MICHAEL WALKER

Irish Times

Saturday, January 9, 2010

United are going through a dodgy patch at present and could do with some of their big signings upping their game and delivering the goods.

MANCHESTER UNITED can go back to the top of the Premier League this evening. Okay, that would require Chelsea to lose or draw at Hull City at lunchtime and United to win by three goals at buoyant Birmingham, but as last Sunday at Old Trafford proved, anything can happen.

What is proven is that, statistically, United are not too far off being top of the league. They have scored eight times in their last two Premier League games, five against Wigan, three at Hull. And they have been hit by an avalanche of important injuries.

This is a sympathetic context so why does the harsh feeling nag that this team, which has won the last three Premier Leagues and which has reached the last two European Cup finals, is in some form of decline?

Surely basing such a claim on the once-in-a-generation loss to a third division side in the FA Cup is an over-reaction, even if the opposition was Leeds United?

The hosts were not good against Leeds last Sunday, of course, and Alex Ferguson was understandably infuriated, but could it not be explained away as one of those rare occasions when injuries, form and the opponents all come together?

There seems to be a collective view that we don’t think so. The reason is that the Leeds defeat came a fortnight after United lost 3-0 at Fulham. That came a week after Aston Villa had won 1-0 at Old Trafford.

There is a feeling of uncertainty about United just now. Who will score if Wayne Rooney does not? How long will it be before Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand are back in tandem? Just how good are Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher – and would they get in either the Chelsea or Arsenal teams?

We do not associate Ferguson with doubt, we associate him with certainty. But even he must have been perplexed by the midfield inability of Darron Gibson and Anderson last Sunday.

Then there is Dimitar Berbatov. Describing the smoky Bulgarian as enigmatic is a compliment wrapped inside an insult. For someone who cost €34.5 million – Manchester United’s record purchase – Berbatov could not be called enigmatically inspirational just now.

He has six goals this season and scored against both Wigan and Hull, but those were his first goals for two months and, with all due respect, they came against Wigan and Hull. The other teams Berbatov has scored against this season are Stoke, Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers.

It is the sort of flat-track bully record that prompts further scrutiny. So you go back to Berbatov’s first season at United and see the goals tally and where they came.

In the league Berbatov scored nine times from 29 starts and two substitute appearances. It is not a bad return, though not great when set aside Wayne Rooney’s 12 goals from four fewer starts.

Four of Berbatov’s goals were scored against the three clubs eventually relegated, West Brom, Middlesbrough and Newcastle. He scored against Bolton, Stoke and Fulham too.

There was a goal against former club Tottenham but when it came to the big-three rivals, Berbatov’s contribution in five matches against Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, was one goal. It was the 87th minute third in the 3-0 win over Chelsea. There were also two games against Everton in which he failed to score.

This looks like a case for the prosecution so for balance it has to be said that Berbatov was credited with 10 assists and there is only a general sense that his transfer from Spurs has developed into a mistake by Ferguson.

This is one beautiful, talented footballer, a natural. The questions are more about value for money and when Berbatov, soon to be 29, is going to bring his serious ability to the major stage.

Ferguson and United could do with that happening soon. The club could do with Berbatov rediscovering the sureness of foot that so enthralled White Hart Lane.

Arriving from Bayer Leverkusen for €11.1 million, Berbatov gelled with Robbie Keane and formed a partnership that brought both strikers a healthy yield in terms of goals. Berbatov looked content with himself and had what they call happy feet.

But they came to Ferguson’s attention and after that saga the summer before last, Berbatov was signed on the last day of the transfer window. It was a coup for Ferguson.

Berbatov can point to the Premier League medal he won in his first season – and to the 10 assists as well as his goals – and say he was part of it. He was, it is just that he must become a bigger part of United than he was last Sunday as Leeds held out.

When Ferguson spoke of up to seven changes for the postponed Manchester City League Cup semi-final first leg on Wednesday, it was assumed that Berbatov would be one of them. Berbatov could do with proving Ferguson wrong about that. Simultaneously he would be proving Ferguson right.

 Beckford opinion may not be shared

THE FALLOUT from last Sunday at Old Trafford was not confined to Manchester. Across the snowy Pennines, it became apparent that Leeds’s FA Cup goalscorer, Jermaine Beckford, was thinking of the goal as his last act before departing Elland Road.

This shocked many, though, tellingly, not those close to Leeds United or to Beckford. This is a young man with a good opinion of himself.

Unfortunately for Beckford, this may not be shared by the rest of the English game, particularly somewhere called the Premier League. Beckford has never been there – though he did well on loan at Scunthorpe three years ago.

It is also an opinion they do not share on the terraces of Elland Road judging by the frequent groans that accompany the latest Beckford missed chance. Until last Sunday Leeds fans’ view was that Beckford was yet to score a significant goal on a pivotal day.

Lest he forget, Beckford – who is 26 – was part of a Leeds side which came fourth in the third division last season and which then lost in the play-offs to Millwall. Beckford played in both 90 minutes against the Londoners but did not score.

But after a superficially impressive 20 goals so far this season, Beckford can hear wallets being opened elsewhere.

Newcastle are favourites to recruit him but their initial offer of €1.35 million looked unrealistic. Ken Bates will hold out for more, one imagines, and Newcastle may not have much more given their circumstances.

Beckford may not be leaving Leeds just yet. Their home game with Wycombe seems to be one to beat the snow today but the reaction to the mention even of Beckford’s name could be cold.

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