Match Thread - Sporting v Aberdeen

[ayrshire_don74]

Just now, DantheDon said:

I think if we were ever going to qualify from the current setup it would take us beating one of these teams at some point and tonight seems a bit of an opportunity missed. I'm not denying they have quality though and I don't think its a disgrace or anything but I would have liked to see us having a bit more of a go. Ref didnt make it any easier for us though as limiting any physicality was always going to favour them. 

I presume it will be a bit easier to qualify from next season with the setup changing. Whether we end up in Europa league 1 or 2 it would be nice to have a European run.

Thats a fair point we havent had a truly marquee Euro result.. as for Tups comments on the the other sides our previous track record suggests otherwise we would have found it tough v those teams but agree my have had more of a chance of winning

[BigAl]

1 minute ago, LA-Don said:

Stopped watching after 30 mins so I could certainly be wrong here but everything I saw was a McInnes ‘let’s not disgrace ourselves’ performance and he’s happy to only lose 1-0. I find this stuff so incredibly frustrating and one of the reasons I despise the manager. They had 9-10 players missing, training seriously disrupted, a makeshift team, and have not played a competitive game all year. Everything suggests just have a go. Nothing to lose. Play at our pace, our tempo, make them work. But not us. We do the opposite and it was a training game for them. I don’t care who they are and how much they earn, that was an opportunity lost to me.

Summed up perfectly in my eyes there L A Don.

We never showed any REAL intent or belief.

This was a great chance to beat a higher ranked team

[ayrshire_don74]

Just now, BigAl said:

Summed up perfectly in my eyes there L A Don.

We never showed any REAL intent or belief.

This was a great chance to beat a higher ranked team

thats fair too but we have Ash Taylor and out of sorts Logan and no goal threat up front..

[Jute]

Never laid a glove on them tonight. Joe made two great saves. Really disappointed we did not push them more. I know they are a good side but they were there for the taking but we were not brave enough.

[tup1]

I think we played as well as could be expected. Maybe needed to be a bit smarter in the challenges as the ref gave a free kick every time we went near them.

No disgrace but perhaps a lesson learned. Similar to Burnley, we just came up against a superior opponent. The Covid stuff was a red herring, they were a quality team and we came up short, just.

[LA-Don]

Too many calm heads here. I’m raging to be honest. They had their entire preparation shot to fuck! We made that perfectly easy for them. One of the biggest disappointments for me tonight in our return to Europe over the last few years. They were there for the taking. Biggest fuck up was benching Scotty Wright, much of our good attacking play has come from him this season. As I said, stopped watching, did we even lay a finger on them? Saw hedges miss at the end but was that our only real chance? This is the type of performance, not too different to old firm games, where I think the managers negative attitude and tactics kill us. We’re better than we showed tonight but the manager doesn’t let us play.

And if we are that concerned about Logan and Taylor, try to play at the other end of the park where they get least exposed. Easier said than done I know but sitting back only puts pressure on them and eventually highlights our weaknesses.

[tup1]

We played quite well and didn’t get outclassed. To me that’s all we can ask for. Had Hedges buried his good chance we might have won it in extra time. A 6 out of 10 performance and a massive improvement on the Motherwell game. 
 

Bear in mind we also sold our best player on the week of the game. Some overreactions I’d say.

[LA-Don]

1 minute ago, tup1 said:

We played quite well and didn’t get outclassed. To me that’s all we can ask for. Had Hedges buried his good chance we might have won it in extra time. A 6 out of 10 performance and a massive improvement on the Motherwell game. 
 

Bear in mind we also sold our best player on the week of the game. Some overreactions I’d say.

Did we make sporting work? Put them under pressure? Did we show superior fitness? Or were they in game management mode most of the game and didn’t need to score again? Everything I saw suggested we gave them time and space and they were never really pressured or forced to play their best.
 

I certainly hate to suggest it, but you think rangers beat sporting tonight? They’d have a go for sure.

[tup1]

1 minute ago, LA-Don said:

Did we make sporting work? Put them under pressure? Did we show superior fitness? Or were they in game management mode most of the game and didn’t need to score again? Everything I saw suggested we gave them time and space and they were never really pressured or forced to play their best.
 

I certainly hate to suggest it, but you think rangers beat sporting tonight? They’d have a go for sure.

