Gothenburg Great Gordon Strachan has warned Aberdeen must be brave on the ball to have any chance of Scottish Cup glory.
The Dons will be bidding to lift the trophy for the first time since 1990 when they face treble-chasing Celtic in the final at Hampden on Saturday.
Earlier this season Celtic inflicted a humiliating 6-0 loss in the League Cup semi-final at the national stadium.
Aberdeen were also crushed 5-1 in a Premiership clash at Pittodrie by the Hoops last week.
Strachan insists the Dons cannot worry about how to stop the Hoops, as that will inevitably lead to another loss.
Instead, the Pittodrie legend has urged boss Jimmy Thelin to focus on how his team can trouble the cup holders.
Bravery needed by Aberdeen in final
And Strachan also hopes Thelin has some secrets in his locker to unleash at Hampden.
Strachan said: “You must be braver than just, how do we stop Celtic playing.
“If you have that mentality then you are not going to win anything, that’s for sure.
“It was the same with Manchester City a couple of seasons ago.
“Teams were wound up so much on trying to stop them they forgot about playing themselves.
“Manchester City are not the team they were but a few years ago teams just sat behind the ball against them.
“That’s what happens with Celtic as well.
“Instead, you have to concentrate on, how do we score goals against Celtic?
“When Celtic have the ball get it back and hit on the counter.
“You have to be brave on the ball and take Celtic players on in the last third.
“If you beat them that is fine but if you don’t then you might get a free kick.
“And if you get a free kick then you have a chance.
“If you concentrate on trying to stop Celtic, you will be beat.”
Strachan made a habit of claiming trophies with Aberdeen during his time at the club.
He won two European trophies, two league titles and two Scottish Cups.
Man-marking McGregor pointless
Aberdeen are 30 games without a win against Celtic in all competitions spanning multiple managers.
Beating the Hoops is an ongoing conundrum that has not been solved since a 1-0 win at Parkhead in May 2018.
Strachan, 68, managed Celtic from 2005 to 2009, leading the Parkhead side to three league titles, a Scottish Cup and two League Cups.
He said: “Teams think they have to man-mark Callum McGregor.
“However, they forget there are a lot of other good players in that Celtic team.
“The fact is, no-one has come away with being able to man-mark McGregor.
“That is because there is something he does, which is get the ball through the interceptions and knock-downs.”
Thelin’s Reds held their own in the first half against Celtic at Pittodrie recently.
However, they suffered a second half collapse to lose 5-1.
Surprises required at Hampden
Thelin went with a 4-2-3-1 formation against Celtic, the formation he has used throughout the season.
Strachan hopes the Swede has a surprise up his sleeve for Hampden.
He said: “I was in the same situation as Jimmy Thelin when, as Southampton manager, I faced Arsenal in the FA Cup final (2003).
“Like Aberdeen did recently with Celtic, we played Arsenal in the league not long before the final.
“I didn’t give anything away about what my cup final team would be.
“We were playing an incredible Arsenal side with Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Robert Pires, all those guys.
“I never did any tactics at all, I just named the team and said to the players go out and play.
“I didn’t want to give Arsenal anything because I knew what I was going to do in the final.
“We lost 6-1 in the league game but put in a smashing performance in the final where we lost 1-0.
“I didn’t want to give anything away to our cup final opponents.
“Whether Jimmy did that I don’t know.
“That’s the way I did it because I had a plan which kind of worked as we were never under any real pressure.
“Arsenal were the more comfortable team but we managed to stay in there.
“And in the last couple of minutes we had chances.
“It is the same with the final on Saturday, even if you are pegged back you must make the Celtic players worry.
“That is the big thing.”
- Gordon Strachan was talking to the Press and Journal on behalf of Best Online Casino Nederlands.
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