Outgoing? SANDER BERGE ON WAY OUT ?

[sitwell]

Correlation does not imply causation. Lunny's form had dropped off prior to Berge coming in, as had the rest of the midfield.

Meanwhile, Berge has been our best player this season despite playing in a team with fuck all confidence and rhythm. I see nothing that he does that hinders the team. When he gets the ball, he rarely gives it away or misplaces a pass. He's often in the final third of the pitch when needed. And he puts his foot in too.

He is literally the only player this season who has increased his value and the proof of his value will come when other clubs come in for him assuming we go down. Should we go down, and should we sell him, I think we'll watch with envy when he ends playing for a Champions League side in coming years.

I don't dispute that he has been our best player this season but I would be prepared to let him go if we could strengthen the team in the areas we are well short in. To be honest I feel that he is probably the only one we could get decent money for.
Obviously I realise that we would have a Sander Berge thread similar to the DCL and Che Adams ones every time he plays well.

Was he?? Or was it more the players around him negated what he was in there for ??

All we seem to do is make excuses for him ,I expect a hell of a lot more for 23 million quid. As for him being our best player this season ,what ?? Egan, Bash and Baldock have been miles better. He simply doesnt impose himself and effect games ,a couple of decent touches every now and then do not make him our best player by a long way. He seems to be regressing which is even more concerning ,the last 2 games he has been non existent at both ends of the pitch. As for the old bollocks about players arent on his his wavelength ,its the worst excuse in the world. A decent player would stand out. He doesnt.

 

[1889]

To be perfectly honest, I’d be delighted if someone came and bought Sander for 30M. I think he is undoubtedly a talent, but just too much of an introvert to really fulfil his potential here. There have been glimpses of what he is capable of, but he seems to lack the confidence, swagger and belief to do it week in week out.

We need a superstar, who we can build our team around, who demands the ball and runs the game and drags his teammates along with him, but 90% of the time he’s knocking little ten yard balls back to Basham or out to Baldock and most infuriating of all, shows little or no inclination to want it fucking back again.

I’d go further and. say I honestly think he has upset the teams rhythm, the fast paced slick pass and move game that caught out teams last season has been replaced by a predictable, safe, pedestrian style that allows teams to get back and reorganise. where before they were caught out. It is no coincidence, our performances have nose dived since his inclusion.

I hear all these comparisons to Currie etc and can only assume its based on the media hype, a few flashes of skill and an awful, awful lot of wishful thinking. I’m sure he’d be a great player in a team of great players, but Sheffield United need a leader and unfortunately I just don’t think he has that in him.

 

[Working Class Hero]

I'm in no way saying sell Sander Berge, but you do have to wonder if we'd really need him if we switched back to the old formation with a CAM. Fleck, Norwood, Osborn, Ampadu should be enough for the CM roles and the money could be spent on positions that really are needed.

It would be even better if we spent the money anyway, and saw Berge at the side of Fleck with a Duffy type in front.

 

[DronnieBlade]

Arsenal are interested. There will be others.

But NGE for us ?

You couldn’t make it up !!!

UTB

 

[Brownieblade]

All we seem to do is make excuses for him ,I expect a hell of a lot more for 23 million quid. As for him being our best player this season ,what ?? Egan, Bash and Baldock have been miles better. He simply doesnt impose himself and effect games ,a couple of decent touches every now and then do not make him our best player by a long way. He seems to be regressing which is even more concerning ,the last 2 games he has been non existent at both ends of the pitch. As for the old bollocks about players arent on his his wavelength ,its the worst excuse in the world. A decent player would stand out. He doesnt.

Your not getting a stand out dominant player in our team this season, the price tag doesn’t mean nothing, you want a stand out dominant player able to dominate other premier league midfields on his own then you need to be paying prices that city/Madrid and Barca pay

These standout players stand out because they are surrounded by players that allow them to, we don’t have that structure

When he gets the ball in midfield he never has anywhere to go as we don’t have a system that sees players making runs other than down flanks

 

[Torrix1889]

I can't see Sander playing in the championship TBH, he'll have plenty of suitors across Europe.

