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Christophe Berra


The Merse

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been here before

Berra is starting to give me the fear. There's no comparison between the player we have now and the one we had pre injury. Winning headers is fine but there's so much more to the game than that. His distribution is non existent. He still seems to have the pace but he seems to have lost the anticipation to use it.

 

He was culpable twice in the move that led to Utds goal last night and had more than his fair share of shaky moments since coming back. There is certainly something lacking.

 

Interestingly it looks more and more that the balance of power in the defence is changing with Souttar becoming the more dominant of the two centre backs. He had a real pop at Berra a couple of times during the game last night to which Berra only seemed to respond in kind.

 

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i wish jj was my dad

He is not at his best but he's still an absolutr colossus. Halkett will have to go some to shift him.

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Levein has a big decision to make.  If he continues with a back 4 then Souttar and Halkett would be my CB first choice pairing.  Berra and Dikamona the 2nd choice with Hamilton, Baur and Petkov in reserve.

 

As many have observed, Christophe has lost some pace and movement since his injury.

 

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A_A wehatethehibs

We’ll see where he’s at when everyone is up to full match fitness. That’s still a good month or two away. Halkett will gradually come into play. 

 

Dont think there can be any doubt that Berras best days are now behind him, but that doesn’t mean he can’t still do a job for Hearts. Maybe play Halkett away at your Hamilton’s etc to develop him, deploy fully rested Berra for the big games. Hope he gets another chance to play another final for Hearts and take home a winners medal. 

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9 minutes ago, i wish jj was my dad said:

He is not at his best but he's still an absolutr colossus. Halkett will have to go some to shift him.

Still the best reader and box defender we have until others prove their worth. 

 

Bit of a sclaff clearance from him led to the Utd build up at their goal but more often than not it’s him reading balls into the box, stepping onto the ball to clear or never losing a header.  

 

He’s more a proactive defender than a reactive which I think makes a huge difference. 

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letsalldothebeattie

Looked far from his best yet again last night. Feel theirs going to come a point soon when Levein has to drop him, we cant keep someone of Halkett's ability on the bench too long

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It does look like he stresses his body every time he has to move quickly. He puts in a shift no doubt, but this is the tail end of his career and if he starts to become a persistent liability at the back then Souttar and Halkett going forward.

 

 

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Guest ToqueJambo
11 hours ago, rick witter said:

Yet we seem to continually make individual errors or leave ourselves wide open at the back. 

We also concede goals in every game we play in. 

Glad your very comfortable with that as I’m certainly not. 

You would think with Levein being such a good central defender in his day he would have them slit more well drilled than they are. 

Was a shambles at times last night and that was only Dundee Utd. 

 

That you’re not comfortable about anything to do with Hearts is not a surprise.

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8 hours ago, letsalldothebeattie said:

Looked far from his best yet again last night. Feel theirs going to come a point soon when Levein has to drop him, we cant keep someone of Halkett's ability on the bench too long

 

Quite possible however there will be a number of games where CL will play three CB's and that could well be Souttar, Berra and Halkett with Dikamona for cover.

 

I agree about his form however I don't think CL will drop him even if he should.

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been here before
8 minutes ago, Mr Elwood P said:

Anybody think Souttar has been more off form than Berra?

 

He had a couple of ropey games the tail end of last season, the first half at Easter Road was probably the low point.

 

Berra's has been a longer concern.

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Clerry Jambo

yip lets write off our captain who has been a rock for the most part.

 

Coming back from a very serious injury, needs a bit leeway from the fans.

 

never was the best on the deck, however would header a brick wall for the team, short memories indeed.

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20 hours ago, Barack said:

Grimace quite a lot now, when he's around the ball or being attacked by a player running at him.

 

Not as confident in him as I once was. Hope he gets it back whatever he's missing. Would be a shame for him to become a liability.

 

Personally, I keep saying it, but I think Halkett's better than the two of them back there. Sentimentality won't keep him in the team for much longer. 

 

Unfortunately I have to agree. He was never a great passer of the ball but all the other attributes of his game have never been in doubt until he came back from that injury.

 

My heart is in my mouth a lot of the time when he makes some of his passes because you are never sure where he is going to put it I am almost whishing him to hit it long.

 

I really think he hinders a lot of our attacking moves by the poor passes he makes.

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Everybody makes mistakes. Not sure Berra has made more than others. No one mentioned the sublime crossfield diagonal pass that should have resulted in a goal in the first half. Be interested to see some of the stats about how often he gives away possession, i suspect not as bad as you would think from comments on here. Facts and opinions do not always align. His form may have taken a dip compared to his initial high standards, who is to say a with a few more games he might not bet back to that level?

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1 hour ago, Mr Elwood P said:

Anybody think Souttar has been more off form than Berra?

Neither has impressed recently other than cup final 

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1 hour ago, John Findlay said:

There is a big decision looming for CL regarding Christopher Berra.

And it could be made harder if we get a decent bid for Souter in next three weeks. 

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59 minutes ago, Clerry Jambo said:

yip lets write off our captain who has been a rock for the most part.

