match thread (image) [FT] Aberdeen 1 - 0 Rangers

[buster. 4,808]

1 hour ago, Waltersgotstyle said:

We are still 2 or 3 players short of being a really good team. Hopefully we can sort that out in January.

 

 

When Morelos plays well, helps create space for others to move into, we can be dynamic. In short if Alfredo plays yesterday and plays well we win.

 

It was asking a lot of Sadiq to make a difference yesterday and keeping him on for the full 90 minutes was IMO, a folly.

We didn't have much time between the European match and yesterday so perhaps the CF for CF change was the easiest to make but it was never ideal. However, it was so difficult to pinpoint the change that was going to be made because it was so difficult to see an obvious one that you could have confidence in.

 

Morelos got away with his petulance in the Ufa game, this time it has had a tangible cost. SG said that with hindsight, he shouldn't have played the Columbian against Ayr Utd. and that is the nearest you'll publicly feel his frustration towards Alfredo.

 

SG talked about the lack of quality in the final third at the very start of the season in the first qualifiers, it's still our main issue and will remain being so until we properly address it. The kind of quality we need doesn't tend to come cheap and I don't think it viable to sort it overnight. I think we'll remain an improving work-in-progress throughout this season and would be looking for significant improvement come 2 or 3 months into 2019/20.

 

SG&Co are looking to improve our football operation as a whole and neither can this be done overnight. We need some patience or we'll be our own worst enemies caught in a perpetual storm.

 

 

 

Edited October 29, 2018 by buster.

[buster. 4,808]

26 minutes ago, DMAA said:

You look at our starting lines-up lately and you wonder where the goals are going to come from. Kent and Candeias are not goalscorers, when are we going to face up to the fact we aren’t playing a 4-3-3 we are playing a 4-5-1! And that against dire opposition. 

 

Time to try out;

        Morelos Lafferty

Middleton Jack  Ejaria  Grezda

Barisic  Worrall  Goldson  Tav

 

Obviously some of those guys weren’t available yesterday but the point is our 4-5-1 leaves us so blunt it’s unreal, that team in a 4-4-2 looks like it would actually create some chances. And yeh make a change with half an hour to go if it’s not working rather than half a minute to go!

 

For some games 3-5-2 is a good option.

 

- The CB's need to be heavily drilled so as to be more comfortable than was apparent at Motherwell.

 

- We get the best out of Barisic 

 

- We get two forwards on the pitch 

 

- We'd need to bring in another forward or two 

[compo 6,076]

Sometimes when a team is missing key players formations and plans go out the window and it's better to roll the sleeves up and get stuck in by driving forward into their penalty box from  first to final whistle .

[aweebluesoandso 290]

7 hours ago, Soulsonic5791 said:

I have been there when we had many a diddy with real desire down the years.

 

Watch the game back and honestly tell me he didn't amble about the pitch for most of the time he was on it.

I was there bud i saw what he was doing, he wasn't effective without a doubt.  But to say he swanned or ambled about is unfair. We didn't get beat for lack of effort from the players, we got beat simply because the whole team was ineffective, as no one could get the ball behind their defense and score.

[JohnMc 2,463]

Losing a match we should have won is always going to create a lot of anger. When that match is a cup semi against an average Aberdeen side it's even more galling. We dominated yet Aberdeen created the best two chances, that's the most damning thing. Our inability to carve out a proper clear cut chance has been shown before this season, if sides can defend in numbers against us we're largely incapable of breaking them down currently. 

 

That said, Morelos or Lafferty would have made a difference, a fit Barasic would have opened up the left flank, Flanagan simply doesn't offer an attacking threat. I also questioned the timing of the subs. It was clear to me 10 minutes into the 2nd half that we weren't going to break them down, something needed to change. No Rangers player ever made a front post run, our crossing was diabolical and there was a lack of speed throughout, although that was Aberdeen's tactics, stifling space and bogging us down. 

 

It could have been different, had Jack played in Candeias instead of shooting he'd have been in on goal with just the keeper to beat. Also, ironically, the bad injury their player took helped them. Candeias was skinning him every time they came together, but he was less effective against the sub they brought on. 

 

I don't think it's fair to single out Sadiq, he's barely played at all this season and, it seems, he's not at the standard required anyway. The goal we lost was poor, a simple cross into the box needs to be defended better than that. Our whole team played poorly, our tactics were wrong and our changes, when they finally came, were strange. This will sound primitive but I was surprised we didn't send Katic on for the last five plus injury time and play him up front, we were winning nothing in the air as it stood and something needed to change. 

