Attack, attack, attack was the rallying cry from Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin prior to his side’s trip to Rangers on Saturday.
But perhaps it should have been defend, defend, defend as the charge of the light blue brigade left the Dons floundering on the wrong end of a 4-1 defeat.
Aberdeen’s willingness to have a go was not the issue at Ibrox. It was their inability to keep it tight at the back which ultimately cost them dear.
It had all looked so promising for Goodwin’s side after Luis “Duk” Lopes’ tied the Rangers defence in knots before the ball broke to Connor Barron to open his account for the first team.
But a barrage of attacking intent from the home side left Aberdeen licking their wounds at the end of a mauling.
The tactics
There has been much debate about Goodwin’s desire to go with two strikers in Duk and Bojan Miovski.
Having combined to play their part in three straight wins the case could be made they had forced their manager into sticking with them.
The other hot topic has been persevering with the 3-1-4-2 formation which had yielded those three victories.
Football is a fickle game and had Goodwin changed it up and the result been the same he would have taken pelters.
What has come instead is criticism for not changing it up as his team struggled to stem the blue wave of attacks coming their way.
The manager said after the match he would take the flak for his approach to the game, but that should not detract from one simple fact – the self-inflicted nature of the goals being conceded has to change.
Rangers had so many chances the Dons departed Ibrox grateful just to have conceded four after being left chasing shadows.
Rangers had 36 shots at Kelle Roos’ goal in 90 minutes with 24 of them coming from inside the penalty area. Aberdeen managed five in response.
With 69 touches in Aberdeen’s box, it must have felt as if Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s players were queuing up to try their luck.
The Dons, for their part, were complicit in their own downfall. It’s safe to assume the players knew as much having reviewed the game.
We’re not quite sure what the digital equivalent of a video nasty is, but the goals which were shipped at Ibrox were enough to make any Dons fan wince.
Let’s start with the equaliser
Aberdeen’s lead in Glasgow lasted all of six minutes and they cannot say they were not warned. Rangers had created enough opportunities before their 27th-minute equaliser from Antonio Colak.
The finish was the easy part with the striker having the simple task of converting Malik Tillman’s cutback.
But Aberdeen’s defence had been cut wide open long before the ball reached Colak with John Lundstram given all the time in the world to play one pass which bypassed Leighton Clarkson, Ylber Ramadani and Liam Scales.
The through-ball meant captain Anthony Stewart had to come across to try to close down Tillman which left Ross McCrorie in a 2v1 situation with Colak and Ryan Kent.
Collective switch-off for the second
Concentration is the word which springs to mind for the second Rangers goal in first half stoppage time.
From Borna Barisic’s free-kick, Duk heads the ball clear and it falls invitingly for Gers captain James Tavernier.
The right-back’s powerful drive comes through a crowded penalty area and goalkeeper Roos does well to keep it out but Ben Davies is quickest to react as he cuts the ball back for Lundstram to put the home side in front.
You could argue the Dons players did not get out quick enough to stop the shot. But had Miovski and Jayden Richardson been quicker off the mark in pushing up once Duk had got his head to Barisic’s delivery, then Davies would have been caught offside.
Basics missing for the third goal
The third goal was as basic as it gets.
Richardson is left isolated out wide with Ryan Kent and Barisic with the former passing the ball back to the latter to cross for Tavernier who leaps above Jack MacKenzie to head past Roos.
It should be noted Fashion Sakala was standing in the box with no white shirt near him either, had the cross evaded the Rangers captain.
Defence all at sea for the fourth
By the time the fourth goal came from Alfredo Morelos, Aberdeen’s hopes of getting something out of the game had gone.
Hayden Coulson is dragged infield, but makes the effort of pointing out Sakala is free on the left.
Duk, the closest player to him, is not paying attention and, from Scott Arfield’s clever lay-off, Sakala’s low ball across goal is tapped in the back post by Morelos.
Could January bring another defensive rebuild?
It should come as no surprise Josh Dacres-Cogley of Tranmere Rovers is back on the Aberdeen radar as Goodwin looks at options to strengthen his backline for the second half of the campaign.
It has become clear Aberdeen’s defence is the glaring deficiency which needs to be addressed when the transfer window reopens in January.
Communication, concentration and cohesion is simply not where it needs to be for a team aspiring to be in the top three come the end of the season.
As an attacking force, the Dons have threats and potential. But at the back it needs to be so much better than what has been offer to date.
Aberdeen fans will be hoping the upcoming World Cup break will give the manager and his players the chance to regroup and reorganise.
If not, we could be looking at another defensive rebuilding job at the Dons.
But, with two of the three remaining matches before the mid-season break due to be played at Pittodrie, the Dons can repair some of the damage caused by Saturday’s loss by regaining third spot – starting with Friday’s match against Hibernian.
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