Aberdeen’s Europa Conference League group games, starting at Eintracht Frankfurt, will – as a minimum – be a fantastic learning experience for the Dons’ young players.
I played in Aberdeen’s two-legged 1979/80 Uefa Cup first round defeat to the eventual tournament winners, and I think it was the quality on display in matches like those which really opened the eyes of the watching Reds starlets who would go on to become the club’s golden generation.
I don’t remember a lot about the two games against Frankfurt, but I do know it was 1-1 at Pittodrie.
I scored our equaliser in the first leg – I think it was left-footer into the top corner – and we probably should have won it.
It has also stuck in my mind we got beat 1-0 over there in Germany.
From what I can recall, we played well against them over the two matches of the tie, but unfortunately we didn’t get the goals we needed, despite the chances we had in the home encounter.
Frankfurt were a very good team actually, and very impressive in the terms of the football they played.
I can’t remember much about their individuals, or if they had any big stars in their ranks.
The guy who scored the opening goal for Frankfurt in the Granite City and set up their winner in the second leg, South Korean attacker Cha-bum Kun, is an exception.
He was probably the first player from the Far East I remember coming up against in my career. It was a rare thing at the time, and he was one of those players – as could be the case when you played European matches back then – who was totally unknown and unseen to us before kick-off in the first leg.
As a footballer, he was very, very skilful and very good. But their whole side was good.
However, we were good, too – with the likes of Willie Miller, Gordon Strachan and Steve Archibald – and back then the margins between teams in Continental competition were much narrower.
Frankfurt were exactly what we had come to expect from German Bundesliga outfits. They were well organised, fit as fleas and just relentless, playing with accuracy and thoughtfulness.
The defenders were strong and good technical footballers, which made the games very hard as a striker.
The senior players knew what to expect, but the young players who were in and around Alex Ferguson’s Dons first-team squad in the youth ranks at the time would have learned a hell of a lot about the standards required to be successful in Europe – something they, of course, went on to be – by watching on.
Daughter’s Frankfurt-fan partner has been telling me all about Dons’ rivals
Clearly, with their recent Europa League win, Frankfurt are still a force, and my daughter Joanna’s other half Lars – who is Swiss, but a diehard Frankfurt fan – has been telling me how strong they are and how hard it will be for Aberdeen.
The gap between them and the Reds is much wider than it was 45 years ago due to how football, and football finances in particular, have changed.
However, I still think the current Aberdeen crop, whether it is young players who have been signed in the past couple of seasons or youth academy graduates, will learn a lot from the two Conference League group matches against them, as well as the games against PAOK and Helsinki.
Although I am talking about the group stage clashes being a learning experience for Barry Robson’s Dons, I still think, although it will be tough, they should be aiming to take points from their rivals – at home at Pittodrie in particular.
However, they will have to be far more organised and play much better than they have in the early stages of the campaign domestically, where they sit second bottom of the Premiership.
Robson has to get his Reds more organised for tough September
Aberdeen’s poor 2-0 Premiership loss at home to Hibs last weekend underlined the importance of the ongoing international break to the Dons.
Robson’s team look disorganised at present and some of the players, I think, are guilty of a lack of positional discipline.
There are ball-watchers in the team, who are looking at the ball rather than where the opposition player they are up against is, which is leading to them leaving their men the space and freedom to create and score goals.
The Dons need to grow as a unit – and quickly – to get through what will a very challenging and important period over the next few weeks.
Their September schedule includes not just the European game against Frankfurt but crucial Premiership games against rivals Hearts and Rangers, and a vital League Cup quarter-final against Ross County.
Manager Robson will point to the fact the Reds made 13 summer signings and patience being required before the team can be expected to be flying on the pitch.
But I am seeing basic mistakes at the moment.
The international fixtures this week and next week are a chance for Barry to work out his best XI – and how to get the best out of them on the park together.
There are problems all through the team at present
I was expecting a hell of a lot from Duk in attack this season, but he has been off the boil. He hasn’t taken his chances to score and, like I wrote a few times last term, he needs to learn to lift his head when he is running with the ball, as often finding a team-mate is a better option than trying to beat three or four players.
From right wing-back (when he has played there), Shayden Morris can also beat a player, but he has not shown enough end product or put enough quality balls into the box.
The Dons need to find the right combination of solidity and creativity in the midfield.
In terms of the defence, I would like to see Barry ditch the back three/five in favour of a back four. I think it would better suit the qualities of the Reds defenders, including summer signing Slobodan Rubezic, and would mean fewer instances of them getting dragged out of position and not having the pace to recover.
Good chance for Scotland to get one over on England
I am really excited about Scotland taking on England at Hampden on Tuesday.
Steve Clarke has assembled a core group of 15 or 16 players with plenty of pace, strength and ability, and they have shown their work-rate, tackling and passing abilities over the past couple of years, while there are also players who can score goals.
It has left me optimistic we can get one over on the Auld Enemy when they visit Glasgow – and I’ll be watching with my scarf on hoping it happens.
If they play in the game, I am interested to see how former Aberdeen players Lewis Ferguson, who has been getting rave reviews since his move to Italy, and James Maddison get on.
I must admit, I was not sure if midfield dynamo Ferguson would go up the levels when he moved to Serie A.
But, while he was a good player for the Dons, he seems to have moved into that top-class bracket since his switch to Bologna, and has been linked to super-clubs like Juventus.
Englishman Maddison’s talent was also clear in his short loan spell at the Reds – especially his famous free-kick to beat Rangers – and he has become a fixture of the Premier League in the years since.
However, the buzz around the playmaker since his move to Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham in the summer has been particularly loud, so I am keen to see what bearing he manages to have on proceedings for Gareth Southgate’s side at Hampden.
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