Berbatov Still Not Smiling Despite Breaking His Duck for United

Presumably, in the future, Dimitar Berbatov will look a lot happier when he has scored for Manchester United. His celebrations were muted, to say the least, in the 3-0 Champions League defeat of Aalborg in Denmark on Tuesday, when his body language was far from what might have been expected of a striker who had just broken his duck for his new club. "I was angry," the Bulgarian said yesterday.

If United's supporters did not already realize it, they will quickly have to learn that the club's £30.75m new signing can be a difficult man to read. The former Tottenham Hotspur player barely mustered a smile when he lashed in his first goal and there was little more than a sheepish grin for the second.

Nobody, however, should confuse his restrain with indifference. Berbatov was simply ruminating on his "embarrassment" that he had not scored earlier in the game when he was presented with an open goal after Cristiano Ronaldo had got in the way of an attempted clearance by the Aalborg goalkeeper.

"I was relieved, obviously," said Berbatov, reflecting on his first goals for Sir Alex Ferguson's team. "But I didn't celebrate because, first of all, I was disappointed to miss my first chance.

"Sometimes you get only one chance in these games and, for a guy who has been bought for all this money, I really have to take these chances. So that is why I was angry. I was frustrated about what I had done. I got the shot all wrong and I was embarrassed. I just kept trying and, of course, in the end I scored two goals. But I'm still angry and disappointed with myself because of the first one I missed."

It was the kind of slack finishing that smacked of a player with confidence issues after two disappointing and one mixed performance in his only other games for the Premier League and Champions League holders. Yet Berbatov's first two goals should soothe his self-belief and, as Ferguson pointed out, there is another topic to address when considering his inability to make a more immediate impact - namely that the rest of the team have to learn how to play with him, too.

Berbatov is not a slouch, but he is not particularly quick either, and there have been too many times over the last few weeks when other players in red have tried to set him running clear rather than playing it into his feet.

"The players need to understand just how good he is in terms of his ability to lead the line," said Ferguson. "They have to realize they don't need to pass to him in space all the time. They can pass to him when he's marked, because he's brilliant at that. His touch is fantastic at times. And the more we learn about him, the better we'll get."

The way Ferguson talks gives the firm impression that Berbatov is now very much his first-choice striker. Further evidence comes from the fact that Carlos Tevez (twice) and Wayne Rooney (once) have already been demoted to a place among the substitutes to accommodate the 27-year-old. Berbatov, it is fair to say, has still to produce his best form for his new club and the paradox is that he was United's least effective player in the first half against Aalborg. Yet there are signs of him growing into the role.

"There is pressure on me but it is always there and I hope I can deal with that," said Berbatov. "If I am not happy here, I cannot be happy anywhere." The forward spoke with the air of someone who was still coming to terms with the fact that a club of United's stature should be so dedicated to recruiting him from Tottenham Hotspur. It was a mixture of wonder and gratitude but, most of all, contentment.

"I heard Ryan Giggs say once that he had been here from the beginning and never wanted to be anywhere else," he continued. "And it's exactly as Ryan Giggs said - I am here now and I don't want to go anywhere else. I am the happiest guy. I find myself sitting at home sometimes, thinking: 'Hey, I am a Manchester United player, can you believe it?' It is a wonderful thing."