 

It's a sore one, and not entirely unexpected either, we've struggled to create chances in recent matches. In the end Aberdeen played the match to a game plan that worked, we were culpable in letting them. 

 

Come January, we need a creative midfielder and another striker, without them we'll continue to stutter when it matters most. 

[buster. 4,808]

4 minutes ago, aweebluesoandso said:

I was there bud i saw what he was doing, he wasn't effective without a doubt.  But to say he swanned or ambled about is unfair. We didn't get beat for lack of effort from the players, we got beat simply because the whole team was ineffective, as no one could get the ball behind their defense and score.

Yes, it's unfair to pin it on Sadiq.

Players like Tav let us down yesterday. Normally the guy you can depend on for a spark of  quality middle to front, yesterday he couldn't get anything right. More than enough credit in the bank for an off-day, it was just such an important match to have it.

 

[DMAA 3,603]

And by the way, I wasn’t a Windass fan but there’s no doubt that we haven’t replaced his goals. And he’s actually been replaced by a central midfielder which has made us more defensive and less threatening. 

[BlackSocksRedTops 3,470]

32 minutes ago, JohnMc said:

Losing a match we should have won is always going to create a lot of anger. When that match is a cup semi against an average Aberdeen side it's even more galling. We dominated yet Aberdeen created the best two chances, that's the most damning thing. Our inability to carve out a proper clear cut chance has been shown before this season, if sides can defend in numbers against us we're largely incapable of breaking them down currently. 

 

That said, Morelos or Lafferty would have made a difference, a fit Barasic would have opened up the left flank, Flanagan simply doesn't offer an attacking threat. I also questioned the timing of the subs. It was clear to me 10 minutes into the 2nd half that we weren't going to break them down, something needed to change. No Rangers player ever made a front post run, our crossing was diabolical and there was a lack of speed throughout, although that was Aberdeen's tactics, stifling space and bogging us down. 

 

It could have been different, had Jack played in Candeias instead of shooting he'd have been in on goal with just the keeper to beat. Also, ironically, the bad injury their player took helped them. Candeias was skinning him every time they came together, but he was less effective against the sub they brought on. 

 

I don't think it's fair to single out Sadiq, he's barely played at all this season and, it seems, he's not at the standard required anyway. The goal we lost was poor, a simple cross into the box needs to be defended better than that. Our whole team played poorly, our tactics were wrong and our changes, when they finally came, were strange. This will sound primitive but I was surprised we didn't send Katic on for the last five plus injury time and play him up front, we were winning nothing in the air as it stood and something needed to change. 

 

It's a sore one, and not entirely unexpected either, we've struggled to create chances in recent matches. In the end Aberdeen played the match to a game plan that worked, we were culpable in letting them. 

 

Come January, we need a creative midfielder and another striker, without them we'll continue to stutter when it matters most. 

Good post John. Pretty sums up my own thoughts on the team and where we are at the moment

[BlackSocksRedTops 3,470]

22 minutes ago, DMAA said:

And by the way, I wasn’t a Windass fan but there’s no doubt that we haven’t replaced his goals. And he’s actually been replaced by a central midfielder which has made us more defensive and less threatening. 

Windass was not the answer but I get where you coming from with regards to goals from midfield. I thought Coullibaly was the guy to do that but he is playing too deep IMO

[Crimson Dynamo 128]

For all the mentions of Gerrard having no Plan B yesterday. I feel it needs to be taken into consideration that yesterday was probably Plan C.

 

If Morelos hadn't have been booked then he starts which is Plan A. He got booked, therefore he was suspended so Lafferty would normally be Plan B.

 

Lafferty was cup tied so Sadiq was Plan C.

 

Was Sadiq a good Plan C? Probably not, Gerrard could maybe have played Middleton through the middle or taken a punt on Grezda.

 

But I think Gerrard seems to prefer Middleton as an impact player in the last 10 - 15 mins due to his pace and directness.  He might not have the same effect if he started and I'm not sure what the story is with Grezda.

 

Our squad is paper thin and the number of games and injuries may be starting to impact the team. Hopefully come January we can add a bit more depth which we don't really have at the moment. The future is still looking extremely bright as far as I'm concerned.