SOCCER:DIMITAR BERBATOV has admitted there have been times at Manchester United when he has been plagued by self-doubt, the striker referring specifically to his "dark moments" and the sense that he was not justifying his status as the most expensive player in the club's history.
Berbatov’s performances so far this season, with seven goals in six games, come after two erratic seasons, with the Bulgarian confessing there have been times when he has been troubled by his €36 million price tag since signing from Tottenham Hotspur.
“You try not to think about it but sometimes you just can’t help it,” he said. “You start thinking it’s a lot of money and what’s going to happen if you don’t prove you’re good enough for that amount of money and if you don’t score enough goals.
“These thoughts are always going through my mind and sometimes it can be bad for your concentration because it does distract you from the goal I have to play and enjoy my football. Sometimes you think you didn’t do enough for the team, when you have a bad game, and you start thinking: ‘Where did I go wrong?’ and ‘I can do better than that – I’ve done better than that in the past.’ You start to underestimate your skill, which is not good because I know what I can do, but every player has periods [of self-doubt] like this in their careers and the main thing to learn is to stay strong because you are going to have these dark moments and you need to be strong to get through them.”
Such a statement conforms to the image of Berbatov as an unorthodox and occasionally withdrawn character in the United dressingroom. His confidence has suffered at times – “I’m always thinking of the worst and hoping for the best,” he says – and he went on to admit there had been times when he had felt lonely in England.
“That’s why I always say to the English players they are lucky that they play in their country – they don’t have to go outside and see how difficult it is when you go to some place, they don’t need to meet with new people and start a new chapter of their lives.
“If people don’t know me, they think I am a strange guy – and I am a strange guy. I’m shy and the people who don’t know me don’t realise that. I don’t like to socialise too much and that’s because I am a shy person and have always been like this. I keep my close friends with me whenever I can and that’s it. I have difficulty letting anyone else into my inner circle.”
That kind of personality left him in awe of Alex Ferguson when he first moved to Old Trafford. “He is probably the most successful manager in football history. At first I was a bit star-struck . . . it was just a case of ‘whoa’. Then when you start to get to know him he is a very nice guy but when things don’t go as he planned, he will give you a rollicking. He can be aggressive, tough. But in a way that motivates you.”
Ferguson, who revealed yesterday that Owen Hargreaves had returned to training after two months of specialist work in the United States to resolve his knee injuries, summoned Berbatov in the summer to discuss ways to improve his form and told his player to start by paying no attention to criticism from outside the club.
“You know in the end, if you try to give too much attention to it, the criticism is going to be bad for you,” Berbatov said. “Everybody’s free to say whatever they want but nobody can take my smile away. I play for Manchester United and that was my main goal.”
