Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin insists he will set up the Reds to bring an attacking threat against Rangers.
The Dons boss has been criticised for “parking the bus” in a 1-0 loss to Celtic at Pittodrie on Saturday.
Aberdeen had just two shots, both off target, with league leaders Celtic registering 33 attempts at goal.
Some of the Red Army made their frustration at the defensive tactics clear at full-time, and although Goodwin has defended the team’s approach, he says he understands and respects supporters’ disappointment at those tactics, as they pay hard-earned money to watch the Dons.
Next-up, Aberdeen host second-placed Rangers at Pittodrie on Tuesday night.
Goodwin insists he is ready to go on the “front foot” to utilise the goal threat of strikers Duk and Bojan Miovski.
He said: “We’ll need to offer a bit more of an attacking threat against Rangers, no doubt about that.
“We have good players at the top end of the pitch.
“Miovski has 11 goals for the season in the league so far, Duk has six.
“That really good attacking threat needs to be utilised more and offer a bit more on the front-foot.
“We need to be a bit more offensive and try to cause Rangers one or two more problems than we were able to do with Celtic.
“We certainly want to be better on the ball and, when we get the opportunity to play, be more expressive.”
Finding a balance against Old Firm
Aberdeen have gone from one extreme to the other against the Old Firm this season.
In stark contrast to the defensive stance at the weekend, Goodwin opted to “go for it” against Rangers at Ibrox in October. The Dons were over-run and were fortunate to only lose 4-1.
Goodwin said: “Every game has its own different challenges
“We go to Ibrox and lose 4-1 and everybody gives you a pat on the back. and says: ‘Oh well, at least you had a go’ – and it could have been 10-1.
“We watch that game back and think we can’t go that way against Celtic, because if they beat us 4-1 or 5-1 at home then we’re really going to get a lot of trouble after the game.
“So we tried to come up with a plan to contain Celtic. It did for large spells.
“We didn’t offer enough for large spells offensively and we accept that.
“That’s my fault, I take that on the chin.
“Defensively, the shape of the team was excellent for the majority of the game. I credit the players for that.
“If we can get the balance right between being a good organised team defensively, and a very good team on the counter and in attack, then we’ll give ourselves a good chance of getting a result.”
Goodwin understands fans’ frustrations at display v Celtic
In his post-match conference following the loss to Celtic, Goodwin said he had heard “mumping and moaning” from some supporters.
Goodwin says he respects fans’ opinions.
However, he believes fans will “quickly forget” the Celtic game if Aberdeen beat Rangers.
He said: “I understand the fans’ frustration. And I’m never going to have a go back at supporters for venting their frustrations.
“They pay good money to come support the team, so we always do respect their opinions.
“But I do think in the main the fans have been happy with what they have seen at Pittodrie throughout the season up to now.
“We have had some good results and good performances.
“We are not pleased with the result against Celtic. We are not happy that we didn’t offer enough offensively.
“However, we can’t spend too much time worrying about it.
“We have to put it behind us now and move on to another difficult game.
“If we get a result against Rangers, then I think people will quickly forget what happened on Saturday.”
‘It’s not a particular style of football I want us to be known for’
Despite home advantage, Aberdeen had just 19.5% of possession to Celtic’s 80.5%,
Goodwin does not want the Dons to be known for defensive football, but he said: “I am the manager of the football club and I’ll pick and choose whatever way I decide is best for the team in that particular moment – depending on the opposition, depending on players I have got available to me.
“It’s not a particular style of football that I want us to be known for.
“We’re sitting third in the league table, we have made great progress as a young team.
“We have only been together for a short period of time and we’ve got a hell of a long way to go in the season.
“There are plenty of league fixtures to be played.
“Hopefully the next time we get to play Celtic we will be able to give a better account of ourselves.”
Goodwin ‘not swayed by opinions’
Goodwin’s defensive tactics against Celtic were much criticised by pundits and supporters alike.
Asked if he was aware of the backlash, Goodwin said he had been too busy to read papers or watch television analysis.
Besides, the Reds boss insists any flak would be “like water off a duck’s back”.
He said: “To be perfectly honest, I haven’t read or seen a thing.
“I haven’t had a chance to watch Sportscene or anything over the weekend. I’ve been busy.
“So whatever anybody has been saying, I’m not aware of it, of any backlash.
“I’m not one of these managers that gets swayed by people’s opinions.
“I listen and I talk to the people who know the game – the people’s opinions that I respect.
“I’m not really all that interested in what gets written or said about me on radio or online.
“I’m quite fortunate that way that it’s water off a duck’s back at the end of the day.
“After five weeks of no competitive football, I felt that was the best way to go.
“I felt if we had tried to press Celtic high up the pitch, they would have picked us off. Simple as that.
“So we tried to come up with a plan to frustrate and contain them.
“We were very unlucky not to have kept a clean sheet and taken something from the game.”
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