Dimitar Berbatov has been at Manchester United for only three months but that is already long enough for the club's supporters to recognise that he can prick a variety of different emotions. There are times when he will beguile his audience and leave them longing for the ball to be played to him carelessly just so he can jab out a leg and demonstrate that Velcro touch. But then there are the days when he pulls on those black gloves, greases back his hair and does so little that it is difficult for fans to comprehend how he can force Carlos Tevez out of the side.
"I'd rather wash Berba's kit than Edwin van der Sar's," was the title of one website rant after United had beaten Sunderland 1-0 last Saturday in a match so one-sided the home goalkeeper did not have a single shot to save. The allegation was, in essence, a neglect of duty, that Berbatov had not covered a tennis court's worth of grass, that he was work-shy and needed to bring himself in line with the rest of the team. The roar when Tevez came off the bench had told another story.
These are still the embryonic stages of Berbatov's time in Manchester and, lest it be forgotten, the striker has already given us one moment of theatre that is about as good as it ever gets in professional sport. Nobody who was at Old Trafford on October 29 and saw, in real time, the way in which he set up Cristiano Ronaldo's second goal against West Ham United will ever tire of wanting to see it replayed. It was one of those rare moments in football that seemed to defy gravity.
Yet it is also undeniably true that the state of the Bulgaria forward's fitness will matter more to the Tottenham Hotspur supporters than it does those of United ahead of his return to White Hart Lane tomorrow afternoon. If Berbatov's sore achilles prevents him facing his old club, the average Spurs fan will breathe a sigh of relief. And as for United's supporters? They will simply shrug their shoulders and look forward to seeing Tevez play.
That may sound harsh but, when it comes to judging Berbatov's impact since his £30.5m transfer between the clubs in September, the jury is still out among most United fans. They desperately want to adore him but, right now, they remain in the process of eyeing him up, wondering where the relationship is going. Berbatov is an unorthodox player and it takes time to get used to a footballer with his idiosyncrasies.
"The problem is that the fans want effort," explains Paddy Crerand, a member of United's 1968 European Cup-winning team and a regular at Old Trafford. "Fans respond to effort. But some players can do more with one pass or piece of skill than another can do in 90 minutes of running around dementedly."
Crerand has seen all of Berbatov's matches this season and is surprised that such an extravagantly gifted footballer should ever come under scrutiny from the club's fans. "I think it's unfair," he continued. "I've heard all the grumbles but the supporters need to realise that not everyone runs around like Cristiano Ronaldo or George Best. Berbatov suffers by comparison. But that doesn't mean it's right. I think he's a wonderful player. He might have scored only a couple of goals but how many has he created? To my mind, if you make a goal, it's as good as scoring one."
Berbatov has actually scored six in all competitions, in 14 starts and one substitute's appearance, though only two have come in the Premier League. Even this has become a figure of debate among United's fans. On the one hand it is a healthy ratio of almost one goal in two games. On the other his goals have come exclusively in easy wins against moderate opposition - two each in 3-0 wins against Celtic and Aalborg in the Champions League, while he scored one in the 4-0 defeat of West Bromwich Albion and another in the 5-0 thrashing of Stoke City.
The most damaging allegation, perhaps, is that Berbatov has adversely affected the balance of the team. Sir Alex Ferguson's thinking was that his arrival would bring a "new and exciting dimension" to their attack. Instead he has been forced to admit it has taken time for the players "to understand Berba's qualities".
The United manager likes his four most advanced players, in a 4-2-3-1 system, to be fluid and interchange positions, making it as difficult as possible for opponents to pick them up. Berbatov can be wonderfully elusive but he does not stretch defences in the way that Tevez does. Wayne Rooney, meanwhile, has been playing well but not markedly better than in previous seasons and Ferguson has become exasperated about the number of chances his strikers have missed.
In hindsight there is an argument that Ferguson should have gone for an opportunist rather than someone who will decorate, but not dominate, matches. Or maybe Berbatov will remind Tottenham what they are missing tomorrow and, in the process, demonstrate why United's supporters really should not fret too much about his value to the team. "He's got different qualities but he will do well for this club, just wait and see," predicts Crerand.
