Among a host of changes made by Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin for Sunday’s trip to Rangers, Jamie McGrath’s inclusion at no.10 saw the Dons move to more of a 4-2-3-1 shape out of possession.
The Irishman protected the space where the Rangers’ deeper midfielders were located, with a particular focus on Conor Barron
The first period at Ibrox saw a disciplined Aberdeen deny space, if not possession, to Rangers and clear openings for the home side were limited to Cyriel Dessers’ 27th-minute header.
Aberdeen responded with a well-worked opening to spring Topi Keskinen, largely through the awareness and craft of McGrath, who flicked the ball over the top – but as has often been the case this season, the Finn failed to take the chance when clean through on goal.
Jimmy Thelin makes his move at haf-time – but Rangers gaffer Barry Ferguson outsmarts him
We don’t know if Jimmy Thelin is a gambler, but faced with a decision to stick or twist, he rarely chooses the former.
At half-time, the Dons manager decided to sharpen his team’s attack with the addition of Pape Gueye and Kevin Nisbet – adjustments designed to disrupt the Rangers’ build-up and give their defence something to think about, in what was more like a 4-4-2 formation.
It had an immediate impact. A sustained period of possession saw a good opening for Keskinen (again), before some ball-winning high up the field saw Gueye’s long-range effort test Liam Kelly.
However, Thelin was not the only manager making adjustments, and just like in the side’s previous meeting, Barry Ferguson and his Rangers coaching team made the more impactful changes at the interval.
Ferguson explained in his post-match interview that: “We changed tactically, I wanted more runners from midfield, and I thought we were really convincing.”
Positionally, Hamza Igamane came on for Rangers to play as a striker coming in from the left, Vaclav Cerny operated as more pure central no.10, in what was somewhat like a diamond shape at times in midfield, although Nicolas Raskin moved freely within that.
Defending across the field lacking for Aberdeen
The first Rangers goal saw defensive issues across the pitch.
Nisbet and Gueye appeared to see-saw on to the deeper midfielder when the ball shifted, in contrast to Oday Dabbagh and McGrath, who had shown more clarity in their roles in terms of their positioning out of possession.
For the first goal, if Gueye is a little deeper by a couple of steps, then perhaps he wins the ball back or at least James Tavernier doesn’t attempt that pass (below).
If McGrath is the no.10, he’s likely much closer to Raskin than Nisbet is.
We then see some of the challenges Rangers’ positioning gave the Dons team – Cerny is in behind Polvara (below) – who gets caught between pressing the man, tracking the runner, or blocking the passing lane. And he does none of the three.
Kristers Tobers then attempts to step up on Igamane in the event the ball was played to his feet when he should have been closer to his defensive partner, and Knoester gets himself in a bit of a tangle with his body positioning.
In fairness, it is a great pass and a good finish, but one can only imagine the conversation legendary Aberdeen defensive duo Willie Miller and Alex McLeish had at Ibrox post-match.
The story repeats itself
The second goal had many of the same theme – an easy first pass out of defence to break a disjointed press and runners from deep before some comical defensive efforts in the last line, including Tobers decision to dive in so early making it easy for Raskin to find a man, but we also have Leighton Clarkson and Greame Shinnie who could do more to stop the cross and ball from going in.
Polvara had a great chance to get the Dons back in the game, but blazed over – another reminder of the importance of taking your chances when you get them.
Then it all went wrong, and it would be this loss of positional discipline which caught the manager’s ire as the Dons conceded another two goals at a time when goal difference could make all the difference in the final standings.
Aberdeen’s woes in Glasgow under Thelin
Thelin’s first visit to Glasgow and the 2-2 draw with Celtic provided so much optimism, but since then, Aberdeen have traveled south four times to play one of the top two. They’ve conceded 18 goals and scored once.
How do you solve some of these problems?
It’s not easy to deny space to good players – a higher line will leave more space in behind, and a deeper line will make it hard to get out.
Sit in and you’ll be told you lack ambition. Go aggressive and you’ll be called naive.
Yet a balance and a result has been found in recent weeks at Ibrox, at least by Hibs and Motherwell, and nearly St Mirren.
You might not get it right all the time, but a familiar pattern is developing for the men in red in these matches.
The Dons now enter a defining period, low on confidence both on the pitch and in the stands. It would be a shame if a season and a managerial reign which started so positively ended with a whimper.
Gavin MacPhee is a qualified coach, scout and analyst and holds a degree in Science and Football. He is the creator of www.afc1903.com, an Aberdeen tactical and data blog.
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