You could say the same about Cantwell, Buendia, Aarons at Norwich. Brooks, King, Lerma & Rico at Bournemouth. Sarr, Pedro and Capoue at Watford.........to name a few....yet all are currently plying their trade in the second tier.....

 

[Rudders]

I usually agree with Sitwell in many areas but not with Berge and echo what Brownieblade said with a bit more detail. A £23M purchase does not guarantee a consistent/regular PL match winner/dominator. Cloud cuckoo land if you think that am afraid due to the increased prices you are looking at for that sort of talent.

Players doing what Sitwell thinks Sander should be doing I would say are: Grealish; Jota; De Bruyne (maybe not at the mo but has in the past); Traore; Maddison (agin has in past); Tielemans; Ziyech; Mount etc etc. You are looking in the £50M - £100M bracket for that and even these players have quite a few off weeks!.

At £23M you are getting the talent and physical attributes to do it but not doing it consistently yet. So Lets not scapegoat individual players.
You could make the same argument for Rammers, at £17M has the potential but not the consistency yet. If you want regular top class premier goalie you've got to spend £50m+ to get you into the Henderson/Pope territory

 

[Houston_Blade]

He's a luxury player that we don't really have a position/need for at the moment. It's like buying Leon Britton and putting him in a Blackwell team.

I have no doubt he'd look really good in a possession heavy team, but we have more need at the moment for someone like Montgomery than we do for Berge unfortunately.

Some of the things he does and the passes he makes look class and I like him, then he lets someone run past him or shrug him off and I get annoyed again.

Let's be clear though, Messi and Ronaldo would look like donkeys in our team at the moment.

 

[Bergen Blade]

Your not getting a stand out dominant player in our team this season, the price tag doesn’t mean nothing, you want a stand out dominant player able to dominate other premier league midfields on his own then you need to be paying prices that city/Madrid and Barca pay

These standout players stand out because they are surrounded by players that allow them to, we don’t have that structure

When he gets the ball in midfield he never has anywhere to go as we don’t have a system that sees players making runs other than down flanks

It can be hard to live up to the expectations of a price tag...

"Tell the Kraut to get his ass up front. We don't pay a million for a guy to hang around in defence."
NY Cosmos executive on Franz Beckenbauer.

I agree with you. Berge is a good player, but he's not able to make up for the general decline of the team.

 

[bertieblade]

If we are to receive more money for him in January than we are likely to at the end of the season he gets sold
2/3 positions need reinforcement
Lcb
RCM
AM

two of these can be filled with loans one with some of the money received from Berge who should only be sold if we have a minimum of £10m profit and a minimum 15% sell on

easy this management lark

the difficult bit is finding the three replacements

 

[Blade58]

If we are looking at relegation come the end of Jan, then for me it's a certainty we'll let him go

The club will start to cut costs in order not to get into financial difficulty next season.

He won't be the only departure.

 

[Champagneblade]

I wonder if we couldn't use Burke as RCM.

He's very quick. He could be useful in transition.

 

[dc_blade]

Berge has the physical and technical attributes to be a top player in my opinion. If we played a possession-based system he would thrive. But he really seems to lack the mentality to make a big contribution at the moment. He looks great on the ball but he never seems to want it--he hides. For all his flaws, Norwood always shows for the ball. And Berge doesn't do nearly enough off the ball--he doesn't win enough headers, he doesn't make enough tackles, and he doesn't track enough runners. We've had a year--albeit a pretty unusual year--to coach this into him and it hasn't worked. Not sure who to blame for that.

If we went back to a 3-4-1-2 I think Berge would be good as one of the two centre mids and I think he'd be good in a 4-2-3-1 but as a half-winger in our system he's not offering much. If we can make a small profit I think we should sell.