 

Coming back from a very serious injury, needs a bit leeway from the fans.

 

never was the best on the deck, however would header a brick wall for the team, short memories indeed.

Think it’s fair to have concerns. Been back from that injury for 6 months now and still looks like he is struggling physically at times. Left footed and think it’s a left sided injury, that’s the problem. Still a commanding figure as captain but making more and more errors which I think are based on injury eg late on last night he should just have cleaned the guy and ball out but seemed reluctant to make the challenge. Clark should have scored as a result. 

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11 hours ago, Tasavallan said:

Levein has a big decision to make.  If he continues with a back 4 then Souttar and Halkett would be my CB first choice pairing.  Berra and Dikamona the 2nd choice with Hamilton, Baur and Petkov in reserve.

 

As many have observed, Christophe has lost some pace and movement since his injury.

 

Don’t think Bauer or Hamilton will play first team football for us unless absolute emergency. Five cb’s ahead of them. 

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Looked like he was limping at the end of the game. Was hoping the break might have helped but starting to show his age

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Clerry Jambo
Just now, Newton51 said:

Looked like he was limping at the end of the game. Was hoping the break might have helped but starting to show his age

Don't think necessarily its his age, it was a serious injury he got and maybe came back too early

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Pasquale for King
22 hours ago, The Merse said:

Still seems to be struggling in my opinion.

 

He just doesn’t move comfortably at all since that injury. Hoped the break might’ve helped but I genuinely worry that he’s never going to return to the player from the season before last.

It was only a five week break, he seems a little uncertain of his footing and the rain wouldn’t have helped last night. Whether it’s a mental or physical thing is up for debate. Still our best defender, especially high balls but please someone tell him to limit the long balls and pass it into midfield.

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Pasquale for King
1 hour ago, Mr Elwood P said:

Anybody think Souttar has been more off form than Berra?

Indeed, he can be targeted by the ball in behind and Shankland was shoving him around last night in a way he wouldn’t manage with Berra. He has a long way to go to be worth the money we seem to think he’s worth. If you watch the cup final goals again concentrate on his part in them, Berra wasn’t happy with him. 

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Mr Elwood P
34 minutes ago, soonbe110 said:

Neither has impressed recently other than cup final 

 

Agree with that. Hickey and Michael Smith have produced the stand out defensive performances of late. Berra was imperious in both games at Easter Road though.

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35 minutes ago, Pasquale for King said:

Indeed, he can be targeted by the ball in behind and Shankland was shoving him around last night in a way he wouldn’t manage with Berra. He has a long way to go to be worth the money we seem to think he’s worth. If you watch the cup final goals again concentrate on his part in them, Berra wasn’t happy with him. 

He was as much to blame for second goal as Berra. Ball watching rather than man watching. Should have covered for Berra. Think you are first person to agree with me on this one. 

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25 minutes ago, Mr Elwood P said:

 

Agree with that. Hickey and Michael Smith have produced the stand out defensive performances of late. Berra was imperious in both games at Easter Road though.

Michael Smith has been best signing of the second Levein era. 8/9 out of 10 performances nearly every week. Has his faults but gives 100% every week and is good going forward as well as defensively. Has played rb,  lb, centre defence and midfield and never looked out of place. 

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Smith&Weston

Berra is not the same player.  Not sure Souttar has been great either but can see Halkett coming in sooner rather than later. We are shipping too many goals and not keeping clean sheets.  That will irk Levein. 

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4 hours ago, John Findlay said:

There is a big decision looming for CL regarding Christopher Berra.

 

I hope Christophe himself makes the decision if CL can't, won't or doesn't. 

 

Christophe grimaced throughout the match last night, for me he doesn't look comfortable. 

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7 hours ago, soonbe110 said:

He was as much to blame for second goal as Berra. Ball watching rather than man watching. Should have covered for Berra. Think you are first person to agree with me on this one. 

That's because you're both talking pish. Souttar was covering his man. 

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2 hours ago, ri Alban said:

That's because you're both talking pish. Souttar was covering his man. 

Rubbish, he should have covered Berra’s man as soon as he saw he was way out of position. Souter and ‘his man’ just stood and watched the winner. 

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Selkirkhmfc1874
1 hour ago, soonbe110 said:

Rubbish, he should have covered Berra’s man as soon as he saw he was way out of position. Souter and ‘his man’ just stood and watched the winner. 

If Haring had still been on the pitch that goal wouldn't have been scored in my opinion 

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4forDevries

One thing's for sure, CB is under the microscope and we can only hope that his body improves. Performance before sentiment though. And we currently can't shift to a back 3 if needed with CB on left as obviously he will get outpaced and turned too easily. I want to see Halkett playing CM while Haring is out.

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He's not been right since his injury. 

Give him a few more games to see if he can get back to the old Berra, then if he's still being pish, bench him.

Captain or not, we can't afford to carry anybody.

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On 12/07/2019 at 16:19, DarioHMFC said:

Berra should be on the bench for cover, great servant and will be good to have around the team but time to move toward Souttar and Halkett pairing. We should also give Souttar the captains armband too. Nothing against Christoph but he shouldn’t be a regular starter and will still command enough respect around the club that he doesn’t need it. 

