sander Berge

[Fjortoft's Aeroplane]

Hard to imagine him excelling as a DM in the long term. He just doesn't seem tough or aggressive enough. I prefer him for his attacking /ball carrying abilties.

 

[Flumps]

I'd completely forgotten about Berge and that he'd moved to Fulham. Glad to hear he's improving though I did like him, very capable but not that consistent for us

 

[FinchleyBlade]

Berge is and always has been a really good footballer. I’ve always found it difficult to understand why some Blades couldn’t see that when he was with us.

Because he was a player with the ability and physical presence to dominate this division yet was wildly inconsistent and regularly went missing in games.

 

[Westran]

I know players will always develop over time, but maybe it shows a bit of a shortfall in our player development, we've nailed getting academy players and young first team players reach their full potential, but getting them to the next level and become players capable of holding their own at the top level is something we need to be able to do if as a club we're ever going to have a sustained period in the PL.

 

[Blacksea]

I don't think anybody was discouraging him from making tackles and ball winning whichever role he played for us,it's pretty much a staple for every midfielder the world over.

 

[Houston_Blade]

I know players will always develop over time, but maybe it shows a bit of a shortfall in our player development, we've nailed getting academy players and young first team players reach their full potential, but getting them to the next level and become players capable of holding their own at the top level is something we need to be able to do if as a club we're ever going to have a sustained period in the PL.

Part of the issue with his move here is that we paid a lot (for us) for him. For £20m+ we need someone who can not just be a DM. Fulham spent a much smaller proportion of their transfer kitty and have other top players around him, so being a DM for them is fine. We needed goals, tackles, crosses, headers and a lot more!

 

[DronnieBlade]

Berge getting MoM for Fulham against Arsenal playing in DM role! - Apparently from the quote from Fulham
"Sitting at the base of our midfield, Berge was a major reason why it was such a frustrating afternoon for the Gunners, who struggled to create chances from open play."

Reading some other bits, he had a shaky start with them but has grown into the DM role left open by the sale of Palhinha to Bayern and after a few dodgy off the bench performances he has had a run of games where he is putting himself about and covering a lot of the pitch and putting in MoM performances, to get results. Not sure if it's because he has a few better players alongside of their system might suit him better but shame it didn't work out as well as it could here.

https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2024/december/09/man-of-the-match-result-arsenal/

For one last time.

WE the royal we shoehorned him in to an offensive RCM role. He did well considering it was completely Alien to him.

EVERY other club he has played for, including his country, has played him in the deep lying pivot role in the centre of midfield. Every single one.

He’s not a deep lying CM though according to the sages that frequent S2 4SU !

Quality baller.

UTB

 

[BouncinBlade]

55k a week apparently at Fulham. Not a bad move on the ladder I'd say

 

[Keen Blade]

My memory is that he came to with a view to slowly taking over from Norwood as a deep lying pivot but somehow that idea got lost in translation and we pushed him forward.
But he never developed at the Lane - he left at exactly the level he arrived on , which is Westrans point - we haven't mastered the art of developing higher quality players to their full potential.
Moneybags Fulham probably can.

What does Hamer do better now for us than the first day he arrived ?
We can't even stop him collecting needless bookings.

Having plenty of top quality coaches costs money we don't want to spend but if we are to reach & remain in the PL , we need to add value + trade players.

It's all part of progressing as a club + getting to the next level , which I hope is what's in the new owners' minds.

 

[HOT CURRIE 10]

For one last time.

WE the royal we shoehorned him in to an offensive RCM role. He did well considering it was completely Alien to him.

EVERY other club he has played for, including his country, has played him in the deep lying pivot role in the centre of midfield. Every single one.

He’s not a deep lying CM though according to the sages that frequent S2 4SU !

Quality baller.

UTB

Bang on the money,lovely player,absolutely took us to town last season at our place. Yeah,but he’s still shit,nesh,can’t head a ball,whatever. Some of our supporters eh .

 

[FinchleyBlade]

For one last time.

WE the royal we shoehorned him in to an offensive RCM role. He did well considering it was completely Alien to him.

EVERY other club he has played for, including his country, has played him in the deep lying pivot role in the centre of midfield. Every single one.

He’s not a deep lying CM though according to the sages that frequent S2 4SU !

Quality baller.

UTB

He played plenty in deep lying CM role and was totally ineffectual, which is why he played further forward.

 

[bonobo]

10th fastest player in the Premier League last season.... https://www.premierleague.com/news/3787214

 

[RecordBreakers]

For one last time.

WE the royal we shoehorned him in to an offensive RCM role. He did well considering it was completely Alien to him.

EVERY other club he has played for, including his country, has played him in the deep lying pivot role in the centre of midfield. Every single one.

He’s not a deep lying CM though according to the sages that frequent S2 4SU !

Quality baller.

UTB

100% correct

 

[Bell4]

My memory is that he came to with a view to slowly taking over from Norwood as a deep lying pivot but somehow that idea got lost in translation and we pushed him forward.
But he never developed at the Lane - he left at exactly the level he arrived on , which is Westrans point - we haven't mastered the art of developing higher quality players to their full potential.
Moneybags Fulham probably can.

What does Hamer do better now for us than the first day he arrived ?
We can't even stop him collecting needless bookings.

Having plenty of top quality coaches costs money we don't want to spend but if we are to reach & remain in the PL , we need to add value + trade players.

It's all part of progressing as a club + getting to the next level , which I hope is what's in the new owners' minds.