 

[CaptainMorgans]

Berge has the physical and technical attributes to be a top player in my opinion. If we played a possession-based system he would thrive. But he really seems to lack the mentality to make a big contribution at the moment. He looks great on the ball but he never seems to want it--he hides. For all his flaws, Norwood always shows for the ball. And Berge doesn't do nearly enough off the ball--he doesn't win enough headers, he doesn't make enough tackles, and he doesn't track enough runners. We've had a year--albeit a pretty unusual year--to coach this into him and it hasn't worked. Not sure who to blame for that.

If we went back to a 3-4-1-2 I think Berge would be good as one of the two centre mids and I think he'd be good in a 4-2-3-1 but as a half-winger in our system he's not offering much. If we can make a small profit I think we should sell.

I'm struggling to see which players this system that we're playing works for at the minute. There's only Basham really that's thriving in it.

It's obvious that we're a body light in midfield. And playing with 2 strikers is pointless. One of them always ends up in midfield anyway.

 

[dc_blade]

I'm struggling to see which players this system that we're playing works for at the minute. There's only Basham really that's thriving in it.

It's obvious that we're a body light in midfield. And playing with 2 strikers is pointless. One of them always ends up in midfield anyway.

Baldock would be the other I think.

Don't want to derail the thread into yet another tactical discussion, but this system simply doesn't work on the attacking side unless the LCB and RCB and the wingbacks are getting forward all the time. If they are pinned back we are left with too few attacking players and at that point discussions over "fannying around on the edge of the box," "taking too many touches," "waiting too long to get the ball in the box" are academic--there's no bugger in the box to cross it to anyway. Let alone any creativity in the middle to find another way through.

 

[originaltrueblade]

Fake news FFS

 

[ancientblade]

I'm struggling to see which players this system that we're playing works for at the minute. There's only Basham really that's thriving in it.

It's obvious that we're a body light in midfield. And playing with 2 strikers is pointless. One of them always ends up in midfield anyway.

been saying same for ages now playing 2 up top is outdated 90% of premier league clubs play either 433 or 343 with midfielders getting forward to support the one striker a fit mousset would be ideal for this role

 

[finlaytheblade]

Can break Wilders reign into 3 parts and the results bear this out.
We walked the 1st division with an attacking midfielder in Duffy .After a great 1st half to the championship season we trailed off in the 2nd losing the fulcrum in midfield to a broken leg.
The promotion season showed us in contention to the xmas period.We changed tactics and played with a more flat midfield 3 which gave us a solid ness which really made a difference we stopped conceding goals (bristol city 3 and Villa 3 accepted) our results really kicked on and we took the 2nd half to the season by scoring enough to get points that's obvious but tightening up conceded very few.It got us promotion!!.
Last season we stuck with it and it gave us a real platform to kick on which we did.
We were finding it tough to score but a remarkable defensive record pushed us way up the table maybe our play didnt merit.
Lack of goals was the problem which we had to improve on to get better.The flat 3 gives us stability .
After lockdown its part three ! ,teams in premiership have worked us out a bit so we have to find something new to add so far nothing has shown through and we are paying the price on the back of a dire start to season with the players berift of confidence.
Still have confidence in Wilder but we will probably have to regroup again in the championship and kick on from there, maybe part 4.

 

[ancientblade]

Can break Wilders reign into 3 parts and the results bear this out.
We walked the 1st division with an attacking midfielder in Duffy .After a great 1st half to the championship season we trailed off in the 2nd losing the fulcrum in midfield to a broken leg.
The promotion season showed us in contention to the xmas period.We changed tactics and played with a more flat midfield 3 which gave us a solid ness which really made a difference we stopped conceding goals (bristol city 3 and Villa 3 accepted) our results really kicked on and we took the 2nd half to the season by scoring enough to get points that's obvious but tightening up conceded very few.It got us promotion!!.
Last season we stuck with it and it gave us a real platform to kick on which we did.
We were finding it tough to score but a remarkable defensive record pushed us way up the table maybe our play didnt merit.
Lack of goals was the problem which we had to improve on to get better.The flat 3 gives us stability .
After lockdown its part three ! ,teams in premiership have worked us out a bit so we have to find something new to add so far nothing has shown through and we are paying the price on the back of a dire start to season with the players berift of confidence.
Still have confidence in Wilder but we will probably have to regroup again in the championship and kick on from there, maybe part 4.

