i saw huntellaer in a pre season game in cardiff and he could not trouble the cardiff defence at all , i also watched the villa game on tv the other night and again he did not cause any problems .like the commentater said huntellaer has scored a lot of goals but all in a weak dutch league whenever he plays better opponents he struggles to score , he is nowhere near berbatovs class and i don't think he could outscore berbatov in the premier league either.
Why is everyone so surprised by Berbatov's 'laziness'? We had all heard he was sulky and lazy before we signed him, we knew who we were going for. I've seen Leverkusen's boss quoted for saying it, and Spurs fans have complained about it too. Why is everyone so surprised by it, just because he's now at United, doesn't mean it's all going to change. It's his personality, and he's been a relatively successful player in his career with that personality.
Sorry, and thanks for moving it in here. I thought about it, but there's a thread for Giggs, and then there's also one about the role he plays in the team so I presumed it would be okay.
Bump. Am I the only one who is losing a bit of confidence in him? I was in the Berba camp this summer, but apart from the odd gome game and a few peices of skill he has yet to impress me. Hopefully we will see the best of him next season after a good pre-season, but part of me thinks the Huntellear camp was right all along....
I think next season he will really start to play his best for us, United are a very difficult team to adapt to, especially as an attacker, because upfront we are very positionally free and that can take getting used to know where your team mates will be and where to move yourself. Also, we regularly have to attack against a team that has 10 men behind the ball so you have to learn to work with the lack of space. But we need to remember what to expect and what not to expect from him, before we become shocked when he either plays great or does nothing. He is the player that will maybe help us create a goal , and get a win rather than a draw, against an opponents where we batter at the door but they just won't let us through, but he will never be a person that will take the game by the scruff of the neck when things aren't going well because he just has no fire in his belly what so ever unfortunately, as we saw against Fulham. But that doesn't mean he can't be a very useful member of the team, because he can be. I hope he will be at his most useful for us when, say if we came up against Barcelona again this season, whereas last season we couldn't keep the ball in their half, this season maybe with Berbatov we will have that added bit of composure in attack to find a pass.
No, I agree with you. Despite the fact he was supposed to add a threat in the air, he hasn't. I've only seen him have 3 headed chances at goal (against Sunderland, Bolton and Blackburn I think the last one was) and he's put bread and butter headed chances from 6 yards well over the bar. I'm also extremely disappointed in his performances in the bigger games. He has been near-invisible in all of the big games so far. But that was one of the assets he was suppose to add instantly to the team.
To be fair to him, we very rarely put crosses into the box so how is he supposed to score headers if nobody is crossing the ball to him? It's annoyed me this season the number of times a player has been in a great position to whip a ball into the box and instead turn around and pass it backwards.
To be fair, I don't remember anyone from United making any promises about what he would do or when he would do it. But it does seriously wind me up that he seems to just not care at all whether we win or not.
He does. Not every player is an extrovert when it comes to feelings, i hardly see any joy in his facial expressions when he scores, but i`m sure he knows what`s its all about to win and to lose and he feels the same feelings every other player does.
That's true, but when he has had some simple headers he hasn't done as well as he should have. Also, talking of head I get very annoyed when a ball is played forward towards him, whether it be a clearance or intentional, and he often stands there watching it go over his head rather than try to flick it on/head it down. I'm talking about what people were saying on different forums at the time. And on the second point, I agree.
I disagree. This season we have changed our style. Wheras last season we had Rooney, Tevez, Ronaldo and Giggs all witg free roles seemingly, this season we are playing a rigid 4-4-2. Ronaldo is glued to the wing, Park the other, Berbatov in the hole and Rooney as as he lead striker. I remember Fergie saying that after he won the Treble in 99 teams figured us out tactically, which is why he has adapted and changed tactics again.
Thats usually when he is playing upfront or playing against a lower league side. 90% of the time he's glued to the wing - its something I always look out for as Ronaldo's 'true' position is still a bit of an unknown for me. edit: Especially away from home.
I'm not talking about facial expressions or body language. I'm talking about getting himself in the game, taking responsibility for turning things around for us, acting like his sole ambition is live is to make us win that match. But instead he goes missing and makes little or no effort to turn our fortunes. Thats what I mean. You have a point there, but I don't think its intentional. I think that has only happened when we have struggled to click in attack but generally we do position ourselves in attack in an unorthodox way that would be hard to get used to. But I think you are right we have moved less freely this season but I'm sure they'd love to be able to find the rhythm to do so, I don't think its a tactical decision. Another thing Berbatov has to learn to adapt to is that in his previous teams he was the focal ppoint of the team, their attacking systems were set up to feed him the ball as much as possible and players would move around him. He has to learn that he is an equal part of a moving unit and will have to do more to receive the ball.
