Dimitar Berbatov - essential or expendable?

Last season's hero, now this season's most expendable player.  Who'd have thought, almost exactly one year after 'that' overhead kick rebounded in off the underside of the bar, we'd be calling Berba our 4th choice striker, behind Danny Welbeck, amongst others?

Can anyone point out just where it went wrong? Does anyone know why he's fallen from grace? Was he ever really there to begin with?

Berba has always been a player I've admired, but perhaps never one I've 'loved'. He's got better technique than possibly any other forward I've watched, but at times he frustrates and amazes in equal measure. For every sublime touch there's a finish that has went awry. It's no coincidence that in the past few years, at the business end of the season he's found himself keeping company with his tracksuited colleagues, or even at times, in a suit. It seems to all that Sir Alex just doesn't trust him.  The same could be said for a large majority of our fans, too.

Personally, I've never felt that Berba and Rooney are particularly well suited.  I think we've seen the best of Rooney since the arrival of Chicharito, whose runs in behind stretch defences, creating space for Rooney to operate.  I feel Rooney works best when he's dictating the game, seeing plenty of the ball and creating chances for others, as well as himself. However in Berba's time with us it's been he that has been the more creative of the two, with 10 assists in the Premier League in 08/09 and 7 in 09/10.  By comparison Rooney had 7 in 08/09 and 5 in 09/10.  Last season, however Rooney was our 2nd highest assister, with 11, most of which came in the 2nd half of the season, as he found his form (and his mind!), and his partnership with Chicharito blossomed.  It's no coincidence that this also came at the time Berba found himself out of the team.  Even in 09/10 when Rooney excelled in goalscoring terms, I didn't feel that he was playing particularly good football, and certainly not to the level that we've seen in 2011.  Rooney is potentially up there with the very best in the world, therefore I feel that everything should be done in order to get the best from him. 

In our first 5 games this season we scored 21 goals, had a +17 goal difference and had a 100% record, while Berba watched on from the bench.  At this stage last season we'd scored 14, conceded 7 and drew disastrously at both Fulham and Everton.  Last season's Manchester United got the job done, and not much more. To win the league having played so poorly, on so many occasions, was testament to the manager's nous and the player's sheer will to win. That we got to the Champions League final was a minor miracle, helped, of course, by a very kind draw.  Once there, though, Berba was banished, not even in the 18 man squad.  From the start of this year its been more of the same. The man who scored 3 separate Premier League hat-tricks, and in as many individual games as any other top striker in the league, has been cast aside.

This season, Manchester United look to be an altogether different proposition, but again one where Dimitar does not fit. Now we're all about pace, movement and youthful exuberance. There's no place for three amazing touches when Young, Rooney and Chicharito can have the ball in the net in that time. Once again we find Berba, the £30m sub, watching on.  Berbatov has featured in the past 2 matches, at Leeds and at Stoke, and while Michael Owen was able to twice find the net at Elland Road, Berba didn't so much as threaten.  As usual there was some sublime football, particularly the ball to Park, which created Owen's first, but more often than not the Bulgarian was on the periphery of the game.  The Stoke game was another poor performance by Berbatov, registering just 1 shot at goal, although it'd be unfair to single him out, given that nobody could really be said to have performed to standard on the day - Nani and De Gea aside.  However you can't help but feel that had Rooney started that game, we could well have came away with the points.  He'd almost certainly have had more impact on the game.

My personal opinion is that Berbatov should have left/been sold in the summer. He deserves first XI football and the world deserves to watch him play.  Perhaps we'll see a turnaround in fortunes, after all the season is still in it's infancy, but I feel that the style of fast, counter-attacking football that we've witnessed so far this season, when Berba hasn't been in the team, is here to stay.  For that reason I think his place is most likely to remain on the bench, in the stands, or possibly off to pastures new.

By Tim Ferguson (Follow me on Twitter)

What are your views on Berbatov? Where does he fit at United? Is his time at United drawing to a close? Please leave your comments below.