After his year at Man United ended with a 3rd successive Premier League title for the club, thanks in part to his contributions of fourteen total goals scored and ten assists, what can be said about our Bulgarian hitman that sums up his stay at Old Trafford so far? Those who appreciate his contributions in the red shirt speak of his football genius, his great passing and vision, and his amazing first touch of the ball which puts him a class above everyone else. There also those who criticize the forward, branding him a complete failure, citing he has yet to live up to his thirty million price tag (the price which the club paid to secure his services from Tottenham Hotspurs last year), and also calling him a lazy and moody player, as they consider the amount of goals he scored last year aren’t sufficient for a forward of his stature.
I myself consider him to be somewhat of an enigma. I find him to be an underrated player, as the little things he does on the pitch that go unnoticed are what make him so great. From his ability to keep possession of the ball when others just as easily throw a wayward pass that ends up at the legs of opposition players, to his skill to pick out a killer pass that creates chances for other players to score is unique as well. Least to be underestimated is his ability to be a link between midfield and attack, by taking the ball from deep midfield into the last third of the pitch, which frees up the likes of Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen to focus on breathing down the necks of defenders waiting for an opportunity to be at the right place at the right time to score.
What puzzles me about berba however is his inconsistency throughout the season, as one game he’s everywhere doing what he does best, and other games he’s nowhere to be seen, leaving me confused whether the commentators had mistakenly mentioned him as a starter in the first place. This most probably was down to his slow acclimatization with the team over the last year or so, as many seem to have forgotten that he did not feature in our training camp or any of our preseason games last year, and had to hit the ground running as he was forced to adapt to his new team during important games of the season.
This year, with a full preseason and training camp under his belt, no more excuses can be offered on his behalf, and great things are expected of the Bulgarian forward if his tenure at the club is to ever be considered a success.
The man himself has promised the supporters that this will be his year, as he recently stated in an interview in The Daily Mirror “I think this year will be different for me. I’ve had a pre-season tour with the team, which I missed last year. And I really know how every player in the team plays now, so I can understand them better on the pitch. Plus, [manager] Sir Alex [Ferguson] knows the best way he can use me. We have many games and I’m looking forward to each one so I can score goals and make my contribution to the team.”
Here’s hoping Dimitar has a great season for us & continues to win many trophies for united.
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