Manchester United put one foot into the Europa League final with a 3-0 win at Athletic Bilbao, but their striker woes have undoubtedly hit them hard during a difficult Premier League campaign.
Rasmus Hojlund has scored only nine goals in 47 club games this season, while Joshua Zirkzee has needed time to adapt to life in English football.
Another forward option Marcus Rashford was loaned to Aston Villa mid-season, leaving Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim sometimes even playing midfielder Kobbie Mainoo as a false nine.
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Dimitar Berbatov recalls Manchester United’s legendary strike force
It’s been quite a contrast to the 2008/09 season, when Manchester United boasted four legendary forward options – Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov, who joined the club that summer from Tottenham Hotspur.
“Well, different time, different football, different players,” Berbatov tells FourFourTwo modestly, when asked to compare the current strike force with the one he was part of.
“United have been going through a difficult period in the Premier League, and especially even more so now that Liverpool have won the 20th title, which obviously is a big disappointment for everybody connected to United.
“As for their striker dilemma, that will stay until either the current strikers start scoring goals regularly, or the new season comes and the manager decides his patience is no longer there with them, and maybe he’ll go for someone else.
“Until the season finishes, I hope that whoever is given the chance to play up front can take this chance really seriously, because they need to know that when the new season comes, everything starts anew, the manager will have more time to prepare the team from the beginning.
“Then it’s going to be either you produce or you’re not playing, or worse – you’re going to be sold.”
Berbatov was speaking to FFT in his role as European brand ambassador for LiveScore and LiveScore Bet – even if Manchester United and Tottenham haven’t had the best of seasons in the league, he keeps close tabs on all of his former clubs, which also include CSKA Sofia, Bayer Leverkusen, Fulham, Monaco and PAOK.
“For sure, I mean, come on?” he smiles. “I need to follow the scores for every club I played for – even before I worked with LiveScore, it was a natural process of where to check the score, and it was always the LiveScore app.
“Previously I worked with them for the Extra Time campaign for mental health, which is very important, and now the next step was to work with them on a long-term project, being an ambassador for them.
“I always check the scores for my ex-clubs – getting angry sometimes, being happy most of the time, or vice versa in these times now!”
You’ll be able to read more from Berbatov in a big interview about his playing career, in an upcoming issue of FourFourTwo magazine.
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