seems strange writing this when he's our leading goal scorer and all, but again he's left on the bench..and this time in a big european game. hardly surprising. he's scored 1 european goal in 15 or 16 games, which is appalling and not good enough.
He regularly gets left out of the big games. He's good when we dominate a game, but not so great at getting involved and tipping the balance when the game is tight. And it's worked! 1-0...
I'm not a huge Berba fan tbh and you couldn't really argue with him being dropped tonight, given how the game went and how the 2 strikers were our best 2 performers. If he is shipped out come the end of the season, that will be because he is dispensible.
Problem with berba is more often than not he dosent play well, but then once in a while he suddenly scores a hat trick. Very inconsistant.
Berbatov loves home games against teams that **** there pants when they arrive at old trafford. The modern player needs more than just a great touch and goals against the lower tier teams in the premiership. Fans will never really love a lazy player.
Liverpool buy players based on how much they think they'll be able to sell them for in the future. Apparently that's the "new business model". Berbatov's great against teams when he can get a bit of space, but not so hot against teams with top defenders that will mark him very tightly. He ruthlessly punishes poor marking, like against Liverpool at OT, but struggles against physically dominant and disciplined defenders like Terry or Kompany. Which are precisely the type of defenders that Chicarito thrives against, so the two players give us good options up front.
You say that having the two players gives you a good option and Hernandez is really good (hurt to say that!) but would you like to keep Berba or sell and buy a replacement?
Are we talking hypothetically or realistically? Hypothetically I'd like to sell Berbatov and buy Messi as a replacement. I think that would give us an extra dimension going forward Realistically, Berbatov's 30 so we could probably get around ã10 mill for him maximum. Given that would buy 0.3 of an Andy Carroll, less than half a Suarez, 0.2 of a Torres or 0.4 of a Darren Bent, I'd probably say keep him. I suppose we could sell him and end up buying another Chicharito, but more likely we'd end up being dissapointed. Besides which, we still have Diouf, Macheda and Wellbeck coming through, any of which could be good enough to replace Berba when he finally goes. And given that pace has never been Berba's main asset, he could possibly play on at the top level for another 4-5 years a la Sheringham. Besides which, we don't really need to worry about the forward positions. It's the midfield and wings that need strengthening over the summer.
Realistically! Touched a nerve there I think, wasn't having a pop was just interested that if you could get as you say 10 mill would you like to replce him? So no then?
Berbatov has a role to play. These smaller teams that he scores against still need to be beaten, and you get no less points from a win against Blackpool than you do against Arsenal. There are numerous games this season which we wouldn't have won without Berba, and he's played a very important role in my eyes.
No nerve touched! But given how well he's played this season, the probable cost of replacing him with a decent striker, and the chance of ending up replacing him with a flop, I'd keep him every time. Not worth gambling and hoping we hit the jackpot like we did with Chicarito.
