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theathletic.com
Gustavo Hamer, Sheffield United's all-action hero, offers hope in defeat
If you’re looking for something to take the edge off promotion, losing your two best players before the season even starts will do it.
Perhaps it’s a bleak indication of how much importance is placed on the transfer market these days, but Sheffield United fans would be forgiven for approaching this season with a mild sense of dread after the departures of Sander Berge and Iliman Ndiaye.
The arrivals of Vinicius Souza from Lommel in Belgium and Benie Traore from Sweden’s Hacken may have raised spirits a little, but any Blades supporter who claims to have watched enough of either last season to form a cogent opinion is, if you will excuse the accusation, a great big fibber.
Gustavo Hamer on the other hand… now there’s a signing to get excited about.
To a point, the play-off final last season didn’t matter enormously for Hamer and his former Coventry team-mate Viktor Gyokeres. Sure, losing to Luton Town wasn’t ideal, but both men knew they would be playing at a higher level this season regardless of events at Wembley. So it proved, with Sporting Lisbon signing Gyokeres in mid-July and United, a little belatedly perhaps, moving for Hamer just before their first game of the season.
It was a little surprising that the Dutch-raised Brazilian was still there to be snapped up. He had been one of the best players in the Championship for a couple of seasons, and one of the most eye-catching too. He has a combination of technique and physicality that should make him ideal for the Premier League, so you wonder why someone had not already swooped.
But everyone else’s loss is United’s gain. And even though their 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Friday means they have lost their opening pair of games back in the top flight, Hamer’s performance gave them something to cling to.
First, the goal. The ball broke to Hamer on the left corner of the penalty area, and even though on the angle he was probably 25 yards out and there was a melange of defenders in front of him, it felt inevitable as soon as he opened up his body that the ball was destined for the top corner.
What was particularly impressive was the power he managed to generate, his first touch not quite getting the ball from under his feet meaning he had to hit it from a standing position, almost with his weight going backwards rather than forwards. That tells you how good his technique is, being able to fizz a shot as he did with such minimal backlift.
Hamer is a pretty all-action, scruff-of-the-neck player, but that almost overshadows how smart he is. You lost count of the number of times he just seemed to find himself in space, often hoping for a pass that didn’t quite come. That doesn’t happen by accident.
Hamer always seemed to be… there. Like when nobody else was showing for a throw. Give us an option lads… ah, there’s Gus.
He did his bit in defence, too. Morgan Gibbs-White, playing in a sort of No 10-but-off-the-left role for Forest, was given an astonishing amount of space by the United defence and midfield, especially in the early stages. You wouldn’t mind quite so much if he hadn’t played for them in 2021-22: even if they hadn’t bothered to watch him last season, you would already know that he was pretty decent. Hamer had to take it upon himself to step in on a few of those occasions, notably one in the first half where he sprinted back from an attacking position to knock Gibbs-White off the ball.
And in many ways that summed up his performance. He was all over the place, popping up wherever he found pockets of space. He appeared as the left ‘eight’ in a three-man midfield, on the right wing, as a No 10, then sitting deep to ping passes into dangerous areas in the closing stages.
“We played him higher up than possibly he may play for us, but we needed that in this game,” said Paul Heckingbottom afterwards.
There were a few moments where the realities of the Premier League hit him in the face, like a British tourist stepping off a plane in a hot country and recoiling at the soaring temperatures. A couple of times, he controlled the ball in what you might call ‘Championship mode’, assuming he had a second or two to make his next move. Not here, son.
There was another moment when his ambition got the better of him, the ball dropping towards him on the touchline and he spied the opportunity to hit a volleyed, sidewinder pass through the Forest defence. In the event, it skewed wildly off his foot and went out of play in the exact opposite direction he intended.
But even in that moment, he showed something of what Blades fans might enjoy: adventure, creativity, trying things. Ambition is good, even if — especially if, perhaps — you’re in a team expected to struggle.
After the game, Heckingbottom expressed his frustration that United haven’t been able to make more additions, particularly in the final third. When he needed attacking reinforcements, his only options were a couple of 19-year-olds, Andre Brooks and Antwoine Hackford. Until they fix that problem, they will struggle, but at least they know they have made a special addition in midfield.
“These boys will get better,” promised Heckingbottom.
If Hamer continues like this, that won’t be a hollow promise.
