JUDGE BERGE IN LONG TERM
Blades chief Wilder calls for patience as £22m record signing settles in
REACHING 40 points in February as a side playing Premier League football for the first time in 13 seasons ought to have been cause for wild celebration in Sheffield, instead it was met with a tinge of frustration.
That, as much as anything, is a sign of how far Sheffield United have progressed in a very short space of time.
A draw at home to Brighton and Hove Albion was not a bad result, but the Blades are being judged as would-be European qualifiers now. Likewise, at £22m, Sander Berge is not an expensive Premier League player, but the Norwegian is being judged as a club record signing in football’s wealthiest division.
Manager Chris Wilder has not forgotten where he and his club have come from, which is why he points to a signing who cost around a hundredth of Berge’s fee four years ago for context.
Berge made a promising start at Crystal Palace, but with the wing-back alongside him, George Baldock, booked and treading a fine line early on, was put on the back foot and faded.
He was off the pace and substituted in both Bramall Lane appearances – he is yet to finish a game – and while excellent in the first half of the FA Cup tie at Reading playing for the first time in his preferred holding midfield role and dictating that the game was played at his pace, when the Royals upped the ante after halftime, Berge’s influence waned.
This is, though, a player parachuted in mid-season from a far less intense league – Belgium’s – to play in an idiosyncratic formation. The Blades, who wanted to sign Berge last summer, are fortunate they have been able to bed him into a team which has way outperformed predictions, now looking forward to a home FA Cup quarter-final with Arsenal and eighth in the Premier League.
“There will always be an initial judgement but it’s an obvious long-term signing,” said Wilder, who hopes to further his squad building with another contract renewal before Saturday’s Premier League visit of Norwich City.
“He’s had some tough games to cope with – it wasn’t easy at Palace, the Bournemouth game was his home debut and he played at home to Brighton, then at Reading. He wouldn’t be used to the intensity of the games and the intensity we train at but he’s got undoubted class and ability and I’ve been delighted with him.
“When I’m constructing a group you look at different options, different permutations and formations. We can play with two midfield players or a sitter and two pushed on as we have done.”
As for the feeling Berge ought to have hit the ground running, Wilder knows it is inevitable, but can hardly complain when he and his team have done so much to raise expectations this season. Better people complaining you need more for £22m or better results to qualify for Europe, than grumbling you will never get out of League One if your £225,000 centre-back does not buck up.
“I’m a football man and I know it doesn’t always work like that,” he says. “Roll back the years to Jack O’Connell and after five games people would have thought he would have been a dud and let’s get rid of him.
“At Southend he scored an own goal, not a great team performance and not a great performance by him, then he gives a penalty away at Millwall in the last minute. I suppose everyone will have been looking at me and thinking, ‘Who have we signed?’ but think I deserve the faith from our supporters in terms of who we’ve signed, why we’re signing them, the age, the price.
“Jack O’Connell has become a major, major player for us. We’ve got to give people time.
“Expectations have gone through the roof through performances and where we are as a club. I accept and understand it, I can’t control it. We’d rather have this than a very low expectation and not signing players.
“Sander’s fitted in seamlessly as a person and he’ll get better as he gets up to speed.
“Getting to 40 points was quite a special moment for us and when you look at the teams who haven’t got there yet or are desperate to get there, for a promoted club to get there with 11 games left was a great achievement. We’ve got to maximise this period because of how it’s been in the past.
“The players try to inspire everyone with their performances and their attitude and they get inspiration from the crowd as well, it’s always a two-way thing.
“We sold out at Reading on Tuesday night, a long journey down, FA Cup, we’re sold out in every home game. I’m glad supporters are enjoying it and backing us in numbers and voices.”
Before the last home game it was announced midfielder John Fleck had signed a new contract until the summer of 2023, and talks are ongoing with Enda Stevens, John Lundstram and John Egan.
“We hopefully might have a bit of news in the next 48 hours regarding one of the players,” teased Wilder. “I do believe all the boys we’re talking to will want to commit (to new contracts) and if we keep ticking them off one by one, week by week, then I’ll be delighted.”
Sander’s fitted in seamlessly... and he’ll get better as he gets up to speed.
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder on record signing Sander Berge.