Sander Berge started his fourth Sheffield United game last night as the Blades saw off Reading to progress in the FA Cup.
It means United now have a realistic chance of getting to Wembley. Just eight teams will remain in the competition at the end of this week, with cross-city rivals, Sheffield Wednesday, potentially being one of those clubs.
Sander Berge endured a tough second half for Sheffield United at Reading last night. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
Berge, meanwhile, was dropped into a deeper role in place of Oli Norwood. It’s a position a lot of people see him playing long-term at the club given his performances there for Genk.
However, Berger didn’t have everything his own way at the Madejski. He was often caught in possession and was, at times, outshone by Reading midfielders John Swift and Ovie Ejaria.
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As has become the norm, then, when it comes to Sander Berge, there was plenty of scrutiny on Twitter from Blades fans. The £22m fee United paid for has, understandably, given fans high hopes of what the Norwegian can bring to the table.
But with another decent if not underwhelming performance under his belt, it looks like some Sheffield United fans are asking for a bit more.
Here’s a selection of tweets from United fans in relation to the performance of Berge.
Sorry Berge has been poor. I like him and think he’ll be great when he settles, but at the moment he’s not good enough.
— Sam (@Bladesam1983) March 3, 2020
Oh, and Sander Berge will be absolutely fine once he’s adapted to our unique style of play. #twitterblades #SUFC
— Tyrone James (@tyronej1984) March 3, 2020
Love sander Berge and really hope he comes on as a player but after tonight surely he’s got to be dropped and put lundstrum or freeman in, only fair he has to fight for his place back aswell 🤷♂️ #twitterblades
— Kyle Dickens (@kyle_dickens123) March 3, 2020
Played an okay 1st half, safe and easy. From that point he started to fall a bit apart. After watching several games of him playing, it seems to me he just lacks the stamina to keep up the quality of his play for a whole game.
— Herjeee (@Herjeee) March 3, 2020
For me personally, still shaky but the ability is there. Some mistackles but overall, a good performance
— el (@EleanorDanes) March 3, 2020
Sander Berge has been noticeably poor this evening in his preferred position #sufc #twitterblades
— Ben Palmer (@benpalmer88) March 3, 2020
Time needed to see the full impact – Our View
We’ve already covered this previously but Berge is going to need time.
In fairness to him, he did well in the first half last night. The second period was a tougher affair, with Reading on the front foot more and more than just Berge looking off their game at times for United.
He did look more comfortable deeper, though. However, he’s a long way from replacing Oli Norwood as yet.
