SPL Round 2: St Johnstone V Aberdeen

[manc_don]

Red Army must learn to be tolerant

By Chris Crighton

 

Published: 23/08/2010

 

ABERDEEN supporters will not have been surprised to see Alan Maybury wanting a little bit too much time. The deliberate Irishman prevaricated so long before attempting to deliver the fateful clearance upfield it was as if he was dealing with a contract offer.

 

More of a shock was the identity of the player chasing the St Johnstone right back down. Sone Aluko's skills can thrill a crowd but the Aberdeen supporters will have been even more pleased to see him firstly bursting a gut to close down Maybury then sprinting to the touchline to keep the ball alive.

 

It was an assist which the dejected Aluko of last season would never have supplied; he is a confidence player, and his two electric opening performances show why his days of apparent indifference can be indulged more than most.

 

If the fans can learn to love the flighty winger again, hopefully, he, too, will note that good things come from simple endeavour.

 

Another whose flaws the Red Army must come to tolerate is Jerel Ifil. Frustrating though it is to watch him continually slice the ball up the stand, fans must bite their tongues, accept that he cannot play football, and allow him to do what he does best – defend.

 

Ifil is the main reason why Aberdeen's goal remains unbreached; he is there for rugged ruthlessness and if he could pass, too, Aberdeen could not afford him.

 

Ifil had plenty such defending to do at McDiarmid Park.

 

St Johnstone, roundly praised for their play last season, were horrible, spending much of the afternoon shelling ugly high balls to two crude big lumps up front.

 

With Sam Parkin, in particular, blindly fouling his way round the park it was rich that Aberdeen would be the ones to have a goal ruled out, though less for any infringement by Andy Considine than because the weak referee belatedly realised he should not have awarded Peter Pawlett the free kick in the first place.

 

We know you do it, guys – if you'd own up and correct your original decision rather than blowing for spurious balancing offences, we might start giving you more slack.

 

Read more: http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1883254#ixzz0xPxwIScM

 

If Aluko continues to play like he has been in the past two games, he'll easily win over the fans once again. Can't say I really have any problems with Ifil, we all know he can't pass, but he can defend and thats fine by me.

[Ajja]

Superb result.

Felt the game had 0-0 written all over it, but there was no doubt who would win after Barren notched his first of the season.

It's a game we would have definitely lost in the last 2 seasons so great to see a bit of grit a determination about the side again.

I thought Folly and Aluko were stand outs again and what a difference it is to have an on form a winger and a midfield of any sort.

Also though Ilfil was superb. Won everything at the back which is all you can ask.  Can't pass a ball for shit but then we all know that, and he knows that too, as long as he concentrates on defending like that we'll be fine.

 

Now for some negatives.

We need full backs. As good as McArdle and Consi did today neither are full backs and we are restricted out wide by having them in the team.  I'd get Foster in now on the right and bust a gut to get Bassey if MM believes he can do a job for us..

Pawlett needs to be playeed wide right.  Did a good job today but only times he looked really dangerous was with the ball at his feet in the wide areas.  A midfield with aluko and pawlett out wide would destroy most sides in this league.  Maguire did ok but the frustration was always there that Pawlett would have done better.

And then following on from that Maguire needs to be played through the middle.  He is a good, honest player and will do whatever job he is asked but if he is to have any career at this level he needs to be played through the middle more often otherwise he'll disappear into obscurity as he is not a winger. I know MM wanks over this 433, and it has worked well so far, but I'd love to see Magennis or Vernon with more support in the middle and have us utilise our potential out wide to the full.

 

All in all great day out.  Superb win and no reason why we can't be top with 9 points this time next week.

I suspect this side is top6 material and no more and Europe or anything else will be a bonus this year, however this league is so much a about confidence.  If we can maintain this run after the international break when we have some really tough games (united and well away and huns at home) then anything is possible.  At the moment I'll settle for a win against Alloa and a continuation of the fight and spirit we've seen this season against Killi.

 

Been thinking about the issue of PP and Maguire as it seemed so obvious to everyone that they needed to be switched yet McGhee didn't do it. In fact he switched Aluko and Maguire about 10 mins before HT to try and get Sone to exploit the weakness that Maguire had been getting some change out of through the right channel. I suspect this was as a result of them bringing an unfit Grainger in there due to the injury to their FB. He then switched it back in the second half ?!? This demonstartes that McGhee is looking at moving players about to get the best of a game and is aware of the tactical requirements yet he didn't ever think to shift PP out wide despite him doing almost nothing in the centre. Go figure ?

 

I think the big problem is that in order to play a formation that allows someone like Maguire to play 'through the middle' effectively he has to be feeding off the takes from either Magennis or Vernon (as you suggested). Again it seemed obvious that this was lacking on Saturday as a lot of Miller-esque takes were wasted as nobody was there to use the ball. This can only really work in a 4-4-2 but the modern game is all but out-moding the 4-4-2 as a credible formation. In order to play it you pretty much have to go to a 4 man midfield and I agree the idea of Aluko and PP playing aggressive attacking football while Harltey and Folly hold the midfield sounds beautiful in theory. However, with the new 4-5-1 (which can move to a 4-3-3) style the emphasis is on flooding the midfield and gaining control of the game. Its what made UTD so effective last season and the OF and Hearts tend to play that way these days. Hibs are more inclined to go for the 4-3-3 version of it and are getting found out now. Unfortunately the tiresome technical approach to football is winning the battle and so any decent side we come up against who are going to play a 5 man midfield are going to kill us if we play 4 with attack minded wide men in that group. I suspect McGhee knows he has to be flexible enough to go with a strong 4-5-1 set up that can adapt to a 4-3-3 to suit the way the top 6 sides in the league are going to play. If you then try to play 4-4-2 against lower league teams then the players are less likely to settle into a routine that they can understand. Maybe if he played Mackie or Maguire in central midfield with a view to supporting the target man it might work but I think the idea of a 4-3-3 is two attackers coming in through the channels to support the target ?

 

I thought the switch that really changed the game was introducing FF into midfield alongside Hartley and Folly. That move created so much more space for Aluko and Mackie and they were far more effective in pushing on top of Vernon in a more 4-3-3 style formation that the previous personnel had been. It might have helped that Morris did his hamstring in with 15 mins to og but they had no subs left.

 

All just my interpretations but McGhee clearly has a strong will for a formation that we are not quite understanding and everyone in the ground on Saturday could see something that he was not willing to change.

[Penfold]

I think the 3 playing behind the striker should all be able to interchange with eachother and we did see that at times. Pawlett is fast and skillful but I think we need to resist seeing that and just sticking him out wide, where he can struggle to get involved in the game.

 

What I dont understand is why Fyvie doesn't get a start. Ever since Christmas it's like Fyvie took a dump on McGhee's heid. Ok he's young and will need rested from time to time but it's getting stupid seeing him sitting on the bench when no other player makes such an impact on the game as he does when he plays. Aluko, Fyvie and Pawlett would be the ideal 3 behind Vernon or Magennis in my opinion.

[glasgow sheep]

I think the 3 playing behind the striker should all be able to interchange with eachother and we did see that at times. Pawlett is fast and skillful but I think we need to resist seeing that and just sticking him out wide, where he can struggle to get involved in the game.

 

What I dont understand is why Fyvie doesn't get a start. Ever since Christmas it's like Fyvie took a dump on McGhee's heid. Ok he's young and will need rested from time to time but it's getting stupid seeing him sitting on the bench when no other player makes such an impact on the game as he does when he plays. Aluko, Fyvie and Pawlett would be the ideal 3 behind Vernon or Magennis in my opinion.

Agree 100%