That’s not relevant. They played them home and away last season and beat them, with fans in the ground.

We had a go when we could and might have nicked a draw. It’s a defeat but hardly a terrible one, when the draw was made I’m sure most realistic people expected us to go out.

[LA-Don]

6 minutes ago, tup1 said:

That’s not relevant. They played them home and away last season and beat them, with fans in the ground.

We had a go when we could and might have nicked a draw. It’s a defeat but hardly a terrible one, when the draw was made I’m sure most realistic people expected us to go out.

Under normal circumstances I'd agree with you. But tonight wasn't normal, the stars aligned for us. Sporting were fucked over the last 10 days with covid, multiple players missed the game, training cancelled, and had every excuse to lose. And no fans to create an atmosphere. Oh, and they hadn't played a competitive game yet, and hadn't played a game in how many days?? This was the one game and one time I expect us to smell blood and go for it. But that is not McInness' attitude which I cannot stand, and it clearly rubs off on some of the players. 

[tup1]

I thought we played reasonably well but it seems I’m in the minority. They might have equally thought we were there for the taking having sold McKenna.

[ayrshire_don74]

25 minutes ago, tup1 said:

That’s not relevant. They played them home and away last season and beat them, with fans in the ground.

We had a go when we could and might have nicked a draw. It’s a defeat but hardly a terrible one, when the draw was made I’m sure most realistic people expected us to go out.

er did they

[RicoS321]

36 minutes ago, tup1 said:

I think we played as well as could be expected. Maybe needed to be a bit smarter in the challenges as the ref gave a free kick every time we went near them.

No disgrace but perhaps a lesson learned. Similar to Burnley, we just came up against a superior opponent. The Covid stuff was a red herring, they were a quality team and we came up short, just.

Nope, it was nothing like Burnley. That game was like the cup final against the tims a few years back where we lost in the last minute. We had a game plan that involved a lot more pressing, a lot more aggression and a midfield that wasn't completely pinned to the back three (Hoban played in front of the back line, allowing Ferguson to get further forward and press). 

This game reminded me of watching Walter Smith's Scotland. Defend like fuck and hope to score, with zero plan B when you go behind. We deserved to lose tonight because we played not to get beaten without a hint of attacking intent. We were exceptionally fortunate not to lose a goal before we eventually made our changes, which would have put them out of sight. There was no proactive change until the 70th minute, and that's just very poor management. It's a mistake that is as bad as any that led to their goal. I'm not one to talk about belief or any of that shite, it was tactical ineptitude. Procrastination. 

The players performed admirably to the task they were set. Hayes, Hedges and Hoban (the three H's) especially, and of course Lewis. 

[tup1]

It was like Burnley in that we came up against a superior opponent is what I said, I wasn’t comparing the two games. We lost 1-0 away from home to a better team, hardly the end of the world.

Nobody was greeting like you are after Burnley either. Quite the opposite. The team got high praise. I can’t understand this ferocious criticism.

[RicoS321]

30 minutes ago, tup1 said:

It was like Burnley in that we came up against a superior opponent is what I said, I wasn’t comparing the two games. We lost 1-0 away from home to a better team, hardly the end of the world.

Nobody was greeting like you are after Burnley either. Quite the opposite. The team got high praise. I can’t understand this ferocious criticism.

I just explained in fairly logical detail. Against Burnley we played with a chance of winning, which is why nobody complained after that game. Also the tims game I mentioned.

I think the team played well tonight. There's no ferocious criticism, just an honest assessment. McInnes made an error, and it's one he's made on several occasions now and shouldn't be making that mistake (a player would be crucified for repeated errors). He's also done the opposite on numerous occasions such as the Burnley and tims games which I was exceptionally praising of. If you don't see the difference between Burnley and tonight's game then your missing something. Burnley we were unlucky, tonight we never gave ourselves the opportunity to be unlucky. I didn't come away from tonight's game disappointed, because at no point were my expectations raised enough to warrant that. We all know we're capable of playing better than we did tonight and that there were better ways to approach it (certainly the second half). It's a tactical approach that has a zero percent success rate for the dons under McInnes (when a goal behind), it's pretty straight forward.

[Madbadteacher]

We’re he posting I can just hear Rocket’s abuse of the “pathetic failure weegie dwarf”

I clearly didn’t see the game but, if we really didn’t have a go, is that down to the manager’s tactics and selection or poor player performance?

