The criticism of Dimitar Berbatov has reached new levels of intensity following his weak penalty-kick against Everton. By some, or even many, supporters he’s considered lazy, uninterested and a Veron-style transfer market mistake by Fergie. Tommy Docherty goes as far as to call Berba “an absolute disaster”. Even I have occasionally (but very briefly) doubted his contribution, even though I always love his style.
So let’s have another look at the official statistics from the Premier League. Number of assists, season 2008/09:
- Robin Van Persie 10
- Dimitar Berbatov 9
- Stephen Ireland 9
- Frank Lampard 9
For some reason I very rarely hear anyone questioning the contributions of Van Persie, Ireland or Lampard. Telegraph today helped me dig up some other interesting statistics, comparing Berbatov’s performances at Spurs and United:
| Team | Tottenham | Manchester United |
| Appearances | 70 | 27 |
| Goal attempts | ||
| Goals | 27 | 8 |
| Goals per game | 0.39 | 0.30 |
| Shots on target | 89 | 21 |
| Shots off target | 76 | 18 |
| Shots per game | 2.4 | 1.4 |
| Shooting acuracy | 54% | 54% |
| Chance conversion | 16% | 21% |
| Passing | ||
| Goal assists | 18 | 8 |
| Chances created per match | 1.53 | 1.78 |
| Pass completion % | 67% | 77% |
| Pass % opp. half | 65% | 75% |
| Crossing | ||
| Cross completion % | 11% | 29% |
| Defending | ||
| Tackles won % | 75% | 84% |
I’m not saying that these statistics prove that Berbatov has been brilliant, but it’s interesting to see that he’s improved on chance conversion, chances created, pass completion and assists. He’s even won some tackles! He should shoot more often, though.
