Berbatov at baffling best

Tottenham 4 Wigan Athletic 0: If Tottenham Hotspur played like this every week there would never be a doubt about Dimitar Berbatov's future.

The problem, though, is getting Berbatov consistently to play like this. When he does, Spurs purr, but there is a persistent feeling this languid forward cannot be bothered if results are not going his way. Even the manager, Juande Ramos, admitted his €15.6 million striker is high maintenance.

"He's a player who when the team are winning he'll be happy and when the team is playing well he will want to stay," said Ramos. "He has said he wants to stay. At the end of the season he will make a decision and hopefully then he will want to stay. I think Dimitar played exceptionally, like the rest of the team today."

His failure to score at least meant there was no opportunity to pick over the player's body language as there had been when he scored against Hapoel Tel Aviv on Thursday. Then his unsmiling celebration was interpreted as a snub to his club. Sang-froid or sulk? It seems Berbatov is keeping even his manager guessing on that one. Of course when, as last week, members of the striker's own family are quoted saying he is unhappy at White Hart Lane, it makes the situation even harder to read.

Even without scoring the Bulgaria international was the fulcrum of everything good about this display. There were pretty flicks and tricks but it was his perspicacity that mattered most. Ever aware of his team-mates' movement, Berbatov prised open the defence at will. On 25 minutes he collected a ball from Jermain Jenas and played it back with a through pass that put him and Robbie Keane two against two with Kevin Kilbane and the goalkeeper, Chris Kirkland.

Jenas was calm as he jinked round Kirkland and flicked in at the near post to double the lead he and the Spurs captain had already engineered. That had come on 12 minutes, when Keane beat Andreas Granqvist to the byline on the right side of the goal. As the Irishman prodded the ball across the goal, Kirkland allowed it to squirm underneath him, giving Jenas the opportunity to walk the ball into the net.

Jenas should have had a third before the first half was out. In the move of the match Pascal Chimbonda found Aaron Lennon, who touched it on to Jenas. Berbatov gave himself as the wall for the pass but did so with such exquisite artistry as to take the breath away. His first-time back-heel flick found Jenas, who glided inside Kilbane and outside Titus Bramble. His shot, with the outside of his right foot, struck the outside of the post when it seemed easier to score, denying Jenas the opportunity to celebrate the birth of his daughter this week with a hat-trick.

But by then Spurs were three goals to the good, again courtesy of Berbatov's assistance. He picked up a ball on the corner of the 18-yard box, cushioning it back for Lennon. The winger sent a ferocious, sweeping half-volley past Kirkland.

Wigan could not get the ball out of their own half. Marcus Bent cut a lonesome figure up front and was isolated as his team-mates in midfield failed to provide the necessary support. At one point, as he dropped into his own half to pick up the ball, all 11 Wigan players were within 35 yards of their own goal.

Antoine Sibierski was brought on for David Cotterill as the visitors' caretaker manager, Frank Barlow, sought an attacking outlet. Statistically the tactic seemed to work, since Spurs added only one goal after the break, the substitute Darren Bent converting Jenas's through-ball off a post. But it alleviated only some of the pressure and Kirkland tipped Berbatov's 81st-minute drive against the post, Younes Kaboul hitting the bar with the rebound. Spurs moved to 14th with this win.

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