Sander Berge - what if anything is going wrong?

[Sheff de party]

Speaking as someone who expects a hell of a lot more from our second best player, I’d be interested to know what others thing the problem is.

He was utterly dreadful tonight in my view. Slow, ponderous, disinterested, no drive or aggression and zero output. But I know not everyone agrees. So what’s going on?

 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

He seems to take a long time to get up to speed after an injury lay off. Whenever he can put 10+ starts together we see the real Sander, but that’s been very limited in his Blades career so far.

 

[Dkc]

Another new thread on Sander Berge when we have a perfectly good one already. What, if anything is going wrong?
.

Sander berge

He looked excellent for 35 minutes and then looked like Hammond from that point onwards until full time. He has to do more for me. If Osborn had been on the bench then he would have been pulled after 60 mins. Bogle would have been a better choice from the bench

www.s24su.com

 

[Stretch]

Maybe a combination of being a confidence player and still getting back to speed after his injury.

I think he will still be more of an asset than a hindrance again (as he was not long ago) before the season ends and we know that when he does hit form, he is unplayable.

I suppose the question is whether we can keep carrying him in the meantime?

 

[Scarebus]

Apparently I can only select 2 choices

 

[3Cheers4Ramirez]

He's one footed
His footwork is poor
He's cumbersome and wooden
He's good at getting tackled
He's poor in tight spaces
He's soft
He's fragile and injury prone
Those injuries have set him back
He can't or won't defend
Not suited to the English game
Wants a move but can't get one due to all of the above
And Hecky flogs him for 90 minutes every game regardless

 

[Torrix1889]

He did OK last night but that is becoming par for Sander....just OK....having said that, he and Norwood were doing all of Doyle's work as well who was truly woeful...

 

[mattbianco1]

If he wasn't so tall, he wouldn't get half the stick he does.
People think because he's big and stocky, he should be commanding the midfield, winning headers and flying into tackles, but thats not his game.

Doyle had a much poorer game than Berge did last night, but we're allowed to like him, aren't we.

 

[robbiez666]

He's like Lunny.

He needs to play in a slower league for a team who dominates possession.

He'd be a star for Celtic or Rangers

Berge is great when he has lots of time on the ball. Not going to get that in English football.

He also seems unwilling to put in the workrate needed off the ball

 

[Ginger Gnome]

His biggest problem is unrealistic expectations of him, he played fine last night but was stuck far too deep always tracking back in the first half while Doyle stood around doing nothing. He didn't play well until he ended up playing right wing at the end but other than a couple of very crap moments he was far from our worst player.

 

[S64 Blade]

I think it’s a combination of him not being match fit after the injury and being played out of his best position. We’ve seen him at his best when he’s played higher up the field on the right hand side. He seemed to be all over last night, less a 5 minute spell around 80 minutes when he went on the right and actually looked good.

 

[JimW1889]

Expectation consistency, and injuries. He cost £20+ million and I don't think he's lived up to that price tag, which isn't his fault how much we paid for him. If we'd got him for £5m everyone would be saying he's a good player. When he's on his game going forward he's immense, usually produces moments that change the game.

Other thing is he seems to go missing in matches, he's not much of a battling CM so when we're under the cosh the game passes him by. Don't think it's helped by the fact plays 90mins every game, even when he looks dead on his feet.

 

[Weasel]

Should be played further forward and out on the right hand side. That's where is he dangerous. He isn't a natural midfielder though as he struggles with the defensive side of his game and doesn't drive the game on as much as he should do, whether that's down to a lack of endurance or just a mental tendency to drift through games I'm not too sure. He is still a very good player for the championship when all said but he is capable potentially of so much more which is where I think a lot of fans frustrations with him stem from. Ideally he's played on the right hand side of our midfield and we would have another new body in there to replace him and play more central - someone who is better suited to the ratting part of the midfield game. He also has a tendency to take a while to get fully up to speed after injury. Expect a better SB after the FA cup break and with the next run of league games.

 

[SwissBlade]

Speaking as someone who expects a hell of a lot more from our second best player, I’d be interested to know what others thing the problem is.

He was utterly dreadful tonight in my view. Slow, ponderous, disinterested, no drive or aggression and zero output. But I know not everyone agrees. So what’s going on?

Perhaps he doesn’t like being called our second best player

 

[BigBed]

He's one footed
His footwork is poor
He's cumbersome and wooden
He's good at getting tackled
He's poor in tight spaces
He's soft
He's fragile and injury prone
Those injuries have set him back
He can't or won't defend
Not suited to the English game
Wants a move but can't get one due to all of the above
And Hecky flogs him for 90 minutes every game regardless

You forgot : He got burgled.

 

[Bell4]

If he wasn't so tall, he wouldn't get half the stick he does.
People think because he's big and stocky, he should be commanding the midfield, winning headers and flying into tackles, but thats not his game.

Doyle had a much poorer game than Berge did last night, but we're allowed to like him, aren't we.

Many have pointed out Doyle’s poor performance - everyone who is a true blade wants sander to do well and is willing him to do so

The reality is he isn’t and has been guilty of going awol so many times . Others who have bad days / run of form look at least interested and try - sander just …….becomes invisible …..fact

 

[Digs blade]

I like Sander and like most Blades would love to see that dominant 90 minute performance that I’m sure is in his locker somewhere. If we get it then wow.

