Berbatov's first touch

Did I watch the game?
Yes, from row M.

Originally Posted by IsaacHunt

Did I watch the game?
Yes, from row M.

OK, so "None" of his first time passes found the forward? Are you being honest? Or are you allowing a prejudice you have against him distort what actually happened

2 off the top of my head found his man, Carrick first half and Rooney in the second. Both should have really scored too. Not forgetting that disguised reverse pass/back heel which played in Nani quite superbly.

Talking about passes, what about that one from O'Shea first half. Surprised me with that one.

Originally Posted by Whalefish

2 off the top of my head found his man, Carrick first half and Rooney in the second. Both should have really scored too. Not forgetting that disguised reverse pass/back heel which played in Nani quite superbly.

Yup, that's 3. He played Anderson in at least twice down the lefthand side too. Love this quote from Fergie at the weekend :-

”Whenever a player comes here, people will find a way of criticising him, but his statistics are incredible,” said Ferguson. “He did more running [against Boro] than most of the other players — even Rooney. It’s his languid style that is deceptive. Berbatov’s way of picking a pass is fantastic. I don’t think we’ve had a player with the beautifully-weighted pass that he can produce since Cantona.’’

I have no prejudice against him. I think he's a talent. Just doesn't get forward enough or seem to put in a shift.

The idea of getting Veron was that "his passing would be the key unlock European defences" (c) Fergie. Veron was bought as a midfielder, Berbatov as a forward. I see them both doing the same job, but we don't have an out-and-out centre-forward to work off Berbatov as we did with RvN or Cole. I don't see either of them operating much outside of the centre circle. The difference, however, is while Veron was earning "spotters badges" every day, nobody else in the team was making the runs in time to get to the ball (either that or Veron overhit every pass). Berbatov just doesn't seem to possess the urgency or perhaps the peripheral and spatial awareness to make the pass in time that another player can run on to. Yesterday, he may have passed forward, but all the other players were either offside or had to stop and check their runs because he delayed the pass too long.

Please link some video evidence to prove I'm wrong and I'll apologise. (If I could be arsed and wasn't at work I could run through the video to back up my claim.)

Originally Posted by IsaacHunt

Berbatov just doesn't seem to possess the urgency or perhaps the peripheral and spatial awareness to make the pass in time that another player can run on to.

I think you may actually be mental.

No one really has to prove anything to you. I'm certainly not going to waste my time sticking up a video of those passes I have just referred to. They should be easy enough to find should you want to have a look.

He was sublime yesterday and everything good about our attacking play went through him. Back to defenders he shielded the ball extremely well, kept possession, and started the majority of our attacks.

As for getting in the box more that flaw/accusation can also be levelled at two of other underperforming strikers this season, Rooney and Tevez. It's something Berbatov and all of Utd's forwards need to work on. None of them do it enough atm.

Originally Posted by Whalefish

No one really has to prove anything to you. I'm certainly not going to waste my time sticking up a video of those passes I have just referred to. They should be easy enough to find should you want to have a look.

He was sublime yesterday and everything good about our attacking play went through him. Back to defenders he shielded the ball extremely well, kept possession, and started the majority of our attacks.

As for getting in the box more that flaw/accusation can also be levelled at two of other underperforming strikers this season, Rooney and Tevez. It's something Berbatov and all of Utd's forwards need to work on. None of them do it enough atm.

Spot on that Whalers.

Originally Posted by IsaacHunt

Berbatov just doesn't seem to possess the urgency or perhaps the peripheral and spatial awareness to make the pass in time that another player can run on to. Yesterday, he may have passed forward, but all the other players were either offside or had to stop and check their runs because he delayed the pass too long.

er... a wum, surely?

Originally Posted by IsaacHunt

The idea of getting Veron was that "his passing would be the key unlock European defences" (c) Fergie. Veron was bought as a midfielder, Berbatov as a forward. I see them both doing the same job, but we don't have an out-and-out centre-forward to work off Berbatov as we did with RvN or Cole. I don't see either of them operating much outside of the centre circle. The difference, however, is while Veron was earning "spotters badges" every day, nobody else in the team was making the runs in time to get to the ball (either that or Veron overhit every pass). Berbatov just doesn't seem to possess the urgency or perhaps the peripheral and spatial awareness to make the pass in time that another player can run on to. Yesterday, he may have passed forward, but all the other players were either offside or had to stop and check their runs because he delayed the pass too long.

That is one hell of a shit post I have seen here for a long time.

That is saying something considering that there are posters like me and puresense.

Don't know what match you were seeing or which united you have been watching.

peripheral and spatial awareness are the last 2 things you can say berbatov doesn't have. Bar scholes, I have seen no one in united play first time passes as good as berbatov with the perfect wait on it. It has been criminal that ronaldo, rooney, tevez and others haven't been able to finish those chances. If ronaldo was even 60% of the form he was last year, that itself would have taken berbatov's assists into double figures!!

I just feel that it is slowly coming together for us. Rooney is looking sharp again, tevez and ronaldo have got good rest, scholesy is back. Neville is coming back to fitness and form. A solid victory against chelsea and we will be go on a good run.

Originally Posted by IsaacHunt

Did I watch the game?
Yes, from row M.

Of St Mary's?

Originally Posted by The Return of JC

Of St Mary's?

The Dell.

It's always extremes too.

Berbatov either has to be shit hot or he's a total failure who is single handedly responsible for our lack of goals. Even seemingly minor shortcomings have to be blown out of proportion and have this seriously detrimental effect on our play.

Can it not just be that he's doing well, but there's areas he could work on? And this is perfectly normal for new players?

My assessment of him so far is that he has a wonderful first touch, a great eye for a pass and always seems in total control of what he does (but we knew this already). The other players seem to enjoy playing with him and he brings a constrasting composure to Rooney's vibrancy. On the down side, he hasn't scored as many goals as I would've hoped, but that can be rectified by showing a little more urgency to get into the box, especially following his own work outside the box (and as Whalers pointed out: he's not the only one guilty of that) and by being a little more selfish. But it's only a mid-term assessment and it's a working progress.

People's desire to draw sweeping and broadly negative conclusions and forecasts from similar assessments always surprises me.

Originally Posted by Ether

The Dell.

Wow! So you genuinely cannot see our away kits from there?