Berbatov the £30m enigma: Is Fergie the real villain?

The mainstream media have been responding to the angry reaction from United supporters following Sunday's FA Cup semi-final defeat at the hands of Everton. Not surprisingly, the supporters have laid into Dimitar Berbatov after he failed to score in the penalty shoot-out, the Bulgarian's pitiful effort allowed the Toffees off the hook after Tim Cahill had blazed Everton's opening penalty over the crossbar but the champions failed to capitalise and went on to eventually crash out of the competition.

The reaction of the supporters is predictable because while Berbatov has been a limited success since his big money move to United, his worth has divided opinion among the fans. Not since the signing of Juan Sebastian Veron have the supporters been so split regarding the merits of a big money signing. To be fair, prior to the then Spurs star signing, many United fans were unsure if Berbatov's languid style would suit Manchester United where expectations are and standards are at the highest end of the scale.

Apparently, official stats on Berbatov suggest that his contribution has been better than the generally held negative perception of the player thus far, well all I will say about that is "lies, damned lies and statistics"...but worryingly, the stats do confirm that the partnership of Rooney and Berbatov is not working and it explains why United's normal brand of attacking free-flowing football hasn't quite been what we have come to expect.

The recent introduction of boy-wonder Federico Macheda has if anything only served to highlight what the true role of a genuine centre-forward actually is; that is to hold up the ball for the team in difficult situations, often when receiving the ball with one's back to goal. United's young Italian striker looks comfortable in any given situation; he is quick, strong, confident and not easy to push off the ball. Berbatov is confident, but he's slow and is easily pushed off the ball and has no great presence up front as the lone striker.

Comparisons between former and present players are almost always unfair, and Berbatov has been burdened with being likened to United legend Eric Cantona - which is completely unfair, but there are some similarities when comparing the Frenchman and the Bulgarian. Like Cantona, Berbatov likes to drop deep, but unlike Eric, Dimitar does not command the respect of opposing players. I can barely remember Cantona being tackled during his glorious United career - it must have happened - but nowhere near as much as it does with Berbatov.

Some might well rightly argue that Berbatov is not a genuine centre-forward and that Fergie knew that when he signed him for £30m. However, harking back to the days of Cantona who was given a free role by the United manager, at that time we DID have a genuine goal-scoring centre-forward in Andy Cole, the trouble is now we don't, not unless the manager starts selecting Macheda. Cole was never the perfect foil for Cantona, but importantly he had presence - whenever he played he was a constant danger and goal threat with his blistering pace.

The fact is the more the fans see of Berbatov, the more it looks like his signing was a huge mistake and if that is so then Fergie must shoulder the blame, but do not expect the United manager to admit it, because even after Veron was sold on he maintained that the Argentine was a great player.

Far from being the final piece that completed Fergie's jigsaw, it increasingly looks like he is the rogue piece in the box, the one that will never fit in, if that is so then United have a massive problem, but because they are looking at a huge loss if they decide to sell the player. The money spent on Berbatov would have been better spent on securing the future of Carlos Tevez which is what should have happened in the last transfer window.