I wish we would stop with this not yet match fit comment though. It only seems to be our players who take weeks to get back “match fit”.

If 4 full games since injury doesn’t get someone fully back up and running then something is seriously wrong.

I’m not just saying that about Sander by the way. It seems to be a running theme for our players

 

[Snowflake]

Speaking as someone who expects a hell of a lot more from our second best player, I’d be interested to know what others thing the problem is.

He was utterly dreadful tonight in my view. Slow, ponderous, disinterested, no drive or aggression and zero output. But I know not everyone agrees. So what’s going on?

He is poor at tackling, marking and heading, but much of his good play is overlooked because of that.

 

[Brownieblade]

I don’t think that Sander has been great every game for us, I don’t think he has been shit every game for us either

The problem is the Fans, it would have been similar if Harry had stuck Charlie Hartfieid up in the Duffy role or Warnock had done similar with Monty and both had a Couple of good games showing a bit of quality

Quite a few of our fan base would then have expected them to do this for 90 min every game regardless and would then just slag them off every game if they didn’t meet these lofty goals

It’s always been that way as far as I remember, I was to young to see Currie or Sabella but I do wonder if some of our lot cast their expertise over them every week before going on to play like dog shit on some Sunday league pitch somewhere

 

[ekke287]

Berge is the new scapegoat, it’s that simple. He didn’t have a great game last night but wasn’t our worst player by a long way.

His strength is running at defenders and getting the ball to dangerous areas. If it doesn’t come off it’s amplified that he’s not doing much else, when in reality he is doing the other parts that aren’t his strongest, and then looks worse as he’s being compared to players who are better at those areas.

 

[Sheff de party]

Perhaps he doesn’t like being called our second best player

Haha well I doubt he gets that in the dressing room. But he is…

 

[TopBoy]

Love Sander but he wants to stay in 2nd gear all the time. He performed better in the Prem when maybe he gets more time on the ball.

 

[Melbourne Blade]

Way too many new threads about him so he's cracked it and refuses to play well apparently until threads are merged or forum posters start use search beforehand.

 

[alcoblade]

Expectation consistency, and injuries. He cost £20+ million and I don't think he's lived up to that price tag, which isn't his fault how much we paid for him. If we'd got him for £5m everyone would be saying he's a good player. When he's on his game going forward he's immense, usually produces moments that change the game.

Other thing is he seems to go missing in matches, he's not much of a battling CM so when we're under the cosh the game passes him by. Don't think it's helped by the fact plays 90mins every game, even when he looks dead on his feet.

Exactly this. We just massively overpaid, and he's just not nearly that good.

As a young lad coming through the ranks we'd be really impressed.

 

[Ndiayewillalwaysloveyou]

Berge is the new scapegoat, it’s that simple. He didn’t have a great game last night but wasn’t our worst player by a long way.

His strength is running at defenders and getting the ball to dangerous areas. If it doesn’t come off it’s amplified that he’s not doing much else, when in reality he is doing the other parts that aren’t his strongest, and then looks worse as he’s being compared to players who are better at those areas.

How is he a scapegoat when most blades rate him? I'm in the minority who thinks he's over rated but he's no where near a scapegoat

 

[Nicesheffielder]

Needs singing to more

 

[Bladesman]

He was hitting form before he got injured last time.

Will we ever see the best of him or are injuries just going to hamper him every time he hits form?

 

[Jon Bon II]

He's Greg Halford 2.0 but without the long throw.

 

[mattbianco1]

For me Berge isn't as effective when Sharp plays.

Sharp forces us to change formation with Ndiaye further forward as a CF. When McBurnie is on, he links play better and can hold it up better than Sharp which allows Ndiaye and Berge to roam free and join the attacks from deep. Sharp needs a foil close by.

When Sharp plays it's more:

Wes
Anel - Egan -Clark
Baldock - Doyle - Norwood - Lowe
Berge
Ndiaye - Sharp
​

or:

Wes
Anel - Egan -Clark
Baldock - Berge - Doyle - Norwood - Lowe
Ndiaye
Sharp
​

When McBurnie plays, it's more:

Wes
Anel - Egan -Clark
Baldock - Doyle - Norwood - Lowe
Berge - Ndiaye
McBurnie​

 

[Ndiayewillalwaysloveyou]

For me Berge isn't as effective when Sharp plays.

Sharp forces us to change formation with Ndiaye further forward as a CF. When McBurnie is on, he links play better and can hold it up better than Sharp which allows Ndiaye and Berge to roam free and join the attacks from deep. Sharp needs a foil close by.

When Sharp plays it's more:

Wes
Anel - Egan -Clark
Baldock - Doyle - Norwood - Lowe
Berge
Ndiaye - Sharp
​

or:

Wes
Anel - Egan -Clark
Baldock - Berge - Doyle - Norwood - Lowe
Ndiaye
Sharp
​

When McBurnie plays, it's more:

Wes
Anel - Egan -Clark
Baldock - Doyle - Norwood - Lowe
Berge - Ndiaye
McBurnie​

Come on Matt mate really? I've seen 100 of excuses for Berge but now blaming another player? (Sharp) I've never known a player have so many excuses from a fanbase to why he's not performing week in week out...