Something tells me Utd fans aren’t happy (praise from Reds fans over at Redcafe.net):
"Veron mark II. That is all"
"Lazy, unprofessional, infuriating"
"Didnt think he would bottle it to be honest. Too cool for his own good"
"Hey, Howard! Don't cheat! You're not meant to move for the ball"
"Frustrating, I saw alot of determination from Rafael, Fabio, Gibson, Welbeck and Macheda and then Berbatov shows nothing"
"Can someone print his pass completion rate and his ground covered compared to other players. I'm sure another lesson in how great berbatov appears to be for us on paper would go a long distance to making us feel better about his pathetic contribution when we needed him today"
"Summed up everything about him in two seconds"
"Possibly the worst penalty I've ever seen"
"How can you take such a lazy, nonchalant penalty at a time of such importance"
"If Howard went the wrong way then he could have probably got up gone and collected the ball considering how crap the shot was"
"Wish we had never bought him"
£15M should do the trick then.
You can't blame a player for wanting to better himself by moving from a team stuck in the stasis of transition to one that wins silverware season in, season out. And more importantly, one that plays Champions League football - as a player with ambition would inherently lust for the centre stage of European football. But the fact is that not all players make that cross-over from being a key player at a smaller club and just another superstar at a bigger one.
We all know Dimitar well. We all know he has great vision and effortless ability. His swagger is sometimes deceptive and often mistaken for being lazy. At Spurs he was mostly sublime and it was almost forgivable when he was a little slow to get stuck in. At United he hasn't quite made the grade because the expectation from fans and manager alike is that every player - no matter their squad status - pulls the same amount of weight. I guess it's the reason why they are successful and we still struggle to be.
This isn't just about the penalty miss. It's his overall (lack of) effort that has made him the £30M bane of Old Trafford.
So was it worth it Dimi in the end? Your dream move? Maybe he's better suited for Serie A. Or maybe he'll suddenly come to life and lead Utd to a domestic league and Champions League double, and all the abuse will be replaced by 'Cantona Mk II' plaudits.
Guess there's nothing more to say here. Happy to have Modric in our side as the new creative spark of WHL, and as far as I know he doesn't have a squirrel fetish - so we can rest easy for now.