Update from SJ - Stoke (H)

[Addison]

Sander Berge setback as United have five players doubtful for Stoke

The Blades boss has been looking ahead to this weekend's clash at home to the Potters

www.examinerlive.co.uk

Berge, Baldock, Norrington Davies, Burke, Freeman all out.

 

[MJM]

Baldock has worried me a little bit over the last couple of matches so hopefully it might give Bogle a chance to get a nice run of games in the side.

 

[Jon P]

Ahh Berge, a big beautiful white elephant of a signing

 

[Millhousesblade1889]

Berge has now been out for four weeks. Looks like that minor tweak is bit more significant. Should have been a player we made hige profit on, We would be lucky to recoup what he cost

 

[Revolution]

Sander Berge setback as United have five players doubtful for Stoke

The Blades boss has been looking ahead to this weekend's clash at home to the Potters

www.examinerlive.co.uk

Berge, Baldock, Norrington Davies, Burke, Freeman all out.

What on earth have the last 3 been doing to get injured?

 

[Alan Birchenall's hair]

Ahh Berge, a big beautiful white elephant of a signing

Berge - there's more work in a doctor's note. He's right up there with Burke, Brewster, Moose and Mcb as the biggest, most expensive waste of space we've bought. Bash, Billy etc. must be privately despairing at the attitude of that lot....

 

[borg elite]

Berge - there's more work in a doctor's note. He's right up there with Burke, Brewster, Moose and Mcb as the biggest, most expensive waste of space we've bought. Bash, Billy etc. must be privately despairing at the attitude of that lot....

Well he had a pretty serious injury resulting in surgery. Then the long road to recovery. I imagine the latest injury could be a result of his body compensating for the original injury.

He's not a waste of space in my book. He has a great attitude. Very unlucky and a fine player.

 

[Harry's Game]

Will Berge ever play for us again?

 

[Gaini Blade]

What on earth have the last 3 been doing to get injured?

I understand Burke tried walking in his girlfriend's boots - please see 'The Only Man Who Can Save Our Season' thread.

 

[S40BLADE]

Sander "Bubble Wrap" Berge. I'm a huge supporter of his and apologies if this is too harsh giving prior injuries but I genuinely think since last season he has been prioritising finding himself a new club and nit picking health concerns to avoid gametime.

 

[dn5 shaun]

Will Berge ever play for us again?

Should say will Berge ever play for us.......
Oh wait a minute he has had 2 or 3 ten minute spells, well worth £20m not.

 

[CaptainMorgans]

Well he had a pretty serious injury resulting in surgery. Then the long road to recovery. I imagine the latest injury could be a result of his body compensating for the original injury.

He's not a waste of space in my book. He has a great attitude. Very unlucky and a fine player.

Seems a nice lad, but not sure where the "great attitude" thing comes from in terms of a footballing perspective. Seems fairly nesh on the park, despite having some tremendous abilities.

 

[CPB]

Sander's not having luck with injuries is he?
Guess he was out a long time last season so sometimes this is the way it goes until you get over these niggles.
When he's fit he does cause other teams issues especially at this level.
Think something we should note is he's never really had a good run of games like 10 plus.
He was settling in at first after his Jan move, then we had pandemic. Restart got a few games in, looked decent. Last season was one of our better performers until he got injured.....
My main gripe with him is his off the ball defensive work, often a bit too casual.

Baldock out presumably means Bogle starts? But Basham did come on for him last match. I'd prefer to see Bogle given a go in his absence though.
I'd not be against Basham given a go ahead of Davies though.

Guessing we will be back to 4231 or however you want to call it?

Probably?

Olsen,
Bogle, Egan, Davies, Stevens,
Norwood, Fleck
Gibbs-White, NDiaye, Osborn
Sharp

 

[Revolution]

Sander's not having luck with injuries is he?
Guess he was out a long time last season so sometimes this is the way it goes until you get over these niggles.
When he's fit he does cause other teams issues especially at this level.
Think something we should note is he's never really had a good run of games like 10 plus.
He was settling in at first after his Jan move, then we had pandemic. Restart got a few games in, looked decent. Last season was one of our better performers until he got injured.....
My main gripe with him is his off the ball defensive work, often a bit too casual.

Baldock out presumably means Bogle starts? But Basham did come on for him last match. I'd prefer to see Bogle given a go in his absence though.
I'd not be against Basham given a go ahead of Davies though.

Guessing we will be back to 4231 or however you want to call it?

Probably?