This

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Tom Hardy’s Dug

I hope his new deal we out together protected us if he didn’t recover properly from his injury.

 

I found it very strange we gave him such a long contract extension when he was still recovering from and being tested out on what was a serious injury that can **** your leg up for good.

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Pasquale for King
23 hours ago, soonbe110 said:

He was as much to blame for second goal as Berra. Ball watching rather than man watching. Should have covered for Berra. Think you are first person to agree with me on this one. 

Berra definitely had a go at him, any ball in behind him he struggles with. 

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Pasquale for King
16 hours ago, ri Alban said:

That's because you're both talking pish. Souttar was covering his man. 

He should’ve left his man to Smith and covered the space left by Berra, the diving cheat ran past him and he just let him go, basic defending and one of a few reasons he’s still with us.

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Pasquale for King
22 minutes ago, Tom Hardy’s Dug said:

I hope his new deal we out together protected us if he didn’t recover properly from his injury.

 

I found it very strange we gave him such a long contract extension when he was still recovering from and being tested out on what was a serious injury that can **** your leg up for good.

Yeah it was a strange one and there was no need whatsoever to do at that point in time, if anyone knows how hard it is to return to your former self after a bad injury it’s Levein.

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Pasquale for King
13 hours ago, soonbe110 said:

Rubbish, he should have covered Berra’s man as soon as he saw he was way out of position. Souter and ‘his man’ just stood and watched the winner. 

If you watch the penalty again he stands and watches it too as Berra has to go across to cover the ***** before he dives, obviously the GK should’ve done better too.

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16 hours ago, ri Alban said:

That's because you're both talking pish. Souttar was covering his man. 

You’re talking like it’s playing 5 with yer mates. A goal goes in and everyone says they had their man.!

 

Certainly as a defender you need to have overall awareness. Sometimes you come off your own marker and see the danger if a team mate is exposed. 

 

He had to simply move over and fill the space. The least danger is the guy he was trying to cover as the ball is the opposite side of the park. If it happened to switch to his side and he’d moved to cover Berra, you just deal with that situ as it happens but at least you’ve forced a longer pass. 

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Could it be possible that Berra has the fear with Bobby behind him? A great centre back usually has full confidence in his goalie and I am not certain that anyone has full confidence in Zlamal 

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15 minutes ago, Bozi said:

Could it be possible that Berra has the fear with Bobby behind him? A great centre back usually has full confidence in his goalie and I am not certain that anyone has full confidence in Zlamal 

Maybe they've both got "the fear" - it seems to be contageous - I think I've got it too!

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13 hours ago, Selkirkhmfc1874 said:

If Haring had still been on the pitch that goal wouldn't have been scored in my opinion 

Agreed

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1 hour ago, Pasquale for King said:

He should’ve left his man to Smith and covered the space left by Berra, the diving cheat ran past him and he just let him go, basic defending and one of a few reasons he’s still with us.

Exactly. 

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been here before
49 minutes ago, Bozi said:

Could it be possible that Berra has the fear with Bobby behind him? A great centre back usually has full confidence in his goalie and I am not certain that anyone has full confidence in Zlamal 

 

Aye... aye that could be it, you could be onto something there because mind last season when folk were having a few concerns over Berra how we noticed he was back to his imperious best when Doyle played half a dozen or so games? And then how he started to dip again when Zlamal returned?

 

Aye, thats what happened. Its the goalies fault Berra isnt as physically up to scratch as he was before his injury. Fancy the club spunking all that money on the finest medical teams and state of the art physio when all they've got to do is ask you and you'll go "its the goalies fault, try dropping him and Berra'll be barry again".

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1 hour ago, Pasquale for King said:

If you watch the penalty again he stands and watches it too as Berra has to go across to cover the ***** before he dives, obviously the GK should’ve done better too.

Maybe but pen was all down to Bobby. Hesitated and gave him a chance. Should have stopped the pen given how much hand he got on it. Had he saved the pen the lift we would have got and the downer they would have experienced would almost certainly have ended in a cup win for us. Won’t trust him again to be honest. Positioning for their goal on Friday night was comedy stuff. 

I said after Bayview at the start of last season that I thought he was a bomb scare. Sadly, for once, I was correct. 

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I would never slate Berra but I really think for the good of the team he should be the back up to Halkett and Souttar, I think Levein will stick with him in every game until he's playing in a wheelchair though.

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1 hour ago, been here before said:

 

Aye... aye that could be it, you could be onto something there because mind last season when folk were having a few concerns over Berra how we noticed he was back to his imperious best when Doyle played half a dozen or so games? And then how he started to dip again when Zlamal returned?

 

Aye, thats what happened. Its the goalies fault Berra isnt as physically up to scratch as he was before his injury. Fancy the club spunking all that money on the finest medical teams and state of the art physio when all they've got to do is ask you and you'll go "its the goalies fault, try dropping him and Berra'll be barry again".

🤣🤣🤣

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