere, then again maybe he believes he can prove everyone wrong and win back his starting place alongside Rooney. Who knows? If he can do that, well then that really would be some story.
Adam Dennehey @ADennehey87