Olsen,
Bogle, Egan, Davies, Stevens,
Norwood, Fleck
Gibbs-White, NDiaye, Osborn
Sharp

Berge has had a run of games. He played every league game after he was signed in 2019-20, and every league game last season up to and including the Man U game when he got injured. That was 27 straight games.

 

[Bell4]

Sander's not having luck with injuries is he?
Guess he was out a long time last season so sometimes this is the way it goes until you get over these niggles.
When he's fit he does cause other teams issues especially at this level.
Think something we should note is he's never really had a good run of games like 10 plus.
He was settling in at first after his Jan move, then we had pandemic. Restart got a few games in, looked decent. Last season was one of our better performers until he got injured.....
My main gripe with him is his off the ball defensive work, often a bit too casual.

Baldock out presumably means Bogle starts? But Basham did come on for him last match. I'd prefer to see Bogle given a go in his absence though.
I'd not be against Basham given a go ahead of Davies though.

Guessing we will be back to 4231 or however you want to call it?

Probably?

Olsen,
Bogle, Egan, Davies, Stevens,
Norwood, Fleck
Gibbs-White, NDiaye, Osborn
Sharp

Norwood + Fleck - here lies the problem

 

[secretchief]

My dude says:

Berge unavailable for at least 10 days
Baldock needs a 'check' (?)
N-D and Freezy out
All strikers fully fit and ready to go
The whole team needs to make an impact, not just strikers to impress me
Ndyaie isn't 16, he's an adult and he will be treated as such with respect to senior football but it was his first month of it
Olsen is continuing to adapt and is only a month into being with us. He has lots of experience and we have big expectations of him
Brewster needs more focus and concentration (with respect to under 21 performance and getting sent off and not allowing opposing players to do that to him)
He is 'one of the most talented English players' and needs to 'grow up'/adapt to a different role depending on how I choose to use him (striker, no 10, winger)
There are a lot of strikers and we try and find a balance between all of them so he needs to fit into that
He needs to open his mind to his situation and the possibilities ahead of him within the team
[nb. those last 3 points weren't that clearly expressed but I think that's the gist of it]
We 'check' defensive, offensive work, position play, shape in preparation for the game
Last 2 games results bad but Bournemouth showed signs of progress and if we are brave we can play better football and be more competitive
We are working towards that end
There are 35 games to go; the season is just starting
We can do better than we are doing and we're not satisfied with our start
We're trying to find something different than before
It's not necessary for me to repeat our overall objective, I focus my work and life step by step - the next step is the most important
You'll see if I did it right by April
We can't keep conceding 2 goals every game
We need to score when we get in the box
We don't need to panic when we get towards the end of games
Stoke are physically strong, win a lot of challenges, and we need to start better than them rather than them staring better than us
We don't lack confidence just because we lost the last game. We're a good team, let them [Stoke] enjoy their last victory, we will be focused and we will concentrate

 

[Jon P]

Norwood + Fleck - here lies the problem

January transfer window can't come soon enough

DRAIN THE SWAMP!

 

[Blade.com]

Sander's not having luck with injuries is he?
Guess he was out a long time last season so sometimes this is the way it goes until you get over these niggles.
When he's fit he does cause other teams issues especially at this level.
Think something we should note is he's never really had a good run of games like 10 plus.
He was settling in at first after his Jan move, then we had pandemic. Restart got a few games in, looked decent. Last season was one of our better performers until he got injured.....
My main gripe with him is his off the ball defensive work, often a bit too casual.

Baldock out presumably means Bogle starts? But Basham did come on for him last match. I'd prefer to see Bogle given a go in his absence though.
I'd not be against Basham given a go ahead of Davies though.

Guessing we will be back to 4231 or however you want to call it?

Probably?

Olsen,
Bogle, Egan, Davies, Stevens,
Norwood, Fleck
Gibbs-White, NDiaye, Osborn
Sharp

For me Basham would be the better choice for this match. SJ already noted Stoke are a bit of a physical team. More suited to Basham if that's the case, other than that the team of your choice.

 

[CPB]

Berge has had a run of games. He played every league game after he was signed in 2019-20, and every league game last season up to and including the Man U game when he got injured. That was 27 straight games.

He was still settling in after he signed and didn't always start/finish a game and that was only 5 matches from when he signed till season got halted.

I know what your saying though. What I'm getting at is he's never quite got that settled. Probably mostly did before injury last season and was one of our better players in pre-christmas, not that there were many to choose from there.

 

[Snowflake]

January transfer window can't come soon enough

DRAIN THE SWAMP!