All-action Gustavo Hamer gives Sheffield United hope in defeat
At Nottingham Forest, Hamer popped up wherever he found pockets of space. He already appears to be Sheffield United's best hope of survival
theathletic.com
Gustavo Hamer, Sheffield United's all-action hero, offers hope in defeat
If you’re looking for something to take the edge off promotion, losing your two best players before the season even starts will do it.
Perhaps it’s a bleak indication of how much importance is placed on the transfer market these days, but Sheffield United fans would be forgiven for approaching this season with a mild sense of dread after the departures of Sander Berge and Iliman Ndiaye.
The arrivals of Vinicius Souza from Lommel in Belgium and Benie Traore from Sweden’s Hacken may have raised spirits a little, but any Blades supporter who claims to have watched enough of either last season to form a cogent opinion is, if you will excuse the accusation, a great big fibber.
Gustavo Hamer on the other hand… now there’s a signing to get excited about.
To a point, the play-off final last season didn’t matter enormously for Hamer and his former Coventry team-mate Viktor Gyokeres. Sure, losing to Luton Town wasn’t ideal, but both men knew they would be playing at a higher level this season regardless of events at Wembley. So it proved, with Sporting Lisbon signing Gyokeres in mid-July and United, a little belatedly perhaps, moving for Hamer just before their first game of the season.
It was a little surprising that the Dutch-raised Brazilian was still there to be snapped up. He had been one of the best players in the Championship for a couple of seasons, and one of the most eye-catching too. He has a combination of technique and physicality that should make him ideal for the Premier League, so you wonder why someone had not already swooped.
But everyone else’s loss is United’s gain. And even though their 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Friday means they have lost their opening pair of games back in the top flight, Hamer’s performance gave them something to cling to.
First, the goal. The ball broke to Hamer on the left corner of the penalty area, and even though on the angle he was probably 25 yards out and there was a melange of defenders in front of him, it felt inevitable as soon as he opened up his body that the ball was destined for the top corner.
What was particularly impressive was the power he managed to generate, his first touch not quite getting the ball from under his feet meaning he had to hit it from a standing position, almost with his weight going backwards rather than forwards. That tells you how good his technique is, being able to fizz a shot as he did with such minimal backlift.
Hamer is a pretty all-action, scruff-of-the-neck player, but that almost overshadows how smart he is. You lost count of the number of times he just seemed to find himself in space, often hoping for a pass that didn’t quite come. That doesn’t happen by accident.
Hamer always seemed to be… there. Like when nobody else was showing for a throw. Give us an option lads… ah, there’s Gus.
He did his bit in defence, too. Morgan Gibbs-White, playing in a sort of No 10-but-off-the-left role for Forest, was given an astonishing amount of space by the United defence and midfield, especially in the early stages. You wouldn’t mind quite so much if he hadn’t played for them in 2021-22: even if they hadn’t bothered to watch him last season, you would already know that he was pretty decent. Hamer had to take it upon himself to step in on a few of those occasions, notably one in the first half where he sprinted back from an attacking position to knock Gibbs-White off the ball.
And in many ways that summed up his performance. He was all over the place, popping up wherever he found pockets of space. He appeared as the left ‘eight’ in a three-man midfield, on the right wing, as a No 10, then sitting deep to ping passes into dangerous areas in the closing stages.
“We played him higher up than possibly he may play for us, but we needed that in this game,” said Paul Heckingbottom afterwards.
There were a few moments where the realities of the Premier League hit him in the face, like a British tourist stepping off a plane in a hot country and recoiling at the soaring temperatures. A couple of times, he controlled the ball in what you might call ‘Championship mode’, assuming he had a second or two to make his next move. Not here, son.
There was another moment when his ambition got the better of him, the ball dropping towards him on the touchline and he spied the opportunity to hit a volleyed, sidewinder pass through the Forest defence. In the event, it skewed wildly off his foot and went out of play in the exact opposite direction he intended.
But even in that moment, he showed something of what Blades fans might enjoy: adventure, creativity, trying things. Ambition is good, even if — especially if, perhaps — you’re in a team expected to struggle.
After the game, Heckingbottom expressed his frustration that United haven’t been able to make more additions, particularly in the final third. When he needed attacking reinforcements, his only options were a couple of 19-year-olds, Andre Brooks and Antwoine Hackford. Until they fix that problem, they will struggle, but at least they know they have made a special addition in midfield.
“These boys will get better,” promised Heckingbottom.
If Hamer continues like this, that won’t be a hollow promise.