I’m bitterly disappointed, but can’t say more than that because I didn’t see the actual game.

[Chris Frae Killie]

What I would say and it's just my opinion..... we played well tonight and probably deserved to take the match to extra time. We are far more exciting going forward this season with Hayes, Hedges and Wright. I really like the look of Watkins but..... we are crying out for Cosgrove or Main! We need a striker - someone that has the instinct to be in the right place, at the right time. I'm not saying we would've won tonight with Cosgrove, in fact with that ref, he would've been booked for consistent fouling, as would Main. For us to continue winning games and to challenge at the top end of the league, we need more actual strikers on our books. I think that was part of the problem against Motherwell, when we lost two early goals, the belief was not there as we knew we would struggle to find the net more than once.

[LA-Don]

1 hour ago, tup1 said:

It was like Burnley in that we came up against a superior opponent is what I said, I wasn’t comparing the two games. We lost 1-0 away from home to a better team, hardly the end of the world.

Nobody was greeting like you are after Burnley either. Quite the opposite. The team got high praise. I can’t understand this ferocious criticism.

In regards to 'ferocious criticism', I'm hugely disappointed because this was a massive opportunity lost. We never get past this stage and it just seemed the breaks pre game were going for us. This was the year. Yes, McKenna left, but we've played many games with him injured and out before (different I know.) While we'll miss him, he's not that good!

It wasn't a 'normal' sporting we played, we need to consider.....

-Multiple players missing due to covid.

-They hadn't trained much, and had been relocated.

-They hadn't played a competitive game, we're already multiple games into our season plus two euro games already.

-Their routine has been majorly disrupted.

-There were no home fans creating a hostile environment.

-It was one game, not two.

In my eyes we blew it big time with DM's tactics....yet again. Like Madbad said, I too can hear Rocket as I type. He blew it. Although, as I keep saying, I only saw the first 30 and the last 10 mins because I turned off since it was clear the tactics were to sit back and absorb which ultimately failed us yet again. Last 15-20 we attacked apparently with some success which again asks the question, what if we'd done that the entire game?

 

[Panda]

Harsh to suggest we were too defensive or didn't have a go. We saw plenty of the ball in their final third, the decision making was poor on almost every occasion.

Considering we had Kennedy, Devlin and Cosgrove missing - the line-up was pretty much what we will likely have at Ross County on Sunday. The only key decision was dropping Wright for a more defensive minded player in McGeouch. But I can totally understand the reasoning for that. We were going into the unknown, didn't have a clue what their line-up would be, hadn't been able to watch them, were away from home against a huge name who even with nine players missing were still littered with quality.

I think it was sensible to begin slightly cautious and grow into the game and essentially that's what we did. The only real blot was the poor defending for the goal. There was a good 15-20 minute spell in that first half where we were the better team and were trying as best we could to take the game to them. 

The whole "they were there for the taking". Actually, they looked like they could go up a level if they wanted to. It looked to me like Sporting actually showed Aberdeen a lot of respect - their celebrations for that goal were not from a team who thought they were going to roll us over 3 or 4-0. They spent a lot of the game knocking it around their back four and trying not to take any risks. They were cute aswell with winning free-kicks and killing the game. They made it really frustrating and it was hard to get at them. If we had gone gung ho I think they would have cut us open quite easily. If we don't concede the early goal who knows how the game goes - but I think they would have shown more attacking intent and they had the quality to hurt us.

We played a good team tonight, gave it a decent effort, but we're not on their level and as hard as it is to admit, the Europa League is too high a standard for us. 

Win the cup this season (the second one) and we're straight into the EL play-off round where we're guaranteed group stage games. Likely that will be the Conference League which is the level we should be at, and we probably won't have to contend with a Sporting Lisbon or Burnley.

[Panda]

8 minutes ago, LA-Don said:

 

-Multiple players missing due to covid.

I don't know a huge amount about Sporting, but how many of those missing players would have started tonight?

Aberdeen had eight players missing earlier in the season who had to isolate and couldn't train. They came back and won six games in a row. 

Sporting were weakened, but they were still huge favourites tonight.

8 minutes ago, LA-Don said:

-They hadn't trained much, and had been relocated.