...and how do we refill it ? Surely we have to carefully dry it out at the edges, add good topsoil and seed, so that it becomes a lush meadow.

 

[Isaw Joeshaw]

Baldock has worried me a little bit over the last couple of matches so hopefully it might give Bogle a chance to get a nice run of games in the side.

If Bogle is to play I sincerely hope it is not at full back in place of George , since his defensive frailties are there for all to see .

Sir Christopher Basham would be a much better option .

 

[Torrix1889]

What on earth have the last 3 been doing to get injured?

Burke isn't injured, he's doing a 6 month stretch for crimes against fashion....

 

[MJM]

If Bogle is to play I sincerely hope it is not at full back in place of George , since his defensive frailties are there for all to see .

Sir Christopher Basham would be a much better option .

Thought Bash had a pretty decent cameo there against Bournemouth so wouldn't complain about that tbf.

I can appreciate that Bogle isn't the greatest defensively, but gorgeous George has hardly covered himself in any glory in that department over the last few games either. At least Bogle gets forward.

 

[Bladesman]

Sander "Bubble Wrap" Berge. I'm a huge supporter of his and apologies if this is too harsh giving prior injuries but I genuinely think since last season he has been prioritising finding himself a new club and nit picking health concerns to avoid gametime.

Surely he would get a better move if he was playing regular football? He has been out a while.

 

[Rudders]

If Bogle is to play I sincerely hope it is not at full back in place of George , since his defensive frailties are there for all to see .

Sir Christopher Basham would be a much better option .

I like Basham but what is going on with our defence generally? They have all looked so pitifully weak this and most of last season - Bash included.
We are already showing defensive frailties - an example of this from the super experienced Stevens in the last match who went sliding in, out of control with his studs up, on a waterlogged pitch to concede a match turning pen when the player was arguably going to get closed down/heading wider? We are already conceding two goals a game with an experienced defence so I am almost at the point of seeing if changing one of the full backs to one who offers tonnes more attacking output (Bogle) should not be discounted.
Turning it round I wouldn't be against trying a Pulis-like approach against Stoke of playing a back 4 consisting entirely of centre-ish backs - Davies at LB; Lopata and Egan at CB and Bash at RB. Strengthens the middle and the full backs defensively, whilst both full backs are hybrid/ball playing centre backs so should be okay on the wing defence.
Adopt the principal of keep it out at the back and let the midfield and attack create/score....

 

[Isaw Joeshaw]

I like Basham but what is going on with our defence generally? They have all looked so pitifully weak this and most of last season - Bash included.
We are already showing defensive frailties - an example of this from the super experienced Stevens in the last match who went sliding in, out of control with his studs up, on a waterlogged pitch to concede a match turning pen when the player was arguably going to get closed down/heading wider? We are already conceding two goals a game with an experienced defence so I am almost at the point of seeing if changing one of the full backs to one who offers tonnes more attacking output (Bogle) should not be discounted.
Turning it round I wouldn't be against trying a Pulis-like approach against Stoke of playing a back 4 consisting entirely of centre-ish backs - Davies at LB; Lopata and Egan at CB and Bash at RB. Strengthens the middle and the full backs defensively, whilst both full backs are hybrid/ball playing centre backs so should be okay on the wing defence.
Adopt the principal of keep it out at the back and let the midfield and attack create/score....

There could be some merit in that approach .

 

[alcoblade]

Berge has now been out for four weeks. Looks like that minor tweak is bit more significant. Should have been a player we made hige profit on, We would be lucky to recoup what he cost

We won’t recover half what he cost, unfortunately.

 

[Alan Birchenall's hair]

He'll see his contract out, then end up back in Norway

 

[alcoblade]

Sander "Bubble Wrap" Berge. I'm a huge supporter of his and apologies if this is too harsh giving prior injuries but I genuinely think since last season he has been prioritising finding himself a new club and nit picking health concerns to avoid gametime.

He won’t be getting a club anywhere near as good as us if he keeps up as he has been. He needs to prove something with us, because his reputation must surely have gone.

He may get a club closer to home, but his Champions League dreams are well over.

 

[Badger Blade]

Seems a nice lad, but not sure where the "great attitude" thing comes from in terms of a footballing perspective. Seems fairly nesh on the park, despite having some tremendous abilities.

Being nice is his biggest problem.

Nothing wrong with being a nice bloke off the pitch but on it he ought to be Norway's answer to Patrick Vieira but he's been anything but.

Only Champions League football he'll get will be through playing for a big club in a shit league like he did in Belgium and like Lundstram's doing at Rangers.