Falkirk 0-0 Aberdeen
Alrighty. First, the positives.
We kept another clean sheet, Jamie Langfield made a series of stunning saves to keep us in the game while at the same time staking his claim on a regular appearance in a Scotland jersey. For most of the time, we looked comfortable playing 4-4-2 and our defence looked solid enough, even with Diamond still out.
Our youngsters Pawlett, Paton, Fyvie and Maguire looked good when they came on, and Sone Aluko, a late replacement for Paton, showed some flashes of the sort of form and skill he’s capable of.
On the downside, 4-3-3 is clearly not going to work with the level of players we have now. In midfield, McDonald and Kerr had nightmare games leaving young Frazer Fyvie without much help when the ball was in that part of the field. Up front, Mackie and Miller just don’t seem to have that killer finishing touches that is needed at this level.
Last season I had a certain degree of confidence in Calderwood’s ability to sort it out (and he did), yes this season I’m just not getting the same vibe from Mark McGhee. Let me be clear: I was perfectly happy with Calderwood. I’ve gone on record as saying that after four years of Calderwood, we had possibly the best Aberdeen side we’ve had for some time.
The biggest loss over the summer, Severin, I felt had been adequately replaced with McDonald and Kerr. Aloku gave us pace up the wings that we’ve been lacking, while Charlie Mulgrew became a competent dead-ball specialist. With a bit of investment, I reckon the Dons would have finished 3rd or 4th and, more importantly, finally reached the promised land: Hampden, in March or May.
Since McGhee has taken over, Aberdeen have lost a lot of the momentum from seasons past. Watching the Dons last night was dreadful: players who couldn’t pass a ball more than a few yards (Foster, Kerr, even Ifil), a midfield that was overrun and by-passed with long balls when we where still playing 4-3-3 and a front pairing (Miller and Mackie) that couldn’t hit a cow’s arse with a banjo.
And yes, it’s probably down to the tactics. What else could it be: this is, after all, pretty much the same side that finished 4th last year. Anyone who has played the hugely popular Football Manager series of games knows that changing tactics comes with some degree of risks as your players struggle to adapt to their new positions and responsibilities.
Aberdeen’s game plan seems to involve taking the ball out of defence, hoofing it as far up the park as possible and hope that it reaches one of your outnumbered team mates up front. What ever happened to playing the ball calmly out of defence? Nine times out of ten, hoofing the ball up the park just results in loss of possession.
It’s early days yet. We’ve only played 4 games, in which we’ve lost just once (against Celtic), beat Hamilton and drew the other two. Our rivals for top 4 finishes are not exactly setting the heather alight either: Hearts are below us, Hibs lost to Hamilton at the weekend and we fully expect Motherwell and Dundee United to do their usual and implode soon enough.
But the worrying thing is that we’ve played three teams from the bottom half of the league: Motherwell, Hamilton and Falkirk. Next Saturday St Mirren come to town, but then the real challenges arrive: Rangers and Killie away, then Hearts and Dundee United at home, before finishing October at Hibs; in between we have a potential banana-skin fixture against Dundee in the Cup.
I’ve got this season down as one of transition, in that I expect some poor performances along the way. But I do expect McGhee to drop the 4-3-3 until we get rid of the deadwood and bring in players that – if he persists in playing 4-3-3 - can actually play that formation and that can put the ball into the net without too much bother.
Oh, and Willie Miller out.
Related posts:
- The Monday Ballbag
- Scottish Fitba Weekender
- Mince and Tatties 03
- The Ballbag’s Scottish Football Four to Follow
- The Wednesday Ballbag – CIS Cup Linkage (Part 2)
Tags: Aberdeen, Dundee, Dundee United, Falkirk, Hearts, Hibernian, mark mcghee, Rangers, SPL, St. Mirren