some good points finlay the problem with the flat 3 is yes it gives us stability but it doesnt create many goalscoring chances either add to that the fact apart from mousset we havent got a premier league striker on our books im afraid and thats why we find ourselves in this position our defence was our mainstay last season and in lots of games 1 goal was enough to get the points thats not the case this season i think its unlikely we beat the drop this season but as you say phase 4 of chris wilders tenure at the club will begin the prince just has to stick with him

 

[Swinton Blade]

Even if we go down a year in the championship wouldn't do his development any harm.

I'd try and keep him.

 

[Guesty]

I'm not sure why his value will have doubled in his time with us as some of you seem to think.

 

[HibbyBlade]

Berge is the sort of player we should be building a team around come January not selling.

 

[finlaytheblade]

I'm not sure why his value will have doubled in his time with us as some of you seem to think.

Think your right guesty not seen anything in him so far that makes him stand out in the crowd.It maybe there and he might be in demand with him being so young but I've not seen anything special in him like you Guesty.
No way at this stage will we make a big profit on him if he goes in the window or in the summer if we go down.
A big unit but not really an aggressive player more like a gentle giant ,

 

[CaptainMorgans]

Berge didn't want to join us in the transfer window before the start of our PL campaign last season because he thought we might be in a relegation battle.

He won't be sticking around for tier 2 football. I'd be surprised if he hasn't already started getting his agent to put feelers out. And I wouldn't blame him for that.

I think we'll get our money back for him. Suspect a middling Prem club will come & take him off us. Maybe someone like Southampton, West Ham or Palace.

 

[Nicolaus_Copernicus]

Berge will fund the rebuild.

 

[BobblesBlade]

Berge will fund the rebuild.

Can’t wait! But first get someone in who can get better players and I don’t mean get rid of Wilder.

 

[Darthblade]

View attachment 98723

Arsenal can't afford to buy Berge from us ....

McCabe has gone now so no discount deals or BOGOF and if we sold him we'd be looking for north of £50m as a starting point.

He's not the problem ...... the team not performing as a team is the problem

Plus the fact that we couldn't score in a brothel of course

UTB & FTP

 

[alcoblade]

I’d sell Berge at Christmas, as part of the championship / financial window dressing .

Play the game right and we’ll bounce straight back, in my opinion.

 

[bongleblade]

Even if we go down a year in the championship wouldn't do his development any harm.

I'd try and keep him.

we'd be very lucky to... he is a luxury kind of player for us atm, he is clearly very talented but has he had as much of an impact as a player of that ilk should? Reckon we might try and sell him to buy 2x cheap CMs... wouldn't mind Besic coming back plus an attacking RCM. We'd probably still recoup what we paid for Sander after buying two in

 

[Kev Gee]

Berge didn't want to join us in the transfer window before the start of our PL campaign last season because he thought we might be in a relegation battle.

He won't be sticking around for tier 2 football. I'd be surprised if he hasn't already started getting his agent to put feelers out. And I wouldn't blame him for that.

I think we'll get our money back for him. Suspect a middling Prem club will come & take him off us. Maybe someone like Southampton, West Ham or Palace.

I agree. I would be surprised if he hasn't already instructed his agent to start looking elsewhere. There is no way he will be dropping down to the Championship is we go down. I think we will at least make out money back on him.

If we somehow survive I still think he will opt to see what else is out there after this nightmare season.