How to solve a problem like Dimitar.

While Wayne Rooney spent last season enjoying the zenith of his career, certainly thus far; another high-profile Manchester United player often cut the definition of a forlorn figure: Dimitar Berbatov, looking destined to spend his career at Old Trafford as a mystery to many of the club’s supporters; seemingly trapped somewhere between a man in an existential crisis and a striker fully operating in a void, rather than just the traditional “hole”. Indeed, the Bulgarian was purportedly offered to Juventus, Bayern Munich and Milan immediately following the season’s conclusion; if that is fact then it was without success.

However, it was likely that the emphasis of United’s attacking play would shift as a consequence of Wayne Rooney’s well-documented absences and the seeds for that eventuality proving fruitful for Berbatov were sown on the club’s pre-season tour of the USA.

Without United’s World Cup players present across the Atlantic, Berbatov was lauded as the star attraction, by both fans and journalists alike - no negative comparisons to Carlos Tevez or questions of the player’s future lurking around corners - smiles soon followed from the United 9 and Man of the Match awards became his preserve. The player’s bond with Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs [Sir Alex Ferguson’s most trusted of Lieutenants], also seemed to become much more deep rooted than previous; a benefit of traditionally dominant characters being absent from the dressing-room for the period, one could surmise. Perhaps also of relevance for Berbatov’s sustained future at United - the burgeoning talents of Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley reveled alongside him - reciprocating his quality and favour, with youthful enthusiasm and deference.

Two characteristics were palpable in Berbatov in America: enjoyment; and the willingness to accept responsibility.

Since United returned to the UK and to the daily rigours, Berbatov’s works with the club’s coaches, in particular Rene Meulensteen, continued and still bear fruit for all concerned – echoing those undertaken with Diego Forlan years hence. But the club has learnt from the Uruguayan’s post-United performances and perhaps accordingly, the supporter’s calls for the signing of a Van der Vaart or an Ozil fell on deaf ears; the manager was committed to another year for the Bulgarian and how well that has paid-off, thus far.

By the time Berbatov demolished Liverpool, with a hat-trick in the team’s 3-2 win, he was only serving to underline a perception of capabilities equal to any other player at the club or indeed, in the League; his finishing was sublime in the extreme and the renaissance was as complete as a player gets at a club like United - always seeking to move forward. With 19 league goals this season and averaging one every 96 minutes; Berbatov has been invaluable in United’s quest for their 19^th league title. 

If the team, occasionally, once seemed to sublimate alacrity of mind and technique for belief in Wayne Rooney’s insatiable nature and goal-scoring belligerence in a 4-5-1 machino; the players have, for much of this season, been playing in Dimitar Berbatov's band.

It says much about Sir Alex Ferguson that he is able to reconstitute squads competitively, layering them with compatible abilities and personalities; but that he is continually able to affect or regenerate the dominant mentality of the collective is a truly marvellous ability.

And thus, to Berbatov – his insouciant confidence would have made him an incongruous presence in almost any other Sir Alex Ferguson team, but this United squad seems less visceral than many previous incarnations; more cerebral, emotionally intelligent and unaffected off-the-field: Park, Carrick, Evra, O’Shea, Evans, Owen, Valencia, Smalling, Fletcher, Van der Sar, Vidic, Giggs and Scholes [to name a few]; the acquisition of Javier Hernandez integrating another intuitive player into the group.

And whether by design or default: Nemanja Vidic’s appointment as captain [rather than England’s media-involved Rooney or Ferdinand], also offered a rebalancing within the dressing-room; closer to Berbatov by age, outlook and birthplace.

But life in a trophy competing squad is rarely linear; particularly with Wayne Rooney having been tied to a new contract [around £180,000 per week], invariably anticipating the opportunity to return to the form he aspires to and to reingratiate himself into the bosom - with Sir Alex Ferguson’s actions and comments intimating the same. However, it seems unfeasible that the manager would allow all his club’s eggs to accumulate in one basket, which they uncharacteristically did for much of last season.

Fabio Da Silva: which one's he?

Sir Alex Ferguson’s consistent allusions [during the last 16 months] to the core of another great Manchester United squad already being in place, referred at least in part, to the burgeoning talents of their now 20 year old right-back: Rafael Da Silva.

Since joining United as an 18 year old, along with his twin brother Fabio in a £5.2million combined deal from Fluminense; Rafael has gone on to be named into the last two full Brazilian national squads - a result of performances for his club side against Ronaldinho, Gareth Bale and Frank Ribery, to name some. The United youngster’s metamorphosis into a key first-team player, also underwritten by Gary Neville’s recent retirement.

