The Dons Debrief: Dundee (A)
Hard Fought Win on the Road as Dons go 6 for 6
Aberdeen survived their biggest test of the season thus far to move to 18pts, maintaining their 100% record under Jimmy Thelin and stretching their unbeaten run to 22 matches.
The instant reaction was that Aberdeen were pinned in their own box for most of the second half, but on repeat viewing, it wasn’t quite like that. This was a gritty, victory on the road against a top-6 SPFL team, with a good coach, who can mix it physically and technically, on the break and in possession. It wasn’t perfect. It also wasn’t a 2-1 defeat with Gary Woods in goal. And, it wasn’t all that long ago winning away from home happened once or twice a season.
Tactical Setup
Dundee opted for a 3-5-2 with Clark Robertson coming in at centre-back. Scott Tiffoney partnered Simon Murray up front. Greame Shinnie returned to the side in place of Ante Palaversa. Pape Gueye missed out due to injury and was replaced by Topi Keskinen.
Blows Traded but Reds Connect with Counterpunches
The first 15 minutes of the game were fairly even. As was the pattern of the match, both teams had longer spells of possession in the opponents half often punctuated by counter-attacks from the opponent.
Aberdeen had some of their best passages of play this season in the opponents half. Clarkson looked sharp getting in positions around the edge of the box, using dummies and one-twos to try and get in behind the Dundee defence on a couple of occasions. There were also some interesting rotations with Devlin inverting inside and Clarkson pulling to the wide right. This one below didn’t quite come off but it is, and I’ll keep saying it, another means for Thelin to create overloads in the box.
Both teams will bemoan the goals conceded as defensive errors. In the case of Aberdeen however, there was still plenty of work to be done to get the ball in to the back of the net. Topi Keskinen has not made too much of an impact in the last few weeks but he showed on Saturday how big an asset he can be for the team.
For the first goal he pressures Billy Koumetio who makes the mistake then makes the right decision at the right moment to find Nisbet who finishes superbly.
The second goal illustrates Jimmy’s counter-pressing and counter-attacking. Clarkson loses the ball but is quick to press on Sylla, with Shinnie ahead of the ball joining in. The Dundee midfielder slips, but just before that Koumetio steps up to provide a passing option. This movement takes him ahead of Keskinen and when Shinnie gets the ball, the Finn is already ready to take advantage of the space.
You can see below the rapid switch in mentality from defence to attack to exploit the disorganization in the Dundee backline. Keskinen is already on his bike and Nisbet getting ready to arc his run to create the 2v1. Robertson who was playing deep (which allowed him some advantages in possession ) is unable to even consider playing for offside.
Right before half-time, Aberdeen again let their opponents back in the game after going 2-0 ahead but with significantly more time on the clock.
The goal doesn’t need extensive analysis. It’s just a long kick up the park (following good Dons pressing) that Rubezic should deal with originally and then Molloy secondly. The two have performed admirably this season thus far and defended the box superbly for the remainder of this game, but this was schoolboy stuff, akin to the goal conceded vs. St. Mirren.
Diagonal Switches
Earlier in the season St. Mirren employed a back three at Pittodrie. On that occasion also, Aberdeen mainly pressed in their 4-4-2 out-of-possesion shape but gave time on the ball to the Buddie’s three-man rearguard who generally didn’t want it and didn’t use it productively.
The same approach was applied here mainly but the difference on this occasion, came from the Dons Youth Academy in Clark Robertson. He dropped off which made it harder to press (but as noted above, caused Dundee issues in transition.) The former Blackpool man was able to pinpoint players from his deeper position and completed 10 out his 14 long passes (71%), making 15 passes into the final third.
These passes had two effects. Firstly, and obviously, they got Dundee higher up the field without the need to risk being caught on the ball and countered. Secondly, they created counter-pressing opportunities of their own via second balls. Dundee were able to win a lot of throw-ins and territory in the final third.
Mini-Skirts
It seemed like this was a game of two-halves but it wasn’t as clear cut as that. Aberdeen actually began the second-half very well with more patient possession to create openings. To illustrate this, in the second period they made 102 passes in the Dundee half, almost double that of the first-half. The team seems to be building up confidence in playing the ball on the ground in the attacking half. They couldn’t do it for all 90 minutes, and unlikely ever will but these are positive signs, because if you’re killing teams on the transition, they’re going to take that away from you.
