Euro treks mean Hayes won’t fear Maribor cauldron
We can’t affect the atmosphere in Maribor. We know what we have to do
SITUATED on the bank of the river Drava, the city of Maribor would make for a pleasant trip for the staff and players of Aberdeen next week under any other circumstances.
Few who have been asked to perform at the Stadion Ljudski down the years speak fondly of the convivial welcome extended by the locals, however.
Despite holding just short of 13,000 spectators, the home of MK Maribor is not for the fainthearted. Perhaps not quite on the ‘welcome to hell’ scale but a raucous environment nonetheless. One that’s made a significant contribution to its inhabitant’s growth as a veritable European force over the past decade.
Those who believe that the prospect of playing against such a backdrop is bound to mess with Aberdeen’s heads over the coming days has clearly not been paying attention, though.
Next Thursday’s return leg will be the ninth time in three years that Derek McInnes has taken his men on the road. Although not every venue they have visited could be described as intimidating, they surely have enough miles on the clock to render any suggestion they will melt in Maribor as simply ludicrous.
‘We were told that Rijeka was intimidating. We were told that Groningen was intimidating and it wasn’t,’ said winger Jonny Hayes.
‘We can’t affect how many fans turn up, or the atmosphere at games, all we can do is do our job. We know what our job is — and that’s to get a goal.’
That much is now clear. Hayes’ late intervention at Pittodrie — equalising with just three minutes remaining — was no more than Aberdeen deserved on the night, but made the task facing them next week only marginally less difficult.
Having been second best for much of the night, the importance of the goal the Slovenians claimed through Milivoje Novakovic four minutes before Hayes struck is hard to overstate.
There is now no need for Darko Milanic’s side to force the issue. They can sit in, safe in the knowledge that a clean sheet will see them progress. Somehow, Aberdeen must find a way to goal.
The scenario is not, obviously, as McInnes would have hoped for but Hayes saw enough in the home leg — and in previous excursions — to believe that the nature of the assignment might just suit them.
‘I think we’ve shown we can adapt,’ he added. ‘We didn’t go away on Thursday, we didn’t sit in, we went and attacked them.
‘I’ve got full faith in the manager — he sets up whatever way will suit the players best and he’s proved in previous European games that he seems to have the knack for getting the tactics we use right.
‘Whatever he says, whatever his instructions are, we go and carry them out. We were fully confident going into the match.
‘Maribor sat in for long periods and tried to hit us on the counter, and it reminded me a little bit of ourselves when sometimes we sit in.
‘They executed it quite well and got a good result. We’ll go over there next week needing to score; whether that be in the first minute or the 90th minute.
‘There’s no doubt that Maribor are a good side and you sense they will be a bit more comfortable on their own back yard.
‘But we’ve learned from playing against the likes of Groningen and Rijeka. No European tie home or away is easy. The away games always seem to be that little bit tougher but that makes them all the more rewarding if you get the right result.
‘When we play at a high tempo, we can be a match for anybody. It suits us. We’ve got a quick, fit team and playing at that kind of tempo for long periods of the game definitely suits us. That’s when we are at our best.’
There’s also a reassuring doggedness to McInnes’ men. At the outset of this run, against Fola Esch, they scored three times in the last 22 minutes at home to build a sufficient advantage to take to Luxembourg. Then, against Ventspils in the previous round, they struck three times in the remaining 19 minutes at home to do likewise, with Adam Rooney also netting 11 minutes from time in the return leg in Latvia. Hayes contends that his latest addition to the late goals collection against the Slovenians isn’t just down to a coincidence. ‘It’s something the manager and Doc (assistant manager Tony Docherty) have always installed in us,’ said the Irishman. ‘In the season before last, we scored a lot of late goals — not so much last season — but there were still a high number of goals. ‘We’ve managed quite a number late in the second half of these European games. I remember when we were 1-0 down against Maribor looking around and seeing Ash Taylor up front because the manager had obviously told him to get up there and score a goal. ‘You can see where it comes from. They never give up and when that rubs off on us by scoring late goals it’s nice.’ It remains to be seen if Aberdeen will go for the jugular from the off next week. You suspect they will. At home, all talk of proceeding with caution seemed somewhat incongruous as the Dons’ twin strike force of Rooney and Jayden Stockley were fed time and again from all areas of the pitch from the off. Such a bold approach rattled a Maribor defence that often appeared distinctly unsure of itself.
‘The two strikers were on the pitch, I don’t want to reveal too much about the formation and how the manager went about it, but he was a bit adaptable,’ said Hayes.
‘The way the manager sets up his team, it’s never a case of a rigid formation. He always picks a team knowing that he can change to two or three systems now.
‘Derek always picks a team that doesn’t tend to finish the game. It’s a good thing about him that he’s versatile in that manner. He obviously put two boys up front and it suited us.’
McInnes has much to ponder over the weekend as he plots a result to take his side into the play-off round.
On the evidence of a first leg in which his side were the better team by a distance, however, his best hope may rest with a change in luck as opposed to any radical overhaul in personnel or tactics.
‘When you draw 1-1 at home, no matter the opposition, you’re going to be a little down,’ added Hayes.
‘We’ve always known that (that we can progress).
‘Obviously, getting the away goal will give them a boost but we can take a lot of confidence from the performance.
‘We’ve seen them play at home and they are a very organised, defensive unit and they probably will sit in. If we were in their shoes we might do the same as you don’t need to score a goal.
‘But the manager and Doc will do their homework and we’ll carry out their instructions as we’re told to. Hopefully, it will be enough to get us through.’