The players who played tonight have been training. They've also played pre-season friendlies - beating a Spanish La Liga side (granted that was with their full squad). 

8 minutes ago, LA-Don said:

Like Madbad said, I too can hear Rocket as I type. 
 

Do people actually take rocket seriously? 

8 minutes ago, LA-Don said:

Last 15 we apparently attacked and had some success, which again asks the question, what if we'd done that the entire game?

 

We put on Scott Wright, but attacking wise the chances were similar to the first half. Sporting broke numerous times on the counter and still had the best two chances of the half. Whether they were weakened or not, they were still far better than we were. It wasn't an opportunity missed as if we were somehow the favourites who should have went and attacked them from the off - we just got closer to them because they weren't at their best.

[scotfree]

Looking at transfermarket.com, Aberdeen's total market value Is 10 million. Sporting is valued at 150 million. We could/should have done better, but that's a huge gulf between clubs.

[LA-Don]

3 hours ago, Panda said:

I don't know a huge amount about Sporting, but how many of those missing players would have started tonight?

Aberdeen had eight players missing earlier in the season who had to isolate and couldn't train. They came back and won six games in a row. 

Sporting were weakened, but they were still huge favourites tonight.

The players who played tonight have been training. They've also played pre-season friendlies - beating a Spanish La Liga side (granted that was with their full squad). 

Do people actually take rocket seriously? 

We put on Scott Wright, but attacking wise the chances were similar to the first half. Sporting broke numerous times on the counter and still had the best two chances of the half. Whether they were weakened or not, they were still far better than we were. It wasn't an opportunity missed as if we were somehow the favourites who should have went and attacked them from the off - we just got closer to them because they weren't at their best.

You can say what you want, opportunity missed in my eyes. We didn’t try to win a one off game against a team who had had extremely disrupted preparation and hadn’t played a competitive game. 

Edited September 25, 2020 by LA-Don

[tup1]

We did try to win.

[RicoS321]

6 hours ago, Panda said:

We put on Scott Wright, but attacking wise the chances were similar to the first half. Sporting broke numerous times on the counter and still had the best two chances of the half. Whether they were weakened or not, they were still far better than we were. It wasn't an opportunity missed as if we were somehow the favourites who should have went and attacked them from the off - we just got closer to them because they weren't at their best.

We weren't favourites, but during the game there were opportunities missed, glaring ones I'd say, to affect the result. From the 55-65th minutes they absolutely battered us and should have been two up. That was before we made any attempt to attack them. As soon as we started to wobble around 55 minutes, the changes should have begun, starting with a change in midfield to get our three away from our back five (4-1-4-1), with all attacking subs being introduced 10 minutes earlier than they were to give us the most amount of time to create opportunities. This procrastination from McInnes is evident on multiple previous occasions and rarely serves us well. Nobody is suggesting the initial setup was wrong and that we were terrible, but we had a huge amount of time being 1-0 down without creating a single opportunity, so we knew that we had to change and it took far too long to do it, which possibly cost us. We'll never know that of course, but if you don't try etc.

McInnes played the second half, tactically, like it was a league game versus the tims where there's a psychological risk associated with a tanking, or an away game in Europe where we still had a home game. This was a cup semi final against a very good team. The only risk was that the game would be over after 70 minutes rather than 90. There's a fine line in these games, a really small window of opportunity and McInnes didn't recognise it or act on it. As I said earlier Panda, against Burnley (a similar fixture) we were unlucky, but last night we didn't get to the point of being unlucky. We actually played in the hope we might get lucky. Defeat is acceptable, the manner wasn't great. I'm probably classed as a "McInnes defender" on here, so certainly not one of the hysterical ones, but I don't think you've addressed what were serious mistakes in the approach given that we were 1-0 down with no fallback if we didn't score.

Tup's right, we did try to win, but we made tactical mistakes that meant we significantly reduced those chances.

Edited September 25, 2020 by RicoS321

[tup1]

Wright should have come on sooner, I would say that. He made a big difference. He is close to being our best creative player so he was kept on the bench for too long.

The difference against Burnley was we had GMS, a player capable of tearing them to pieces by himself. We had nobody at that level last night, although Hayes did have a good go at them. They got away with a couple of bad fouls on Hayes whereas they went down at the slightest touch. They just had a bit more nous about them at this level than we had. They were also a level above Burnley.