Manchester United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

racso1975 wrote: »

While i dont believe the critics were proved by his performance on saturday. I can honestly only remember 2 things he did in that game. The great step over in the first 5 mins and his volley shot. For me a great player does have the ability to change a game and pull his tema to the next level. We've seen gerard, cesc, lampard, rooney all do it when it counts i.e. big games. I have yet to see berbatov do it. I'll with hold judgement on him but if a gun was put to my head today i'd be willing to let him walk away.

Well he certainly wouldn't run. :pac:

Berbs having a good season. Not easy for any player to be in and out of a team, especially a striker.

The article above is written by a dribbling idiot.

Very Alan Partridge...

"Needless to say I had the last laugh"

racso1975 wrote: »

Is there really a need for personal abuse for expressing my opinion.

I know it has not been easy hence why i said i would hold off on final decision!!!!

Heh!

If your talking about whats in my post then yes. What article are you talking about?

racso1975 wrote: »

If your talking about whats in my post then yes. What article are you talking about?

lol that's classic :pac:

Hargreaves didn't. :O

gosplan wrote: »

I think it's been a difficult year to judge Berbatov by.

The article you referenced said 'he's not going to be able to fill Rooney's boots' which is obviously correct but that's not to say he doesn't have a positive impact.

IMO Fergie's been playing a lot of 4-5-1 mostly this season because he doesn't really have the talent in midfield to play 4-4-2 and get the success he wants.

Berbatov does well when he's playing with Rooney but then it's Fletcher and Carrick/Scholes and I think whichever of the latter two you pick there, you get problems.

So Berbatov gets benched, the extra body in midfield solidifies things and the goals are largely left up to Rooney.

Guaranteed if it was Fletcher and a plyer like Scholes in his prime, Fergie would play a lot more 4-4-2 with Berbatov and Rooney up front.

This is fairly accurate.

Berbatov played far better last year with Ronaldo in the side because, in truth, Ronaldo was our highest attacker up the pitch most of the time. The way we played last year it was almost like the Dutch formation years ago where Cryuff dropped off pulling the strings whilst Rensenbrink was the furthest striker forward attacking from the wing.

Someone said in this thread in the last few days that Berba needs runners and that's essentially true. If he has nobody making a move for him, then he has nobody to hit with a pass. The lad can be a genius with the ball at his feet but it's like some of the players are too static. Now I'm not saying he's played well this season, he's been poor in large parts.

Also the fact we're setup 4-5-1 doesn't help him either. The simple fact of the matter is that 4-4-2 is a tough formation to play these days. There's not very many teams that play it and 4-5-1 provides far more stability. Take for example if United came up against and midtable Premiership team who played 4-5-1 whilst we played 4-4-2. We'd be overran in midfield and our whole possession based game wouldn't be able to function. You rarely find two central midfielders these days that are so good that they can handle 3 midfielders on their own and control that area.

You could argue, probably correctly, that we need better center midfielders but what is it we need? A creative playmaker? Who becomes a passenger when we don't have the ball. A defensive/ball winning midfielder? We have Fletch who is one of the best around.

At the minute, we're setup the best we can be. Scholesy as the man who controls the tempo (actually sitting in front of the defence these days), Fletch and Park/Carrick putting on the pressure. It's fine tuning the players to the positions and finding the best players for those positions.

One things for sure, we need to invest in the summer.

niallk wrote: »

Didn't read Hansen's article but I saw his analysis on MOTD and found it laughable and Dresslar's reference to it in his blog hilarious. Hansen was criticizing Berb for doing the same thing he was praising Rooney for last week: splitting the two centre-halves and making himself a target. The space he was talking about (between centre-half and fullback) is for the wingers and fullbacks and AMs to exploit, and if Berb had gotten in there more regularly, the criticism would be that that he wasn't in the box enough.

Whilst I agree that Berbatov isn't to blame. Personally I'm of the opinion he can't play as a lone striker. Just about the the bit in bold - it is actually true, strikers should be looking to get between the center back and full-backs with runs as it drags the center back out of the middle allowing for midfielders to attack the gap left. It's where center backs are told to aim for if there's nothing on.

UnitedIrishman wrote: »

Whilst I agree that Berbatov isn't to blame. Personally I'm of the opinion he can't play as a lone striker. Just about the the bit in bold - it is actually true, strikers should be looking to get between the center back and full-backs with runs as it drags the center back out of the middle allowing for midfielders to attack the gap left. It's where center backs are told to aim for if there's nothing on.

I agree with you but the point I'm making is how hilarious I found it that Hansen brought up about 4 pieces of footage of basically a normal set up and showed how much space there was out there. I mean FFS that space is always going to be there in any team that sets up with 4 defenders, we don't need VT of 4 different "incidents". Booting long balls from the full backs up there is more of a basic last resort tactic. What Hansen failed to note that the one clip where Berb did make a run to that position was the only one in which there was any supporting runners anywhere near him.

BTW, I also agree with your point that Berbatov's not suited to the Lone Striker role. Though I think he is a very good player, magical at times, I do think he was a bad signing, esp for the money, considering that the system Fergie has seemed to settle on doesn't suit him. I would argue that the system has been designed based on having Wayne Superman Rooney as the lone striker, and anyone trying to fill in for him would struggle. I really admire Berbatov for his professionalism and never complaining but he has been mismanaged terribly.