In the summer transfer window a few players left Fulham FC to further their careers, most notably Clint Dempsey after reports of him refusing to play for Martin Jol, but one player has turned to Craven Cottage to revive his career.
Dimitar Berbatov had a hard time trying to keep his place in Sir Alex Ferguson’s plans in his four years at Manchester United with their striking prowess, but under his new manager he will look to be one of the greatest signings the club have ever produced.
Only a few players have the touch and genius that the Bulgarian provides when at his best, which makes him a handful for defenders to control. Martin Jol was the first manager to see it when he was in charge of Tottenham Hotspurs and he still believes the striker has what it takes to succeed and score goals in the Premier League.
At Man United Berbatov was never really the star man, even though his quality could never be denied. At his time in the red of United, he shared the limelight with attacking players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez and an on fire Javier Hernandez in his first season in England.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s men would always look to give the ball to those players as they could make something out of nothing, which sometimes left Berbatov in the cold. At Fulham on the other hand he is the star name.
Against West Bromwich Albion he played the number 10 role and the team always looked to play the ball towards him to produce that moment of magic. He’s the type of player that needs the ball at his feet to be effective and for the fans to love him. So far so good for the 31 year old.
Apart from the way he plays, there’s another reason why he can be great for Fulham and that’s down to the pressure finally being lifted off the shoulders of the experienced Bulgarian striker. With a £35m price tag on your head you are expected to perform week in and week out and rightfully so, but if you don’t then the media and fans will question your ability. He didn’t start every game for the reds so the fans started to question why they wasted big money on a non-starter.
Now, with the South West London club paying around £4m for his talent, there will be a huge amount of pressure off of him and that will allow him to play his natural game, which initially got him moves to Spurs and Man United in the first place.
He showed a sign of freedom and relaxation against West Brom on his home Debut, with an impressive performance, which was capped off by one beautiful goal put in the top corner and another dispatched from the penalty spot.
Confidence is another thing for Berbatov. Not playing week in week out even when scoring goals at United definitely dented the striker’s confidence, whereas at Fulham he will look to start every game that he is fit for. Once he continues to find the back of the net his confidence will rise and so will his flicks and tricks.
An example of his confidence was on the weekend with his first goal. Before the ball got to him he took a quick glance at the goal and received the ball. The touch allowed him to open up his body and without looking towards the goal he struck the ball into the top corner with, somewhat, ease.
The introduction of Dimitar Berbatov to Fulham will help the club reach their targets and maybe even over achieve, but can continue the good start at his new team with an even better performance against Wigan Athletic? To be considered as one of the best the club has ever seen he will need to, not just for the club but for himself.
Jordan Brown @MediaJB