Manchester United fans are furious with the performance of Dimitar Berbatov.
The Times says fans slammed Berba's performance in Sunday's FA Cup semifinal defeat during a phone-in on MUTV, United’s official television station.
But while it is common for fans to find a scapegoat when things have gone wrong, the misgivings did not centre simply on a lame effort from 12 yards, rather on the wider contribution this season from a player who has polarised opinion since signing for a club-record £30.75 million from Tottenham Hotspur last September.
Berbatov has been responsible for setting up a sixth of United’s 54 goals in the Barclays Premier League — only Frank Lampard, the Chelsea midfield player, Robin van Persie, the Arsenal forward, and Steed Malbranque, the Sunderland midfield player, have as many assists — while four of his 13 goals in all competitions have been winners.
Dig a little deeper, though, and the picture becomes less flattering. Only one of his goals has come against a team in the top six — in the 3-0 win at home to Chelsea in January — while he has found the net once in his past nine matches and has not scored in the Champions League since October 21, the one arena in which Ferguson felt the forward would bring an added dimension to United’s attack.
