Dimitar Berbatov has provided a quite incredible response to anyone who felt he was lazy in his career.
The Bulgarian was known for very much letting the ball do the work when he was on the pitch. He barely broke a sweat but with the technical ability and football brain he had, he didn't need to.
Despite getting 94 goals and 40 assists in 229 Premier League appearances, there's a feeling that Berbatov was somewhat misunderstood and the man himself was happy to give a summary of his playing style.
"I was an artist on the pitch," Berbatov said in an interview with Goal.
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"I didn't realise it in the beginning but it was really important for me to do something different. If you watch me, you won't fall asleep or switch the channel. It might be a small movement, detail, how I control the ball or flick the ball.
"I wanted people to say 'wow, I want to try that'. Then you see it isn't as easy as it looks. This is what I wanted to do. It didn't affect my game because this is who I am. I have my way of seeing football, not everyone can see it in the same way.
"Everyone is different. It helped me get to one of the biggest clubs in the world. Of course, you can't play with 11 artists on the pitch. It is not going to happen, you need...not 11 of me."
When in full flow, Berbatov was an absolute joy to watch, whether that be at Bayer Leverkusen, Spurs and Manchester United.
But he rejects the notion that he didn't work hard, pointing out his running stats and how they didn't mean that much given the way he played.
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"It is probably because I didn't play like Rooney or Tevez," Berbatov added.
"I didn't like that because I can show you six or seven current world-class players who run less than me back then. When you label something like that, it sticks. Even if it isn't true.
"People can go f*ck themselves. People don't understand and try to look smart. I would check my stats after every game and I was running 10-11km every game. It doesn't make any difference for me. I was more bothered how I move and make space.
"How to get an assist or pass to keep the ball. It wasn't all about goals. I know when I was bad or good. I was realistic and knew where I stood in the football world. I always wanted to develop."
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