However, around 60 minutes, Aberdeen dropped and maintained a very low line. By a margin, Aberdeen allowed their highest PPDA (passes per defensive action) of the season at 16.11 (against Motherwell it was 8.14). The passing stats also illustrate a difference in Dundee’s positioning and patience. In the second 45 minutes they only made 29 passes in their half (versus 89 in the first), but 133 in the attacking half.
Thelin said afterwards that: “When we defend low, we can be quite dangerous in transitions.” He was probably referring to the goals scored, but we can also see here how high Dundee are playing. In a hypothetical world, Clarkson could intercept Robertson’s pass, Keskinen could make the run and we could have a footrace to goal. It just didn’t happen all that often in the last half-hour.
Width and forward runs
Dundee were able to penetrate Aberdeen via width and forward runs, especially in the second-half. As the Dons were compact and narrow they gave up the wings. Dundee positioned their wing backs high with confidence that their right and left-sided centre-backs could provide cover.
It was not the best example of the improved pressing we’ve seen from the team, in terms of organisation and intensity. On the right side in particular, Jamie McGrath struggled as he was often pulled inside to pick up the additional midfielder. 50% of Dundee’s attacks came from the right. See the heatmap below.
Too often the ball bypassed the Aberdeen wide midfielders and the Dundee wing-back was able to get their head up and make a cross, or, more dangerously, play in one of the midfielders. Though I think this is by design - the instruction to stay narrow and force the ball wide - there were also errors on the timing and angle of the pressure. See below. Portales is allowed to play the pass wide to Ingram, who is able to receive and play into the run of Mulligan. In the second image, McGrath and MacKenzie, did not, in my opinion, do enough to shut off the passing lanes.
This happened on a few occasions with Cameron notably also getting in behind. I think this flags up a weakness in the 4-4-2 pressing scheme as the team is always liable to be unbalanced by runs in behind the full backs from midfielders (yes I’m thinking of Celtic Park) I’ve tried to illustrate this in the below Gif.
Defending the Box - Elfsborg Ball?
In light of this, Aberdeen appeared to opt for defending the box as opposed to squeezing higher and tighter. This is a resilience that I think the manager is keen to work on and in the main Aberdeen were able to repel Dundee’s attacks. It’s also something we were told Elfsborg excelled it so maybe we’re evolving closer to where Jimmy might want to be.
Their closest effort came via Tiffoney (again via the keeper) and Mitov did well to save. There was a chance for Curtis Main at the death but his effort was straight at the Bulgarian and then Koumetio headed over in stoppage time.
When a team has bodies in the box and is constantly serving the ball into the penalty area, it’s natural to feel under pressure. Dundee hit 40 crosses in total this match but didn’t create much.
However, there are concerns if this is a long-term approach. Better goal scorers will get on the end of crosses, there will be better players lurking around the edge of the box. Mistakes will happen. The last five minutes of the St. Johnstone, Motherwell and Dundee games, have not been good for the nails.
What maginified this was that there was no real outlet later in the game. As mentioned last week, we must use Gueye as an example of players who can improve when thinking about Peter Ambrose, but, it’s definitely going to take a lot of patience. His cameo was, yet again, woeful.
Summary
My concern after initial viewing of this game was that Aberdeen were very lucky to win but I didn’t feel quite the same after watching again. Was it possible that Dundee could have gotten an equalizer? Yes. Would they have deserved it? Probably. But were Aberdeen outplayed, I’m not so sure. They adapted to the state of the game and the manager adjusted his approach accordingly. It just felt pretty nerve-racking at the time.
There were a lot of positives. We have a well-rounded team and a coaching staff that seems to acknowledge the rigours of the Scottish game and we are seeing the team grow in three major areas:
Ability to build up play and maintain longer stretches of possession
Counter-attacking at speed from opposition attacks or midfield transitions
Defending the box well when under aerial bombardment
Dundee looked a solid side, with some good players. I would expect them to be there or thereabouts for the top-6 again this season. This was a good three points.
Stay Humble and COYR