Should Berbatov have been in the team?

[Bob Bacon]

For United, top goalscorer Dimitar Berbatov was afforded not even a place on the substitutes' bench, with Michael Owen surprisingly preferred to the 21-goal Bulgarian to provide striking back-up for Rooney and Javier Hernandez.

Should Berbatov started the match?

[Gwyn Nicholas]

I thought the same Bob, surely he must have been injured. If not, I can see him slinging his hook this summer. Perhaps it was because Nani was voted player of the season for Man-U and he threw his teddy bear out of the pram. If he could have, he should have for me. I dont think he would have made much difference though, that was a masterclass of the beautiful game by Barcelona and those players are "kids" with years ahead of them.

[dutchman]

i agree with gwyn , berbatov would have made no difference unfortunately he is a "lazy " player albeit top scorer , against barca who last night were outstanding in keeping the ball it wouldnt have mattered who was on the field without the ball you cannot play . i am a man utd fan but barcelona were great to watch and what made it even better no theatrics just superb football NOW SHUT UP ABOUT IT , ITS IN THE PAST THE REF WAS RUBBISH THE PITCH WAS TAILORED FOR BARCELONA , THEY HAD THE BEST DRESSING ROOM , OH AND THEIR COACH DRIVER WAS BETTER AS WELL SO THERE NER NER NER NER GOING TO EAT MY FARLEYS RUSK NOW BYE......

[Dai 55]

What a team, Barca completely outclassed United full stop

[keithwill38]

I totally agree aBout Barca Being a great team and being worthy winners of the Champions league,they will be the standard other teams must rise up to for the next few seasons,but to go back to Berbatov i read this and i have pasted it here as i think it sums the man up perfectly and why he is not selected for the team on the big occasions,but having said that Man Utd would not have won the premier League without his goals...
"There are few debates more intense within the confines of Manchester United’s support than that of Dimitar Berbatov’s past, present and future. Like Marmite , Berbatov is an acquired taste. It is a debate that rages still, even though the 30-year-old former Tottenham Hotspur striker jointly leads the Premier League scoring charts.
Should the Bulgarian hit the net against Blackpool at Old Trafford this weekend, and go on to win this season’s golden boot, it will rightly be hailed as a fine personal achievement; one central to United’s success this season. Indeed, Berbatov has scored more winning goals than any other player during the campaign. Quite literally, without the Bulgarian, United could not have won the Premier League this season.
Yet, despite the wonderful talent, dig a little deeper and the player’s record does not hold up under scrutiny. It leaves fans and admirers, including your writer, in a quandary on how to assess the £30 million man’s history at United. The inescapable feeling emerges that for all the wonderful talent on display, Berbatov simply hasn’t delivered on the £30 million promise.
The bare facts are this: Berbatov has scored 21 goals in 40 games in all competitions this season. It’s a fine record at any level. However, the tally includes none in the Champions League nor any against the current top four, unless the Community Shield is generously awarded competitive fixture status. What’s more, of Berbatov’s 21 Premier League goals the Bulgarian has scored against just five teams in the top half of the table – Newcastle, Everton, Liverpool, Bolton and Fulham.
The player’s record this season in scoring predominantly against lower-ranked teams – seven came against relegation candidates Blackburn Rovers and Blackpool – is mirrored across his time at Old Trafford. In fact against other members of the current top four – Arsenal, City, Chelsea – Berbatov has just two goals in 20 games over his three years with United. Include Tottenham and Liverpool in that list, and the Bulgarian has seven in 34. It is not impressive.
Moreover, for a ‘creative’ player Berbatov has just five assists in all competitions this season. It’s a pattern oft-repeated, with just six in 2009/10 and nine the previous campaign. Nani, by contrast, has 18 this season alone.
Then there is the player’s record in the Champions League, which is frankly embarrassing for a man with pretensions to be among the world’s best. True, Ferguson rarely selects the player in the latter stages of Europe’s premier competition. But then again, there is an obvious reason for that – the Scot does not feel compelled to include the Bulgarian.
Is Berbatov simply a flat-track bully, performing against lower-ranked sides but failing to deliver at the very top-level? The creative stats, together with Berbatov’s goal record, mean that it is hard to come to any other conclusion. He is, after all, a truly a ‘world class’ talent, in all that the cliché means, but one with a record that is simply not good enough to justify the £30m transfer fee.
However, if we accept that United simply over-paid for a player who has not delivered Ferguson’s oft-vaunted value then it is possible to view the player in a different light. At a near club-record £30 million Berbatov is a man that simply must deliver game and championship altering performances. He does not, possibly cannot, do it against the very best.
Halve the fee and Berbatov feels less of a square peg in a round hole and more an essential part of Ferguson’s squad system. After all, while the Bulgarian has now been eclipsed by Javier Hernández, balance is an essential part of United’s success. Berbatov offers both experience and an excellent goal return against mid to lower-ranked sides, and a different kind of approach to Ferguson’s other attacking options.
Yet, there will be questions about the striker’s future. This summer is perhaps the last opportunity for United to make a return on the player, who is out of contract in June 2012. Although the Reds have a one-way option to extend Berbatov’s contract to 2013, the player’s advancing age means that a big fee is unlikely to come once this summer’s window closes."
Ferguson is not thought to be countenancing a sale even though he has Federico Macheda, Danny Wellbeck and Mame Biram Diouf set to return after spells out on loan. With Michael Owen out of contract, the Scot is canny enough to know that experience counts for something.
Whether fans will ever see the very best of Berbatov again is doubtful though. Hernández is now Ferguson’s first-choice to partner Wayne Rooney in attack, relegating Berbatov to a bit-part role. That fact also means that United will almost certainly never full justify the huge outlay on a player who is only likely to decline in performance from here on in.

[Gwyn Nicholas]

Interesting reading Keith but is does seem a huge contradiction. Man Utd won the premiership, have overtaken Liverpools record for championships by doing so, and much of the reasons for that are down to the goals that Berbatov scored yet he is not worthy of the bench in the biggest game of the season. Without his goals Man-U may have been struggling to play in the Champions League next season yet he is treated like a boot-boy.

If being a clubs top scorer (regardless of who they were against) is not enough for a manager..what is. Rooney gave two fingers to United, threatened to leave, stayed and under achieved this season and got a huge pay rise out of it. Interesting to see if Berbatov moves on or is happy to stay on as a whipping boy.

[Dai 55]

gents it is fairly clear Alex had a fall out with Berbatov he left the ground before kick off even though Ferguson said he was in the dressing room,Micheal Owen on the bench what a joke he would not even geta game for Tonypandy tigers his days are well and truely numbered can you blame Berbatov,but Owen is Ferguson favourite mainly down to horses,united were battered in all departments and a joy to watch Everton will win the title next season liverpool will be relegated,
Dai 55

[dutchman]

keep taking the medication dai lol, p.s. i mean the Neverton comment not the liverpool one