“He’s Norwegian. He plays for the Blades with John Egan. We’re playing in Europe next season. Sander Berge.” Sung to the tune of Oasis’s She’s Electric, Sheffield United fans’ chant for their club’s record signing may not be prize-winning poetry but it scores high for accuracy.
The nationality is right, Egan has become Berge’s closest friend at Bramall Lane and United have a strong chance of qualifying for European competition for the first time in their 131-year history, especially if they beat Wolves on Wednesday.
To talk to Berge is to gain a clearer understanding of how Chris Wilder’s team have flown so high. The 22-year-old midfielder, who signed from Genk for £22m in January, speaks of being serenaded by Billy Sharp, using lockdown “to become a stronger version of myself” and having his role transformed thanks to Wilder’s eye for talent and attention to detail.
Let’s start with United’s team spirit, because that is what Berge noticed right away. “The first time I came into the dressing room the skipper made a song for me with the masses of Blades fans and since then it’s just been home,” says Berge, explaining that Sharp played the fans’ chant to him and got the team to sing along.
“I’ve come from clubs that are hard-working and humble and that’s even more the case here. It’s the best dressing room by far that I’ve been in. That’s what I love about this club. Not just the players – it doesn’t matter if you’re staff or a fan, everybody is treated the same way.”
As if fulfilling the chant’s prophecy, Berge has hung out with Egan more than anyone else since his arrival. “We have a lot in common. We have the same thoughts about everything,” says Berge of the Republic of Ireland centre-back. “He’s been playing in English football for a long time and is one of the leaders in our team so he’s very helpful.
“Also, he loves basketball and I come from a basketball family [both Berge’s parents were international basketball players, his father for Norway and his mother for Sweden]. He’s into Formula One, so am I. And we both love football: some football players don’t like to watch football but we really love to, so we watch a lot of games together.”
Berge’s game has evolved since his arrival. He has played only 11 matches but his improvement has been clear. His last two, the home victory against Tottenham and the draw at Burnley, were the first in which he completed 90 minutes, and against Spurs he scored his first goal for the club and created another. The improvement is the fruit of his own fitness work and his growing familiarity with the methods of Wilder, who has turned him into a more attacking player.
“Lockdown was a tough time for everybody but I saw it as an opportunity to improve my physical level,” he says. He worked on a Wattbike at home and went running in Millhouses Park. “As a footballer you never really have a chance to improve your physical level because you’re always on the go, for 11 months of the year if you play for your national team. I struggled with playing 60 minutes when I arrived but in the last week I played 90 minutes twice. When you can handle that intensity, then you can bring out more qualities.”
As well as being fitter, he now has a greater connection with his teammates. He plays on the right of United’s three-man central midfield. “In the first games I was thinking too much and just running around and sometimes you’re in the wrong position and you’re like: ‘What am I bringing to help the team?’ Now I’m more comfortable and just demanding the ball and being myself. Then I suddenly catch what George [Baldock] or [Chris] Basham or someone is doing. We’re reading the game the same way. It’s very fluent and I can play football.”
That can mean starting and finishing moves, a development nurtured by Wilder and welcomed by Berge. “For six or seven years at previous clubs I probably watched so many attacks standing in midfield and never being in the box so it’s a bit weird to suddenly be in there and finishing things off. I always looked at myself and thought: ‘Why can’t I be more of a box-to-box player?’ I was always more like the leader that sets off attacks and tries to keep the team in balance but here I’m supposed to go more forward.
“My biggest strength is probably driving with the ball, not necessarily being the most creative but more like taking off pressure and eliminating people, carrying it forward and getting in advanced positions. Then suddenly when I’m there I feel like I bring back what I had when I was much younger, playing as a striker. It’s nice to be out there finishing off attacks and being in the last third. I’ve always been very open to it but I’ve never really got the chance to play like that.”
Wilder saw his potential. “They said when I signed they saw me in games with the national team and [for Genk] against Liverpool in the Champions League playing in a 5-3-2 in the sitting role but I was still driving with the ball like I was playing No 8. I just got the ball in the middle and ran with it but that wasn’t very dangerous because I was supposed to provide balance and be a shield.
“Now I can do that more from a higher position. That’s probably brought the best out of me. It’s more about bringing your boldness from the middle of the park to the sides or in little pockets. That takes a bit of time to adapt to. In the national team I play in a 4-4-2 and I’ve always been more creative and taking more risks towards the end of games when it opens up, but here they want me to do that from the beginning. I like that.”