Berbatov uses criticism to fuel United´s title charge

Dimitar Berbatov insists he has learned plenty from even his fiercest critics since arriving at Manchester United.

And the Bulgarian maintains he is satisfied as long as Sir Alex Ferguson is happy and his team are winning trophies.

Berbatov, 28, has divided fans since making a 30.75 million pounds move to Old Trafford from Tottenham 13 months ago.

The former Bayer Leverkusen striker, who has scored 16 goals in 53 United appearances, has regularly been labelled lazy by both pundits and critics during his first year at United.

But Ferguson has always stood by the player and is sure that Berbatov will thrive in a more advanced roles this season.

The ex-Spurs man admits he is irritated by the constant questions about what he brings to United, after helping the club to a third straight Premier League title and the Champions League final in his first season.

But he is adamant he will continue to justify the heavy price Ferguson paid to bring him to Old Trafford despite the constant criticism.

“It does frustrate me but you will never hear me complaining about it,” Berbatov told AFP. “I’ve spent all my life justifying myself and it’s not easy.

“But I try to work hard and I’m playing with the best players in the world for the best team in the world so you will never hear me complain, never.

“As long as the manager is happy, that’s it for me. No matter what you do there will always be somebody to criticise you but that’s ok.

“Even the meanest critics, you can see something and think ‘Yes, I need to work on that’ so I try to take the good stuff from it all and get better.

“I don’t put targets on goals about myself because the one thing that’s important for us is to win the title and obviously the Champions League which we didn’t win last time and if we win the title again it will be four titles in a row which nobody has ever done before.

“If I can help my team, assist them in any way, to help them win the championship then I’ll be happy.”

After the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo in June, Berbatov is relishing doing his bit to fill the void left by the free-scoring Portuguese star.

But he insists he will still drop into deep positions if he feels he can make key contributions and has revealed that life under Ferguson has brought a few surprises.

Berbatov, speaking on behalf of United sponsors Betfair, added: “He jokes around a lot and he’s always singing, you can hear him singing around Carrington and that really surprised me but all of a sudden the game comes.

“Literally when you talk before the game, it’s like, click, and he’s a different person.

“He’s fully concentrated on the game and he knows how to prepare for the game. I’ve been to pre-match talks and I’ve never heard anything like it in my life. He wants you to go out and destroy the opposition.

“I don’t sing with him though. He sings only opera stuff and that’s not my thing.”

Berbatov is settling into life in Manchester and admits he has enjoyed getting used to being a home player at Old Trafford.

The Bulgarian has experienced being a visitor to United’s home ground and now enjoys picking up on the tension in away players.

He said: “Every team that faces us is going on to the pitch with all the respect they have for us and sometimes they are a little afraid.

“That’s especially at Old Trafford but that?s normal because we?re the best team in the world.

“You can see it, honestly and I know that because when I was at Tottenham you would come here and you were against United, the best team, and some of the best players.

“I know that now when opposition come to Old Trafford, they’re a bit scared, they have respect, and we try to take advantage of that in the first minutes of games.”