Berbatov has improved after changing his game, says Vidic

(GETTY IMAGES)

The new Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic was full of praise for Dimitar Berbatov yesterday, saying that the Bulgarian had changed his game compared to last season to become more effective.

"We are all aware how good Dimitar is. His skills with the ball are incredible," Vidic said. "The criticism he got last year was because he didn't score many goals. This season he is scoring a lot, and important goals too.

"He has learnt what he has to do. He has changed his game compared to last season. He is in the box more and is more of a threat. Dimitar has always had a great touch and gave us composure but because he is also going into the box, he is scoring goals."

Vidic also feels that the United captaincy will improve his performances. "Being captain will add to my game," the defender said. "I am still doing what I did before; doing my best to help the team but I am also trying to raise my game to play even better. It is a big responsibility but Gary [Neville], Ryan [Giggs] and Rio [Ferdinand] have worn the armband over the years and they are the example for all the players. When you have people like that around it is very easy."

While Vidic was delighted with Berbatov's scoring, Patrice Evra was not pleased with United's defending. "We won 3-2 and all the fans are happy. But to concede two goals again makes me not happy," he said. "I don't know why we made the job hard because we could have made it easy. It was like at Everton. We conceded three goals there and against Liverpool we conceded two. We have to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again.

"Manchester United should be solid. But it's not only about the defenders. It's about everyone. We conceded two goals against Liverpool, but they didn't even have one shot on target. They scored from a penalty and a free-kick. For us, that type of thing is not good."