It was deja vu all over again for Aberdeen fans as their club’s new-look defence was ripped apart by Motherwell on Saturday.
Dons fans were left far from impressed by their backline in Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Steelmen at Pittodrie.
Jim Goodwin’s side, which kept four clean sheets in the Premier Sports Cup group stage, has failed to keep out any of their three Premiership opponents so far in the league.
The three goals conceded against Well at Pittodrie takes the tally to six from the opening three league matches and it is clear from Saturday’s hapless defensive showing the Dons fans are far from convinced.
There was much debate on social media following the home defeat.
And yet Goodwin said in his first interview that this was easy to fix …
— Degsy Lad (@derekmay16) August 13, 2022
Surprised McKenzie or Hayes didn't play left back to keep Scales in the middle and allow McCrorie to play in midfield. Defensively we were all at sea a number of times and created not a lot going forward. Hopefully Barron is back soon.
— The Real Kenny Mac (@RealKennyMac73) August 13, 2022
The sentiments were similar on Facebook.
John Moar wrote: “Back down to earth with a large BANG, I feared this before kick off tbh, new season new players new-ish manager but nothings really changed.
“Still injury prone still got a leaky defence, outmuscled to everything today and Motherwell wanted it far more.
“Another poor poor performance and losing again to Motherwell at home is getting very tedious now.”
Many supporters believe the lack of central defensive options has been laid bare after Liam Scales was moved to left back meaning a return to central defence for Ross McCrorie.
Last season.
Did well in early cup games.
Won first home league game.
Then….This season.
Well…..you can see the point.Buy a defender. McCrorie is not the answer back there.
— Craig🐏⭐️⭐️ (@CraigLG8) August 13, 2022
Gaffer highlighted how we needed a left footer in central defence, highlighted the defensive issues last season, hyped up Scales as the solution to that issue and first chance he gets shifts it all around. Crazy
— Craig Taylor (@Craigcoswhy) August 13, 2022
That was terrible. Goodwin should have changed it after 10 mins and put Scales back in the middle. Goodwin then just threw bodies on and there was no structure or method. Very very poor. Motherwell played as they always do. Might yet be a long season.
— Andy McVey (@andyfmcvey) August 13, 2022
Dons continue to struggle with Well’s aggression
The Steelmen were a thorn in the Dons’ side last season and as far as Ross Caldwell was concerned, little has changed in terms of Aberdeen’s ability to overcome Well.
He wrote on Facebook: “I’ll save you all some precious time: The team was outfought, out-thought and out-classed tactically, physically and in every other respect at home by a club operating on less than one-third of the budget. Again.”
Back on Twitter, the fears about a repeat of last season’s dismal showing is already rearing its head.
Same old story – every single year.
Why do we bother…
— Sug71⭐️⭐️ (@Gussyboy71) August 13, 2022
Can we get over the Motherwell curse please
— Mikkie (@MikkieXAfc) August 13, 2022
