Over To You Berby

With the news that Rooney could be out for anything from one week to four weeks, depending on which reports you read (personally, I think he will be back in two weeks – I did something similar to my ankle a few years ago and was over it in three weeks and I don’t have the benefit of being a finely tuned athlete with the best medical experts at my disposal) the attention now turns to Dimitar Berbatov.

I have been a fan of Berby since he was at Tottenham and was delighted when we finally signed him but I must admit that even I began to lose some faith in him earlier in the season.

I’m well aware that there has never been a striker in the history of the game who has put away every chance presented to him but Berby has missed some sitters and for a tall guy, his heading leaves something to be desired.

I’ve never had a problem with the “languid” style. He can play at tortoise speed for me so long as he produces the goods when it matters.

What has been evident for much of his early Manchester United career is that he has put himself under immense pressure to justify the massive £30 Million price tag. He had only been here a few weeks when he missed a couple of chances and said himself that “the £30 Million striker should be putting those away”. It was clear then that he was fully conscious of the weight of expectation on his shoulders that a hefty price tag brings.

However, there have been signs in the last few weeks that he has finally shaken that albatross from around his neck and is mentally now ready to show everyone just what Dimitar Berbatov is all about.

If I’m right in that assessment then the timing couldn’t be more perfect because he is going to be needed for the next few games like never before.

We started the season looking quite healthy in the striking department but injuries to Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney and Federico Macheda (back now but still in the recovery stage) have left us looking suddenly quite threadbare and any injury to Berby at this stage would be disastrous. Mame Biram Diouf would be our senior striker and he has only been with us for a few months.

However, assuming that our luck with strikers cannot get any worse and that Berby remains fit and well for the remainder of the season, then I think we will be fine.

This is Berby Time. This is the chance for him to show what he can do. This is the chance for him to finally get all the doubters and the fence-sitters to see what he is all about.

The omens are good because whilst Rooney has been banging in the goals and the likes of Nani and Valencia have been putting in the assists, if you look at a lot of our goals and rewind them a couple of moves then you will see that Berby has played some very important part in them.

It might just be holding onto the ball until the attacking players can get into space (he is ridiculously difficult to dispossess), it might be plucking a ball out of the sky where a lesser player would have watched it bounce out for a throw-in or it might be playing a clever pass out wide or through the defence to create something out of nothing but Berby has done it all this season.

He’s going to need support but last week’s 4-0 against Bolton showed that we are more than capable of scoring with Berby on his own up front.

The loss of Rooney at this stage is a massive blow but Berby is ready to show that he’s the man to rise to the challenge, I’m sure about that.

Over to you, Dimi.

Believe.