The young full-backs were first spotted by United at the Nike Cup of 2005, when the club's then Academy Manager, described them as “[ like] whippets. When they got knocked down, they just got straight back up again and got on with it. They were like bouncing balls - very, very quick".

But in seeking a comparison with Rafael, his brother Fabio’s progression at United pales, which is a surprise to many, given the general perceptions of their abilities prior to joining the club. Unfortunately for all concerned, likely complications were unwittingly implied during a joint interview with The Guardian in April 2009. To the question of “score a goal or keep a clean sheet?” they responded with interesting answers: Rafael stating “[keep a] clean sheet”; Fabio replying “[to] score a goal.”

Given their individual performance imperatives, variances unsurprisingly exist in their interpretation and application of the full-back role: where Rafael had always seemed to be playing “at” full-back – with a European version of the role innate to his nature; Fabio seemed much more like a footballer playing “from” full-back. During the pair’s development in Brazil, the trend had been for club teams and national teams to deploy two defensive shields in midfield; by extension, full-backs were given far greater license to attack.

With Fabio’s best attributes being the timing of his attacking headers, dead-ball skills, passing, long-shots, vision, goal-scoring intuition and good all-round technique, but without the capacities of a forward - the weakest part of the player’s game also, ironically being his defending – he was a natural for the Brazilian full-back role. Indeed, he was named captain of their national team for the Under 17 World Cup and in FIFA's report on Brazil's game against Ghana they intimated similar: "Brazil's calm and intricate build-up play was impressive to behold, as the imperious Fabio pulled the strings." He also finished as their leading scorer for the tournament, with an overhead kick included for good measure; finishing 2^nd top scored in the qualification process. No mean feats.


When playing for United's reserve team last season, Fabio scored six goals in eight games from left-back. But, top-level football is now different to that era where Paul Breitner was able to play full-back with a freedom of spirit more in keeping with Woodstock or the Summer of Love than Sir Alex Ferguson’s defence.

Appearances in the first-team have been scarcer for Fabio than they have for Rafael and although the player's season was seriously disrupted by injury [a shoulder injury implied], a myriad of factors have predicated differentials between their performances, thus far: regularly imperious, Patrice Evra's form at left-back chief among them.

The irregular presence of a left-footed player on the wing; Nani, Park and Giggs all taking turns  in front of Fabio, seemed to accentuate his right-footedness. And of course, the full-backs who excel playing on the opposite side to their preferred foot are also fewer in numbers than their counterparts.

But given the obstacles in his place, a question remains for the club and player: where now for Fabio Da Silva?

Whether the energy of a Gareth Bale on the left-wing in front of Fabio at left-back could countenance their lack of defensive awareness is uncertain, but perhaps a left-footed Brazilian winger educated in that same environment could enable him to fulfill his potential there.

But regardless, it does seem counter-intuitive for the player to remain as a full-back and United seem to have started to affect a repositioning of him. During a recent behind closed doors game, he appeared in defensive midfield in the first-half and attacking midfield in the second; also appearing in midfield for the reserves. It would be close to full-circle, since the player commenced his career [at Boa Esperança] in centre-midfield; a conversion to full-back being instigated upon his joining Fluminense.

It could be argued that a loan-period would accelerate the player's renaissance as an attacking force; perhaps in a slower European league, allowing him to develop his own style, without the performance expectations of Old Trafford; to build his confidence; and to give him an identity beyond being the “other Da Silva twin”. Regardless, it seems that United could have a player on their hands with a performance ceiling beyond that of Marek Hamsik, IMO.

Man United's strikers and Fergie's 4-4-2.

 

If the confirmed retirements of Gary Neville and Edwin Van der Sar should have reminded Manchester United fans of anything, it was that nothing lasts forever but, with Sir Alex Ferguson, in his 70^th year, once again reverting to his favoured formation of 4-4-2 [deploying Wayne Rooney in a lone striker's role just once, against Arsenal], they may well argue that they do.

With United having lost just once in their 25 League games this season,sitting top of the table and with only Chelsea having conceded less; the team’s defence has been key to results - Vidic and Ferdinand indomitable. But they can also justify their system if measured in goals and correspondingly Dimitar Berbatov leads the League’s charts on 19 - a rate of 1 every 87 minutes; Javier Hernandez - a newcomer to the country and regularly used in teams with Darron Gibson or as a substitute – his record  stands comparison with any: 7 League goals and 1 every 104 minutes.

