Angus MacDonald will have given Aberdeen manager Barry Robson plenty to think about following his display against Helsinki.
The centre-half has endured a frustrating campaign to date with only two starts before the 2-2 draw against HJK Helsinki on Thursday.
Angus played really well and scored a wonderful goal. Should he start against Hibernian on Sunday? If I was Angus I would certainly feel I’ve made a strong case to keep my place in the line-up.
I don’t think it has to be a straight decision between Angus or Slobodan Rubezic.
It might be beneficial for Slobodan to have someone alongside him in a four as he has a tendency to try to get in front of his man to win the ball.
Sometimes he can be caught out – as happened with Helsinki’s first goal on Thursday.
There is a time to commit yourself and a time when you have to accept you aren’t going to win the ball but if you get yourself in the right position you can slow down an attack and allow your teammates to help you out.
Angus played really well alongside Mattie Pollock last season and there is no reason why he couldn’t forge a similar partnership with Slobodan.
Rather than three at the back, Barry might be considering a formation such as a 4-4-2, 4-3-3 or a 4-2-4 so he can play with two central defenders.
Overall, the game in Helsinki turned out to be a decent one. Aberdeen recovered after a terrible start.
The manager made a lot of changes and it wasn’t really gelling in the opening stages.
In the second half, they were excellent. The players stood up to the challenge in difficult conditions and fought for a result. The point was the least they deserved.
It would clearly be better if they started games in that manner but the response to going two goals down was impressive.
I expected Barry would make some changes as it was already impossible for the Dons to make it out of the group.
He made more changes than I anticipated but the priority just now has to be moving up the league table and there is a big game coming up on Sunday against Hibernian.
It is a difficult situation for Barry because he would have wanted to get a win in the group stages but it was also a good opportunity to give some fringe players much-needed game time.
Angus MacDonald's brilliant goal last night has been nominated for the #UECL Goal of the Week.
Vote here ⤵️
— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) December 1, 2023
MacDonald was one who was in desperate need of a game as he hasn’t played nearly as often as he would have liked this season.
It was a big night for Jack Milne after he was handed a start and I thought he did very well. He will take a lot of positives from that game.
Pape Gueye was also given a rare start but he wasn’t able to make the impact he would have liked.
I’m sure there were concerns the game could have been abandoned but they did the right thing by stopping play to clear the pitch. I was surprised they didn’t do more at half time to clear it.
That’s three draws for Aberdeen in the group stages – it could easily have been three wins.
There are plenty of positives to take from the campaign, especially the three away performances.
There is still the Eintracht Frankfurt home game to come but I expect Barry will be making plenty of changes for that one with the game falling only a couple of days before the League Cup final against Rangers.
I don’t want to hear any excuses this weekend about the players being tired after travelling.
Travelling to these games is a lot easier for the players now than when we did it many years ago and everything is done with the sports scientists to ensure players are properly rested and ready to perform at their best.
I remember when we played Juventus in the Uefa Cup in 1971 and we had to stay in a hotel in the middle of the woods.
The hotel was magnificent but what we didn’t know was it was right next to a quarry and they only worked during the night so we couldn’t get any sleep.
The priority now for the Dons is to start moving up the table to move away from the bottom places and get back into the mix for European qualification next season.
Aberdeen will be all the better for this European experience but they have to make sure they qualify again to put that knowledge to use next season.
