Aberdeen have conducted a post-mortem into the defensive frailty during the heavy loss at Dundee United, confirms assistant boss Lee Sharp.
The Dons crashed 4-0 to the Premiership’s bottom club at Tannadice as boss Jim Goodwin watched from the stands.
Goodwin was serving the first of an eight-game ban – with two of those matches – suspended, issued by the SFA for his comments about Hibs’ defender Ryan Porteous.
Aberdeen will appeal the severity of the ban.
No.2 Sharp was in the dugout at Tannadice and confirmed the Dons have conducted a defensive analysis in a bid to ensure there is no repeat.
Sharp said: “The first two goals were defensively very poor and we will address that.
“They were very soft and we will look at that on Monday.
“We will sit down and analyse things to see what we can do better.
“We will address that at our end and work on things for next week.”
Premiership troubles on the road
Banned manager Goodwin was in constant contact by phone with Sharp and goalkeeper coach Craig Samson at Tannadice.
However, he was unable to stop Aberdeen’s concerning away form.
The Reds have won just two of their last 23 away Premiership matches, drawing seven and losing 14.
That constitutes a return of just 13 points from a possible 69.
In the 11 away Premiership games since Goodwin and Sharp took on the managerial roles at Pittodrie in mid-February, the Reds have won just once.
That was this season – a 1-0 victory at St Johnstone on August 20.
The Dons were on course for a win at Ross County last month only to concede an equaliser five minutes into injury time to draw 1-1.
Asked if there was concern about the away form, Sharp said: “In terms of the away record, we just look at the next game.
“We will prepare on Monday, get organised and work out what we are going to do against Hearts.
“We take one game at a time and then after that we look at the next.
“We don’t look ahead and say we have an away fixture in two or three games time, or whenever it is.
“We will just prepare the same for every game, whether it is home or away – prepare to win.”
‘We dust ourselves down, regroup and go again’
Aberdeen had 65.2% of the possession in the derby clash compared to Dundee United’s 34.8%.
The Dons made 489 passes (395 accurate), more than double United’s tally of 243 passes (146 accurate).
However, the Dons failed to make that possession count as they underperformed offensively and defensively.
Both sides had 14 shots at goal. but Dundee United were the more clinical.
Aberdeen could only muster one shot on target in the entire game compared to Dundee United’s eight.
Aberdeen’s shot accuracy was a measly 7.1%, while the Tannadice outfit’s were at 57.1%.
Sharp admits it was a “sore one to take”.
However, he has vowed the Reds will regroup in the bid to bounce back in Sunday’s Premiership clash with Hearts at Pittodrie.
Aberdeen are just one point behind Hearts and will leap-frog the Tynecastle side should they win at the weekend.
Sharp said: “It was a sore one to take.
“Preparation was done Monday to Friday and we were in a good place coming into the game.
“Unfortunately it was just one of those games.
“We will dust ourselves down, regroup and go again.”
The own goal summed up the day
The performance and result were completely unexpected when placed within the context of both teams’ form.
Aberdeen travelled to Tannadice on a high having swept aside Kilmarnock 4-1 in their previous match.
In contrast, Dundee United, the Premiership’s bottom team, were struggling and had yet to win in the league this season.
Sharp said: “In the second half we made a couple of changes and got a reaction.
“I thought we were unlucky not to score at that point.
“However, goals change games and the penalty and the own goal (Ross McCrorie) summed up the day.
“It was a poor performance and not good enough.”
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