“I am a relaxed guy. I play that way and I can’t change my style. I watch games and see guys who panic on the ball – they look so nervous. I can be calm, because I sometimes know what I want to do before the ball comes to me. The boss [Sir Alex Ferguson] tells me not to change anything – he gives me freedom to express my qualities.”
Elegant, calm, graceful, composed: all words that have been used to describe Dimitar Berbatov, all summarised in this one statement made by him in 2009. For all the accusations of him being languid, lacking work rate and simply giving up, Berbatov’s statistics serve as a platform to astonish and silence the critics. Having scored a career total of 237 goals – a 112 since his move to the Premier league 6 seasons ago – there can be no accusations hurled at him of being goal-shy. Add to this the fact that he barely played for United last season and you end up with a stylish Bulgarian machine scoring at the rate of over 20 goals a season.
Beginning his career at his home town club Pirin, Berba netted 77 times in 92 appearances for the reserve squad before he was snapped up by CSKA Sofia in 1998. At his father’s former club, Berbatov began to flourish and was so impressive that he was kidnapped by a Bulgarian gangster, Georgi Iliev, who wanted the striker to play for his own club Lokomotiv Plovdiv. Berbatov, having exited the ordeal safely, went on to score 14 goals in the next season, at the age of 18.
A further run of 9 goals in 11 games next season saw him move to German side Bayer Leverkusen, where he quickly rose through the ranks. He even scored a hat-trick on his debut for the first-team to immediately establish himself as a regular first-team contender. Berbatov continued to contribute in bits and pieces to his team’s march to the Champions League finals the next season, even scoring against Liverpool in the quarter-finals. It wasn’t long after that Berbatov established himself as a regular starter, and scored 5 times in the ’04 – ’05 Champions League tournament.
The shrewd transfer policy at White Hart Lane saw Berbatov join the Spurs in 2006 as the most expensive Bulgarian player in history. He took a while to adjust to the rigours of the Premier League before slowly regaining the free-scoring form he had displayed at Leverkusen. His improvement was so radical that he ended up being named Tottenham’s Player of the Season and even earned a spot on the PFA Premier league team of the year.
Berbatov continued to score in droves, which attracted the attention of Arsenal, Manchester United and newly rich Manchester City. What followed was a desperate attempt by Tottenham to hold on to their talisman before eventually agreeing terms with Manchester United that made him United’s costliest buy in history. It was then that Berbatov claimed he “would not even have thought about Manchester City”.
At United, Berbatov initially stuttered with the weight of expectations on his shoulders, playing in a more withdrawn role and struggling to find the net. Eventually, Berbatov came into his own and forged a partnership with new recruit Javier Hernandez which helped United win the Premier league in the absence of Wayne Rooney through injury. Berbatov didn’t just score goals, he also created them. The unmatched quality of his touches and hold-up play coupled with the sheer pace of Hernandez helped the Mexican to have an equally remarkable season.
Unfortunately for Berbatov, this led to his downfall, with Rooney’s style of play considered more complementary to Hernandez than Berbatov’s. When Rooney returned from injury, Berbatov began to be relegated to the shadows and cut a forlorn figure. This treatment meted out to the club’s and league’s top scorer astonished the pundits before culminating in the shame of Berbatov not being named in the squad for the Champions League finals.
Swallowing his pride, Berbatov agreed to stay on for another season, where he saw his position fall further down the pecking order, behind Danny Welbeck. Considering this the last straw, Berbatov’s agent has made statements regarding his future lying away from Old Trafford, with both player and manager acknowledging the situation.
Amidst all this, what shines bright is the magnificent hat-trick against Liverpool in a 3-2 victory, which saw the Berb score a goal-of-the-season contender. The Merseyside squad, inspired by their captain Gerrard, seemed all set to have snatched a point, before Berbatov rose above the rest to settle matters and save United from a stuttering start to the season. Berbatov even netted five times in a game against Blackburn during a season which was marred by the falling out of Rooney with the squad.
He continued to focus on his efforts on the pitch and the climax of his season was when he inspired a United comeback against Blackpool to prevent a collapse in the title race. Playing in front of a raucous Blackpool crowd, United were being overrun by the pace of Blackpool, with Charlie Adams pulling the strings in midfield. Going into the break two goals down, United made changes coming out into the second half and it was here that the composure of Berbatov turned the game around for United. He successfully slowed down the tempo of Blackpool’s play before setting up a goal and scoring twice himself to carry United to a 3-2 victory. This served as the platform from which United fought off Chelsea‘s challenge to win the league.
With Malaga now seemingly close to signing Berbatov, a United fan can only thank him and apologise for not having given him the recognition he deserves. It is not a slow-moving, lazy player that will leave us, it is a soft-spoken, unselfish, classy goal-machine.
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