Sander Berge | Signs for Fulham

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If he can be a platform that allows Mainoo and Bruno to shine by being very secure with the ball, being that wall that players can bounce passes off of, especially if he can do it quick and under pressure then he might be a good signing for the squad. His physicality would be a bonus as well, a bit like a lower quality Rodri. Could be a very sensible signing.
 
I think he'd come in and immediately be one of our better midfielders, which doesn't actually make him a world beater, more a sign just how poor we are in that department.
 
I felt we should have been looking at him whilst he was still at Genk, however once he was at Sheffield its I kinda lost interest (probably because of the kind of football they play) but looking at the type of football Burnley play and the system he played in this one seems interesting.

 
We absolutely do need some "cheap" squad depth in midfield, I haven't seen enough of this guy to comment on his ability but I did get the feeling we might see the odd INEOS signing that leaves the fan base scratching our heads because obvious signings usually don't come cheap.
 
He does tick alot of boxes what ETH/INEOS want ie someone whose cheap, whose tall (6ft5), he doesn't give the ball cheaply (not quite in the 90%+ but 88% is good enough) and whose quite fast.
 
VP89 said:
We could do with a squad player who would be a good foil for Bruno/Mainoo/Mount. Someone rarely injured, physical, aerially capable and comfortable on the ball.

Berge wouldn't be a bad squad pickup at the right price. I'm just unsure on how slow he is?
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Athletic reporting that he recorded the 10th quickest top speed in the premier league last season for what it's worth.
 
Fortitude said:
Carrick’s only hesitancy was in his head as he’d sum up options before making the pass - he wasn’t as assured as others in immediately knowing what the optimal pass was - like Scholes - but he had it in him to progress effortlessly inside two touches off of either foot or either side of his body; we’re not going to get anything like him this window, and scouring the game, it seems there’s only a few players with that ability active.

What is concerning is the players we are linked to are not good footballers and if you’re relying on them for rock solid ball progression you’re setting them and the team up for failure. By the looks of things, we’ve turned Mainoo into a single point failure who is going to have to do far too much work in midfield by himself in terms of progressing the play. Other sides have 3, 4 even 5 points of progression in deep midfield. We have 1, plus however long Martinez is fit for.

It’s been the biggest disappointment of the window that we’ve done nothing to address that and are linked to substandard midfielders going into the latter stages of the transfer window. As things stand, Mainoo injured or simply off form, and we’re in serious trouble.
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A Carrick with a little more mobility and physicality would be the dream, but alas...

Mazraoui is supposedly a good footballer, is he not? I agree in midfield, however, we need more quality on the ball. Casemiro is actually quite a good footballer, but he needs to step up his game or be sold. Ugarte I know very little about. Mount is a good footballer, so if he can function as a proper 8, that's an upgrade. Eriksen is done. Berge, as I say is a good option as he offers great physical attributes and is a good ball carrier. I think in most aspects he's an upgrade on McTominay and functions as a DM. However, he should not be a guaranteed starter.

Not sure what the best alternatives are though?
 
After reading those Burnley forum comments this feels like a squad player at best.

How much will a squad player from the Championship cost us? He's in his prime so that will boost the price a bit.
 
At least he knows how to battle it out and beat the drop...oh wait he doesn't. It's great being such a Huge club and being skint. Mismanaged for years and hampered for years after.
 
I feel like this is the 'if we can't get our primary target, lets at least get a body in' signing. I'd prefer Berge to Casemiro for sure.
 
Gordon S said:
I have seen him play in the prem quite a few times and he looks like a rolls royce midfielder from time to time. Then, just before i start to think he should be an option for us, he just causally gives the ball away and i start to wonder what he brings to the table a Fellaini or Schneiderlin could not, who clearly were a level below what we needed.

Personally think though our current midfield options are average at the very best, apart from Kobbie and Bruno, and i am probably being kind when using the word average. So yeah, all things considered, i think Sander is probably every bit as good an option right now as a Casemiro, Mctominay Eriksen or Collyer behind Kobbie and Bruno.
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I think he's a decent squad option for a functioning midfield, but I don't think he will elevate the team, so he can be an option but shouldn't be relied upon as our only DM.
 
If he's cheap, I'm OK with it. I don't really think he's good enough, but he's been in shite teams. If people want Zubimendi, I don't see why they'd be adverse to this transfer.
 
Don't know why but under the radar signings like this one excite me, love to see him step up and become a regular here.
 
He's not good enough, is he?
As a noggie I'm always excited about the propects of one of us representing Manchester United, but I'm not optimistic about the outcome in this case.
 
Missed him when he played at Genk as I didn't go there for a few years (in the period he played there) & can't help to think this is a bit of a moneyball signing. Tall, fast, good ball retention and holding mid.. No idea if he can step it up to a team that's supposed to dominate possession.
 
Exactly the type of small under-the-radar signing I feel like we've been missing out on.
 
AaronRedDevil said:
Judging from the video. This guy ain't it. Lots of back passing and sideways passing.
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Not that that is all that Rodri does but a large part of his role is doing what you saw in that clip which is being that wall that players can bounce the ball off of and receiving the ball under pressure. Not saying Berge is that quality but its part of the role. Also he plays for Burllnley, if we do start to dominate teams more and have more possesion then a large part of that role would be recycling posession and breaking up counter attacks.