Great points tbh

 

[HarryHaslam]

10th fastest player in the Premier League last season.... https://www.premierleague.com/news/3787214

It’s been pointed out on here many times on many threads that Sander is very quick. His lethargic gangly running style doesn’t make him look quick but if you really pay attention you can see how quick he is. But no matter how many times it’s pointed out or links like you have provided proving he’s very quick someone will always be along on these threads to post that he is slow.

 

[Oohaah! Bob Bookah!]

It’s been pointed out on here many times on many threads that Sander is very quick. His lethargic gangly running style doesn’t make him look quick but if you really pay attention you can see how quick he is. But no matter how many times it’s pointed out or links like you have provided proving he’s very quick someone will always be along on these threads to post that he is slow.

yeah but he was slow


sorry..... not sorry.

 

[GrunkyPeep]

It’s been pointed out on here many times on many threads that Sander is very quick. His lethargic gangly running style doesn’t make him look quick but if you really pay attention you can see how quick he is. But no matter how many times it’s pointed out or links like you have provided proving he’s very quick someone will always be along on these threads to post that he is slow.

I wouldn't trust the analytical skills of anyone who tried to suggest Sander was slow.

 

[Blacksea]

He played plenty in deep lying CM role and was totally ineffectual, which is why he played further forward.

He played down the left side for one Norway game I watched

 

[robbiez666]

I was thinking the exact same thing while watching him the other day.

United fans expect players to be everywhere. We’d prefer to see two box-to-box midfielders in the center who may lack a bit of skill but are fully committed, rather than two 'Rolls Royce' central midfielders like Berge.

Wilder often discusses this, but United fans know what they want from a player, and there isn’t much room for leniency.

I think his issue for us was not wanting to go forward because he knew he couldn't get back. so fans get frustrated but he was being asked to do two different roles in one and he didn't have the pace/mobility/stamina to do it. And I think this dented his confidence because every time he went forward he probably had the need to then get back in his mind.

 

[Balham]

It’s been pointed out on here many times on many threads that Sander is very quick. His lethargic gangly running style doesn’t make him look quick but if you really pay attention you can see how quick he is. But no matter how many times it’s pointed out or links like you have provided proving he’s very quick someone will always be along on these threads to post that he is slow.

Berge is straight line quick. He's not explosive or able to change direction quickly which is unsurprising at 6'5" and over 95kg and maybe it's that which confused the hard of thinking into believing that he was slow.

The ship has long since sailed but Berge and Souza in midfield might actually give us a fighting chance of being competitive in the top flight.

 

[bladesince64]

Question for all you Berge lovers, would you do a straight swap for any of our current 3 midfielders ie Souza, Peck or Blaster.

Cos I definitely would not.

 

[Dimyan93]

Question for all you Berge lovers, would you do a straight swap for any of our current 3 midfielders ie Souza, Peck or Blaster.

Cos I definitely would not.

Yes.

I would swap a proven international and (now) Premier League Player. For two youngesters in their breakout season (unfortunate, but doubly so for Arblaster, who knows if he's going to come back the same player).

Yes for Souza aswell, he was everyone's boo boy last year, he's unproven if he can take the step up.


If strictly direct replacement, for future plans who knows, it's a bit more blurry

 

[Bergen Blade]

He played plenty in deep lying CM role and was totally ineffectual, which is why he played further forward.

When Doyle replaced Norwood in March 2023 he and Berge played as a central partnership and they did really well.



For the three defeats shown above we also started Norwood, meaning we never lost when we gave the midfield responsibility to Berge and Doyle.

I think Norwood was fantastic when he signed, and he also started well in 2022/23. But we kept faith in him for too long.

 

[100% part time blade]

He gets stick for being inconsistent with us, but he was also injured nearly half the time.
1st full season - missed 20 games
2nd full season - missed 20 games
3rd season - missed 11 games

So for a lot of the time he was playing his way back into both fitness and form.

He’s a good footballer, but the injury record is the main drawback in my view.

 

[Big.Dane.w]

Question for all you Berge lovers, would you do a straight swap for any of our current 3 midfielders ie Souza, Peck or Blaster.

Cos I definitely would not.

You really wouldn’t swap Peck for Berge?
I wasn’t his biggest fan but you’d have to be either crazy or the biggest bladey blade ever to turn that swap down

 

[bladesince64]

Not a Berge fan. Good game in every four. Anonymous most of the time. Goal return - nonexistent. Not for me.

 

[Klaatu Barada Nikto]

He played plenty in deep lying CM role and was totally ineffectual, which is why he played further forward.

He was ineffectual there because tufty/heckyball required a CDM that could ping the ball out to the wings quickly.

 

[mancunianblade]

It’s been pointed out on here many times on many threads that Sander is very quick. His lethargic gangly running style doesn’t make him look quick but if you really pay attention you can see how quick he is. But no matter how many times it’s pointed out or links like you have provided proving he’s very quick someone will always be along on these threads to post that he is slow.

Very much in the style of Yaya Toure

 

[Champagneblade]

He was always going to look better when surrounded by better players.

He’s a tidy footballer who does the basics well.

He’s not being asked to be the Star man or run the game at Fulham.

 

[mancunianblade]

Not a Berge fan. Good game in every four. Anonymous most of the time. Goal return - nonexistent. Not for me.

Curious as to who we’ve had of a similar ilk that is more consistent AND has a better goal return?