Anyone still deluded over Berge?

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Wow!!!
A bit of subtle quality doesn't work at Sheffield United......who'd have thought it
 
He may have only been "brilliant" one game in five but he was very good in the other four - at a time when he was often being played out of a position, whilst getting used to the pace of English football and (in his first full season with us) in a struggling side. At the level of players we can realistic pitch for, he remains an exceptional talent, as Fulham fans fully recognise.
 
Berge clearly had class. At his best was utterly sublime and a joy to watch. Gliding past players like they weren’t there was mesmeric at times.

Let’s not be completely revisionist though, he was frustrating.

When he was good he was excellent, when he’s wasn’t he was passive / or quiet.
He was rarely, if ever, genuinely bad.

His pitfall was he wasn’t at his best all of the time, or didn’t take th game by the scruff of the neck.

Many a fan couldn’t look past that or the fact he was a bit nesh and shrank when contesting headers. To some this was unforgivable and he was destined to return to the lesser leagues of Europe. A fine example for generally giving fans opinions a wide berth.
 
Ranmoorblade said:
Berge was brilliant on his day, sadly that only happened once every 5 or 6 games.
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Exactly this. Like most things in modern society it's seems you're either in the Berge is shit/Berge is amazing camp - with no nuance or grey area.

Surround him with runners (he looked so much better with Didzy as a No10 dropping short), time, a strong technical and well setup gameplan nd he did indeed look good ...

Surround him with a blood and thunder game, cold nights/days and a very limited technical gameplay and bang average players and well he looked a different player.

Personally i thought he was a decent player in possession but will never forgive his lack of stomach for tracking runners, making tackles and using his massive frame to physically impose himself on games... I see Peck as potentially being the player the Rolls Royce toting fanboys saw when they looked at Berge...
 
IdLiketoRogerMoore said:
Exactly this. Like most things in modern society it's seems you're either in the Berge is shit/Berge is amazing camp - with no nuance or grey area.

Surround him with runners (he looked so much better with Didzy as a No10 dropping short), time, a strong technical and well setup gameplan nd he did indeed look good ...

Surround him with a blood and thunder game, cold nights/days and a very limited technical gameplay and bang average players and well he looked a different player.

Personally i thought he was a decent player in possession but will never forgive his lack of stomach for tracking runners, making tackles and using his massive frame to physically impose himself on games... I see Peck as potentially being the player the Rolls Royce toting fanboys saw when they looked at Berge...
Click to expand...
A hybrid Berge/Peck would be some player. Berges ability and Pecks tenacity. As a baller Pecks levels away from Berge (IMO) but he's young and will hopefully get even better.
 
Berkshire Blade said:
Not quite the vicar's thread about Joe Root but one of!

We've had some top players in recent times. Very few have actually established themselves in the premier league. Berge is one of the handful
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Does that say more about SUFC than the individuals...... I wonder 🤔
 
IdLiketoRogerMoore said:
Exactly this. Like most things in modern society it's seems you're either in the Berge is shit/Berge is amazing camp - with no nuance or grey area.

Surround him with runners (he looked so much better with Didzy as a No10 dropping short), time, a strong technical and well setup gameplan nd he did indeed look good ...

Surround him with a blood and thunder game, cold nights/days and a very limited technical gameplay and bang average players and well he looked a different player.

Personally i thought he was a decent player in possession but will never forgive his lack of stomach for tracking runners, making tackles and using his massive frame to physically impose himself on games... I see Peck as potentially being the player the Rolls Royce toting fanboys saw when they looked at Berge...
Click to expand...
This reminds me of the debate over Michael Tonge. Personally I thought he was worth his place in the team - his sublime moments were worth the wait. Others didn't see it that way at all.
 

Ranmoorblade said:
Berge was brilliant on his day, sadly that only happened once every 5 or 6 games.
Click to expand...
There were definitely games where he could be frustrating, but overall he was much better than a ‘one in 5 games’ player.

Fulham clearly saw his strengths were keeping possession and moving things along - a role he pretty much exclusively does now, whereas we wanted him to be a box to box all action midfielder, he just isn’t that player. Sydie Peck does that role nicely because he’s got an athleticism that Sander doesn’t (not saying sander isn’t athletic but it’s not his style to be charging around the pitch flying into tackles).

I think it’s actually to Sander’s credit that he did so well for us despite being played in frankly quite a strange position for someone of his attributes.
 
Sander Berge is the perfect example how some players fit some clubs and not others. That's no one's fault, he is what he is, we are what we are, and Fulham are what they are.

If it hadn't been for covid, relegation and then his contract running down, he'd have probably been a masterstroke signing even he did only play to his potential once every five games, as we would have presumably made a fortune on him. Despite all those things getting in the way, we still managed to get £12m.
 
Never understood the vitriol Berge got here. The boy was a cut above everyone & was clearly our best central midfielder. Paired with a waining Fleck & Norwood - he had an impossible job to do in our ultimate relegation from the premier league.

The following 2 seasons, he was arguably our most important player (albeit in a lesser division). Don’t blame him at all for jumping ship & is now reaping the rewards of his choice by excelling in a Fulham side who are doing bits. Wouldn’t at all be surprised to see him move to a serious contender soon & continue his rise to the top. Class footballer.
 
Gimli said:
There were definitely games where he could be frustrating, but overall he was much better than a ‘one in 5 games’ player.

Fulham clearly saw his strengths were keeping possession and moving things along - a role he pretty much exclusively does now, whereas we wanted him to be a box to box all action midfielder, he just isn’t that player. Sydie Peck does that role nicely because he’s got an athleticism that Sander doesn’t (not saying sander isn’t athletic but it’s not his style to be charging around the pitch flying into tackles).

I think it’s actually to Sander’s credit that he did so well for us despite being played in frankly quite a strange position for someone of his attributes.
Click to expand...
Personally think he was bought as a replacement for Norwood as Wilder saw in the PL, Norwood's lack of mobility would be an issue. The issue was, we didn't use him as such and ended playing the pair of them, which meant two of our three central midfielders had the mobility of Stephen Hawking after a shot of methadone....

Which is why, the manager having sole responsibility for buying players is fundamentally flawed ...

Genuinely GLTTL - he owes us nothing after his time here...
 
IdLiketoRogerMoore said:
Personally think he was bought as a replacement for Norwood as Wilder saw in the PL, Norwood's lack of mobility would be an issue. The issue was, we didn't use him as such and ended playing the pair of them, which meant two of our three central midfielders had the mobility of Stephen Hawking after a shot of methadone....

Which is why, the manager having sole responsibility for buying players is fundamentally flawed ...

Genuinely GLTTL - he owes us nothing after his time here...
Click to expand...
The only thing I have slight resentment over is that he moved from us to Burnley which really seemed like a sideways move - we’ve been literally next to each other in the table for 3 consecutive seasons (if you include this one).
 
It's a bit like I saw on another thread about Traore doing well in Switzerland since he left us.

Some players, situations, managers, systems, team-mates attributes etc simply fit better with some than with others. We saw it with the 2019 promotion squad and was something that we struggled to adapt away from and have perhaps only just managed to do.

Berge was part of that transition, was shunted around a few different roles and was perhaps why he didn't always have the impact that he maybe could have done. If, hypothetically, we went up and signed him into this team rather than the 2019 one, he'd have a far clearer role and would flourish a lot more.

I still think with some heading practice and a few ounces of aggression added to everything else he possesses, he'd be a real top end player.
 
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