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Saturday 12 October 2024 09:30
Dimitar Berbatov was known for his elegant and languid attacking play, but the Bulgarian striker has revealed he often spent training sessions battling in defence.
Accompanying Manchester United’s Under-16s side on their annual trip to the Hong Kong Jockey Club in summer, Berbatov participated in a wide-ranging Q&A with the young players.
One of his most interesting answers features in the latest instalment from MUTV’s popular Lifeblood series. The newest short film, ‘U16s in Hong Kong’, provides a unique look on the trip, with vlogs from the young Reds, POV shots showing what it’s like to train as a budding United player and insights into exactly why the Academy takes these kids on such an extraordinary journey.
Lifeblood Short: U16s in Hong Kong Video
Lifeblood Short: U16s in Hong Kong
NEW RELEASE | This exclusive Lifeblood short follows our Under-16s on a lifechanging trip to Hong Kong…
Each year, two club legends accompany the group, helping them to understand how best to represent United while travelling as well as meeting local fans and engaging in the local culture. On this occasion, Berbatov was joined by former-teammate John O’Shea.
“I just wanted to know, being a defensive player myself,” one youngster asked Berbatov, “how would you adapt having different defensive players [to play] against, how would you change your game?”
Berba’s answer was fascinating.
“Believe it or not, when I trained, from time to time I would go to play as a defender,” he replied.
“And my teammates were looking at me when I go to play as a defender. Rio would say to me ‘Berbs, what are you doing here? Go up there, man.’
“But I played as a defender because I wanted to know how the defender is thinking when he’s defending.”
‘Why I trained in defence’ Video
‘Why I trained in defence’
LIFEBLOOD SHORT CLIP | Dimitar Berbatov gives fascinating advice to our U16s on their annual Hong Kong trip…
While surprising, it’s far from the first time we’ve heard United greats speak along this theme. Club captain Bruno Fernandes played at centre-back in his early teenage years, only converting to a chance-creating, goal-scoring attacking midfielder aged 15. Some goalkeepers, including former-Red David de Gea, played up front for many years. All of it, like Berba says, aids their game understanding: what is my opponent thinking, how can I surprise them and beat them?
“I think it’s great to bring old players to come back and speak with the kids and just show them how we used to do things,” Berbatov explained.
“If some of the boys like something they see, maybe they take it, put it into day-to-day life and maybe put it into their game as well. It’s good to pass the torch.”
It’s clear from Lifeblood Short: U16s in Hong Kong that Berba has plenty of advice specific to training and how to develop on the pitch, but he and O’Shea also act as role models as to how to behave while on tour.
“United’s always going to be one of the biggest clubs in the world,” says Berbatov.
“And the brand is so big, you can imagine the places I’ve been, small places around the world where they know United, they talk about United, the players, the goals, the matches, everything.
“Everybody is watching. The whole world. In these parts of the world, they are so passionate about it. They’re not sleeping to watch games, and support the team and the players. And to this day, I still get letters, especially from this part of the world, telling about the games back in the day. So you need to appreciate this because one day it’s going to be over, so enjoy it while you can.
“You need to understand and appreciate — especially the boys growing up — that they play for one of the biggest clubs in the world, and the standards are high so they need to know how to behave, how to talk, how to speak, outside of football as well.”
Lifeblood Short: U16s in Hong Kong is available to watch on demand for all registered users.
Watch Lifeblood:
Saturday 12 October 2024 09:30
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