United clearout should target Dimitar Berbatov and Carlos Tevez

[Elano]

SIR ALEX FERGUSON is hardly going to like the following proposition, but here goes. In retooling Manchester United for 2009-10, he could learn from a Spaniard who makes him wince even more than Xavi when receiving possession. His name? Rafael Benitez.

Ferguson’s amigo will never admit he is wrong to a journalist or, for that matter, one of his players, but there is no ego about Benitez when it comes to transfers. Rafa has made some rum ones in his time but has always been quick to recognise when a signing is not working. Ferguson should do this regarding Dimitar Berbatov. Jamie Carragher notes that when his manager gets a purchase wrong it gets taken straight back to the shop, or rather the transfer market. Recalling the collection of roadsweepers and fading idols from Spain — Josemi, Antonio Nunez, Fernando Morientes, Mauricio Pellegrino — bought early in Benitez’s reign, Carragher wrote in his autobiography: “In Benitez’s defence, he wasted no time waiting for players to bed in. Once he saw how they were struggling, he’d offload them. I liked that about Benitez. When he make a mistake he wasn’t scared to rectify it. Under [Gerard] Houllier we’d persevere with players far beyond their point of no return.”

Benitez signed Robbie Keane for £20.3m and ushered him back to Tottenham for £12m. Few doubt — even given the financial loss — that his decision was right.

It is time for Ferguson to hold his hands up, Benitez-style, and concede his Berbatov experiment has failed. There would be no shame in it. Berbatov’s supreme technical qualities made him a punt worth taking when Ferguson recruited him for a club record £30.75m, but like Juan Sebastian Veron, he looks a serious talent who simply does not suit United. One thing the Bulgarian and Argentinian have in common is their laconic playing styles. Fast, percussive attacking is the United way and though Berbatov’s ability to hold the ball and use it unhurriedly is what made him attractive to Ferguson, it has also posed a problem.

Against Barcelona, as against Arsenal in the Champions League semi-finals, the Bulgarian was left on the bench as Ferguson went for quicker, more mobile forwards able to adhere to United’s ‘A’ plan of speedy ensemble counters. While in an ideal world it might be nice to retain the different option Berbatov provides, realistically he is one of the assets Ferguson could sell (at a loss) to fund squad-building that could help achieve what is now United’s compelling target, regaining the European crown.

Only Cristiano Ronaldo, Nemanja Vidic and Edwin Van der Sar made more Premier League starts but Berbatov began just five Champions League games in 2008-09. You expect a player costing a club record sum to figure at the business end of a campaign. Press room arguments have raged about Berbatov all season. Maestro or dilettante? Once I was firmly in the former camp but the season’s climax has been chastening for Berbatov fans — and that, deep down, must surely include Ferguson.

The striker’s contribution in Rome was symbolic: on, not even as United’s first attacking substitution, but their second, some ponderous build-up play and a clear scoring opportunity that he lacked the focus — or was it nerve? — to take.

His pre-match remarks were worrying, words to the effect that he thinks he is a special footballer to whom the normal imperative for players to “give 100%” does not apply. He said Ferguson shows approval by giving him the odd slap on the cheek, but maybe there is a misunderstanding and that gesture has been the manager trying to wake him up.

Carlos Tevez, for all he is perceived as a scurrier who works his cojones off for the team, appears guilty of similar egotism. Tevez, who appeared more times than Wayne Rooney in the campaign, has been sulking about not getting enough playing opportunities and declared himself “humiliated” by his omission from Wednesday’s starting line-up. Well, he didn’t manage a shot — on or off target — in 45 minutes when he did get on and in 2008-09, in the Premier League and Champions League, he scored just seven times, two more than Vidic.

Berbatov’s goalscoring record is just as iffy. Six of his 14 strikes were against Celtic, Aalborg and West Brom, and he notched just once against a top-six club, a late tap-in during the 3-0 stroll versus Chelsea. Providing he keeps Ronaldo, Ferguson should prioritise finding new strikers.

The £25.5m he could save by declining to sign Tevez and the £18m or so he could add by selling Berbatov would pay for the arrival of Karim Benzema from Lyons, a long-term target, and still allow spending in other areas. The climbdown might be uncomfortable, but we know what Benitez would do.

[KURUPTION-81]

Why dont we sell all our best players 

How about we improve on what we have rather than weaken the squad by getting rid of players.