As long as he's a more consistent passer and receiver of the ball, especially in tight spaces, then he'll be an upgrade on Casemiro. We don't need a prime Carrick to upgrade Casemiro for me.
 
Hmm I think this is the sort of signing we make if we can't offload Casemiro. He's effectively a midfield option who will be happy to play foil to Casemiro/rotate.

I reckon we're hoping Casemiro discovers something close to his early 22/23 form - even 67-/70% of that version would instantly improve us. This is likely driven more by the fact we can't find a buyer for him rather than genuine expectation.

Would probably opt for Rabiot > Berge but maybe wage demands make that an issue with Casemiro still on the books.
 
A few posters on here were so angry at other links because they were too obvious, and when we are interested in gems, they get angry again.

Some people will never find football enjoyable.
 
What sort of price are we talking?

If we had shifted Eriksen and Casemiro, then bought an Ugarte type. I'd fully understand Berge as an additional option to enhance the squad if the fee was relatively low, but him being the main midfield option would be a bit underwhelming.
 
Fortitude said:
If our ambition is to finish where we just did. If we are serious about at least being a CL team, is this really the kind of player we should be linked to?
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A well run top club should just not ever be in a situation where a guy like Berge might actually be a starter for us. Years of criminal mismanagement has led us here. We all want credible links to better players than him but our budget seems restricted in this moment, and we also want to change our reputation of always overpaying.. I think however this interest is more down to us being proactive, as a plan c if needed.
 
3KDré said:
Exactly the type of small under-the-radar signing I feel like we've been missing out on.
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Well most United fans have been calling for the club to make more under the radar and data driven signings. This one fits the bill. Won't stop some from still moaning about it being 'underwhelming' though
 
I don't hate it if the price is right.

If he's one the recruitment and analytics team have been able to identify as an under-the-radar alternative to Ugarte then happy to support them. The comp posted above shows some promising signs, though his touch looks a little looser than I'd like for a number 6.
 
Redivy said:
A few posters on here were so angry at other links because they were too obvious, and when we are interested in gems, they get angry again.

Some people will never find football enjoyable.
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Exactly. What's the point in establishing a top recruitment team to identify under the radar targets? Might as well have just stuck with the Woodward Galactico policy and only buy big name players from top clubs.
 
Tom Van Persie said:
Well most United fans have been calling for the club to make more under the radar and data driven signings. This one fits the bill. Won't stop some from still moaning about it being 'underwhelming' though
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United fans are fickle. One of our biggest issues last year was that when a first teamer was out their replacement was so different the system suffered. Casemiro and Amrabat being the prime example.

Before we add the specialist players, we first need to make sure the squad has lots of well rounded players - they don't need to be fantastic, they just need to have a good technical and physical base to work with. Too many of our players aren't well rounded enough. Casemiro, Eriksen, Maguire, Lindelof, AWB for example are all pretty good at one thing, but they've all clear weaknesses and we keep having to adjust for them. It should be that we don't tweak the system to accomodate for anyone.

Wrt to the 'last 25 pressures' video underwhelming some : our whole MO is inviting pressure and playing our way through their press. In that case it's about the players making the right passes under pressure at the right time over and over again. It's not about being progressive when you've a man on your back.
 
Berge has always struck me as very much a water carrier type DM, but they can work in a good side if the rest of the team around them are of good quality. I can see why we'd all be disappointed though.

I wouldn't be surprised if we did still sign Ugarte but later in the window. I think there might be a couple of late signings, especially if there are late exits. A few of our players seem to be the plan c or d of other clubs, so we sort of have to wait for the other dominos to fall. For instance, Saudi might still come back for Casemiro if they exhaust their efforts trying to sign younger players. I guess one thing to be aware of is if someone else comes in for Ugarte, but I can only see Saudi paying that kind of money, and not sure he'll go there.

Personally, if McT left and we signed both Berge and André then I think I would be ok with it. You have a player with PL experience and a very different DM in André who you could then ease into the league. Obviously, this is very much dependent on fees, but if you got them both for a combined £50m or less then it wouldn't be too bad.

Long term it might not be good enough though...
 
Billy Jim said:
I don't hate it if the price is right.

If he's one the recruitment and analytics team have been able to identify as an under-the-radar alternative to Ugarte then happy to support them. The comp posted above shows some promising signs, though his touch looks a little looser than I'd like for a number 6.
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Agree! I want more signings like this, data driven and low key.
 
We don't have much money, nobody is rushing to sign our players for the price we want or will pay them the wages they want at the moment. We need squad depth, not just starters. We have to be clever with what finances we have. If the price is sensible he could be a really good signing.
 
Rauður Djöfull said:
This window has taken a very disappointing turn
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If we end up having signed two centre backs, a full back, at promising striker and a squad player who fits the profile of midfielder we require then it's been a very good window given the financial constraints we're under.

You cannot address the entire team in one window.
 
I too want low-key and data driven signings. But you have to admit that when the supporters of the club in question hardly can believe that we want their player then it doesn't bode very well? I was all for the transfer until I read those Burnley forum comments. Granted, they may have been carefully handpicked by someone with an agenda...
 
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