How To Disappear Completely

I wouldn't want to suggest any sort of conspiracy going on, but there does appear to be a certain desire in the media for Berbatov to fail. Consider the way his first season has been continually described as a bad one, when it so obviously wasn't. He may not have had the immediate impact that we might have desired, but he still had a good season as far as I'm concerned. Why raise this now? Here's the little write up of Berba in The Mirror's "Player rating":

Dimitar Berbatov: Scored with a fine volley and had a hand in six of the goals. Looked noticeably fitter and, unlike him, seemed to run everywhere.

Standard snide remark about his work rate aside, what else could you ask for from a player - scores and has a hand in 6 out of 8 goals (in 70 minutes on the pitch). He gets an 8. Which is a good score. But if that doesn't deserve a 9, what does (And yes, pre-season friendly, not very good opposition, but you can only rate players according to what they do, not the opposition they play against)? And that isn't even what led me to structure this paper round up around the idea of the media's desire for Berba to fail. Here's a little bit from The Sun's stupidly short match report:

But it was Giggs who stole the show with his terrific treble.

The only mention Berba gets is in the list of goalscorers. To me it was Berba who stole the show with some amazing control, some great touches and playing a part in 6 of the goals. At least The Sun is original in picking Giggs, most everyone else runs with Owen scoring 2. And I'm not suggesting that Owen shouldn't be given praise/column inches for his scoring, given the words written about his transfer, it's only right that the papers continue to write about him when he's doing well. But the same can be said for Berba - given the flak he's received for the duration of his time with us, it would seem right that when he has a game like he had yesterday he should be praised for it, alongside, not instead of, Owen (and Giggs), rather than being ignored so that next time he has a bad game they can have a go again, claiming he's never shone in a Man Utd shirt.
The only person who bucks the trend is Tim Rich in The Guardian:

[If] Manchester United were the Globetrotters, then Berbatov was a kind of Meadowlark Lemon, who had a hand in all the six goals scored in the 70 minutes he was granted. Even when points are at stake, the Bulgarian seldom looks enthused but here in the Yellow Dragon Stadium he unveiled an array of touches that left a game but sometimes shambolic Greentown bemused.

In a report that points out the friality of the opposition he at least manages to praise both Berba and Owen:

what you can say about Owen after a week in a Manchester United shirt is that he looks sharp and motivated - something his critics said he too often was not at Newcastle

The Manchester Evening News report barely mentions Berba:

it is the striking department where Ferguson can have the most to feel pleased about.

When he announced a couple of weeks ago that his spending for the summer was done, Ferguson created an impression of United beginning the defence of their Premier League title one forward light.

However, that may not be the case.

The youngest of the four, 17-year-old Federico Macheda, has shown plenty of confidence, as Wayne Rooney always does.

Dimitar Berbatov got off the mark in South Korea and gave his confidence another boost with a smartly-taken effort here.

The biggest plus, though, is Michael Owen. After scoring in both games in Malaysia, Owen doubled his tally with a well-taken first-half brace against a distinctly ordinary Hangzhou outfit.

In a more competitive environment an inquest would have been held into the failure of the far side assistant to raise an offside flag given Owen was never actually on-side from the moment Nani collected possession to the time United's new striker swept his team in front.

His second was a gem though, Owen taking Berbatov's pass on his chest before volleying home.

Yes, Owen was a plus, but why limit the praise of Berba to his goal and then tone down his part in Owen's second to "a pass," his "pass" was of such quality that it was very much a part of the reason that Owen's goal was "a gem."
The Mirror report has the player rating mentioned above point out the part Berba had in 6 goals, but the report again limits his contribution to his goal, as does The Times, as does The Telegraph. The Mail take it to ridiculous extremes by pointing out how Owen set up Berba last Friday:

Owen was instantly recognisable as the man who has scored 40 goals in 89 appearances for his country and contributed 248 during his eight years at Anfield.

So too was he as he harried a defender in to making a mistake last Friday before presenting Berbatov with a scoring chance. As was always the case, Owen has looked most dangerous out here when sitting on the shoulder of the last defender.

I'll stop complaining now and move onto the quotes. Sir Alex on Owen:

“This tour is not the acid test, but given Michael’s ability and understanding of play around the last third, I think he will be getting goals and things are looking good for us in that position.

“His contribution in overall play is suited to us. He is very clever in the last third and knows when to run and when to hold runs. That, linked with the experience he gives in that position, will be good for us.”

And on giving Owen the no. 7 shirt:

“Our No 7 shirt is a jersey that has been worn by many high-profile players. Michael has been high-profile for the last decade, he has the confidence to carry the No 7. He is a natural to wear it.”

On the overall game:

"I know it might not be judged properly because people may think the opposition was weaker but some of our follow-up play and penetration was first-class last night," said Ferguson.

"For that reason I am delighted.

"The speed of the play at times in the first-half was really good and an indication that we are starting to come to our peak in terms of fitness, timing and the tempo of the game."

Van der Sar has some quotes on his future:

Van der Sar said: "The manager is planning to give Ben more games and I think that's normal. You have to look to the future.

"He (Ferguson) has gone public and explained that as well. That has been the case for the last couple of years.

"But of course you want to play the majority of the games and I still want to play as many games as I can next season.

"I don't know if this will be my last year, though. As far as making a decision, I am going to see how the season goes.

"There will be several factors to consider. Am I still enjoying it? Do the club still want me? Those kind of things I guess."

Giggs on Owen:

"It just proves what we all knew anyway, that he's a goalscorer," Giggs said of Owen's performance.

"He scores all kinds of goals and he's done really well so far."

Finally, The Mail just can't resist with the silly transfer rumours:

Manchester United could rival Liverpool in a fresh move for Valencia’s David Silva.

United, who have also bid for Silva’s team-mate David Villa, are long-time admirers of the Spain midfielder. They know Liverpool are also interested should they sell Xabi Alonso.

Reports in Spain suggest United will make an offer to cash-strapped Valencia this week.

I really am waiting with baited breath for this one to come off...