Wayne Rooney – United’s leading scorer last season with 26 goals - he will be as disappointed as any at a return of 4, scoring at a rate of 1 every 286 minutes. Indeed, prior to the team’s most recent fixture [with Aston Villa], a haphazard array of United’s players had scored as many or more League goals than had the United number 10 (2): Giggs (2), Fletcher (2), Vidic (3), Cleverley (3), Mame Biram Diouf (3), Park (4), Welbeck (6), Nani (7), Chicarito (7) and Berbatov (19).

Goals from United's central-midfield are only worth mentioning because they are conspicuous by their absence: Carrick (0), Gibson (0), Fletcher (2), Scholes (1) and Anderson (0) – 3 goals in total, 1 every 1,632 minutes; comparing badly with the strikers [Owen, Rooney, Hernandez and Berbatov] on a goal every 164 minutes; a statistic likely to be high in Ferguson's thoughts when deciding on his best formation.

It has become almost as English a phrase as “petrol prices”, but Rooney’s game is not only about goals and with a pass rate of 1 attempted every 1.69 minutes, he is by some distance the forward most involved in play at the club, bearing comparison with the club’s central-midfielders. His completion rate of 73%, to some extent, a reflection of the distances attempted and the added ambition imbued.

 by Guardian Chalkboards

By comparison with Wayne Rooney: Berbatov makes a pass every 2.24 minutes with a completion rate of 79%; Hernandez attempts a pass every 2.80 minutes and has a completion of 76%. The central-midfielders score higher, as would be expected: Carrick (1.37 minutes per pass); Scholes (1.44 mins/ pass); Fletcher (1.52 mins/ pass); Anderson (1.92 mins/ pass) - an un-weighted, average pass completion of 83% for the midfield.

To put Berbatov's and Rooney’s contributions into context with other strikers: Fernando Torres' hat-trick against Hull City back in September 2009 included 21 passes with 14 successes - 1 pass every 4.29 minutes, with a completion of 67%; during Liverpool’s 3-2 defeat to United this season, Torres racked-up 16 passes with 7 successes - 1 pass every 5.63 minutes, with a success rate of 44%. During Chelsea's most recent seasonal defeat of Arsenal, Didier Drogba - the fulcrum of their attack that day - tallied 26 passes in total, with 15 successes and 1 pass every 3.46 minutes.

The United manager’s decision to sacrifice a midfielder for a forward player is further vindicated, in the assists, where Carrick, Gibson, Scholes and Anderson have contributed just one in 3,243 minutes; although Darren Fletcher can be credited with contributing 4 alone - 1 assist every 413 minutes. Of the strikers, Wayne Rooney comes top with 10 and 1 assist every 114 minutes - 2^nd only to Nani, the League’s leading provider with 12; Berbatov, Owen and Hernandez’s tallies are meager by comparison, with 2, 0 and 1 respectively. Interestingly, Wayne Rooney failed to even make the League’s top 20 providers last season.

Challenges may remain for the manager, whilst he works through the season, particularly if he seeks to rotate his strikers. Ferguson speaks increasingly of the collective and of the players need to appreciate it – the implication being, a willingness to acquiesce with perspective and goodwill - but, should a time come when Dimitar Berbatov, Javier Hernandez and the United midfield co-exist most productively; then the manager will be forced to challenge Wayne Rooney’s commitment to the group’s cause more fully, although with Danny Welbeck [another talented player] being added to the group and Rooney under contract; United are no longer beholden to any one striker. But for now, the club will just be hoping that a run of goals satiates the number 10; since it seems that his approach play, no longer does.

Whether the livewire Hernandez can contribute sufficiently to build-up play [thus, utilising his extra goal threat] and feature in a 4-4-2, with either Dimitar Berbatov or Wayne Rooney, against a Real Madrid or a Barcelona, is a question yet to be asked; but the Mexican is stereotypically fast and has shown rare movement, with finishing: imaginative; and in the main, unerring - even evoking images of Gerd Muller.

It is wise to comment that Berbatov and Rooney have also not been tested in a front two against the highest quality, at least not for some time but, unlike almost any other pairing of strikers, they offer an “in-game” involvement quite tantamount to one extra player - an attacking midfielder, given their average positions – pivotal in games where the opposition is likely to deploy three men around centre-midfield. In most other fixtures though, Hernandez's goal threat and ability to exploit high defensive lines, absolutely makes him a viable starter.

If utilising Javier Hernandez, in an impact role, from the bench and - presuming a focused - Wayne Rooney alongside Dimitar Berbatov is United's best bet, should Barcelona come around;  then whether any permutation of their midfield could challenge the Catalonian's is another question; but after time spent flirting with 4-2-3-1, 4-6-0 and 4-5-Rooney, Fergie’s romanticised 4-4-2 could be his best bet this year.