Roos admits gung-ho Dons have to find right balance going forward
EUROPEAN exposure featured high among the reasons that informed Kelle Roos’ decision to leave Derby County for Aberdeen last year. What unfolded at Pittodrie on Thursday may not have been exactly what the goalkeeper had in mind.
As the last line of defence, the big Dutchman knows it’s his job to make the big saves. Yet Aberdeen’s wide-open approach made it simple for Hacken to exploit space and dispatch the three precise shots that ended the club’s Europa League dream.
Boss Barry Robson lamented poor finishing by strikers Bojan Miovski and Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes and praised his team for serving up a great watch under the northern floodlights. Yet it would be folly to ignore the risks taken at the other end of the pitch that allowed Hacken — and the outstanding Ibrahim Sadiq in particular — to fire the Swedes into UEFA’s second-tier competition.
Aberdeen have a safety net but, with Eintracht Frankfurt, PAOK and Helsinki waiting in the Conference League, the potential for more damaging encounters is evident.
Roos admits the balance will need to improve before the Group G schedule commences later this month.
‘Our strength is we are fast and we have such an exciting group of players with a lot of speed and aggression,’ said the Dutchman. ‘I feel like we need to play to that strength but we don’t want to be conceding this amount of goals.
‘We know when we go man for man at the back there will be space left which good players can take care of if you don’t get it quite right.’
There are caveats of course. Robson’s success in reviving an ailing team at the tail end of last season was based on a tight defensive unit in which Roos performed behind regulars Mattie Pollock, Angus McDonald and Liam Scales.
Of those centrebacks only McDonald remains at the club and he is still finding his feet after a summer injury. New signings Nicky Devlin, Slobodan Rubezic and Richard Jensen have rotated with Jack McKenzie in the opening games of the new campaign.
‘It sounds cliched but there are a lot of new players and we are adapting to each other as fast as we can,’ admitted Roos (left). ‘I think that’s going well at times. Let’s make that very clear. But there are still things we need to clean up so we don’t give away such big chances.’ In the circumstances, the identity of today’s cinch Premiership opponents also feels like a gift. The European distraction has somewhat glossed over the fact Aberdeen have failed to win any of their three opening league fixtures of the season.
A home win today feels imperative, but Hibs travel north in even worse shape with three straight domestic defeats leaving them bottom of the table and in search of a new manager.
Under Lee Johnson, Hibs looked an even more lop-sided proposition than Aberdeen and, assuming caretaker David Gray has not magically resolved those issues in the scant training time around the Edinburgh club’s own European beating at Villa Park, there is scope for a high-scoring game this afternoon.
Pittodrie was a sight and sound to behold on Thursday. Full on all four sides and electrified by the vocal encouragement of the Red Shed contingent, the stadium encouraged the Dons to tear into their guests.
They did, and with all the aggression one might expect from a Robson team. Yet they lacked subtlety in attack, keeper Peter Abrahamsson seemingly using all available body parts to make saves in the face of a firsthalf barrage as strikers Miovski and Duk failed to find the right angles.
Hacken were rattled but possessed venom on the counter, eventually prevailing by the comfortable margin of 3-1 on the night.
Lessons will need to be learned ahead of the groups. With wingbacks James McGarry and, especially, Shayden Morris operating like conventional wingers and even the deepest lying midfielder Graeme Shinnie constantly trying to drive things forward, Aberdeen proved an exciting yet nerve-shredding watch.
Such naked naïveté might still be punished in the Conference League but perhaps not with the same regularity as in the highertier tournament.
‘I think we performed very well at times but Hacken were more clinical,’ reflected Roos. ‘If we play the same game a couple more times, we probably walk away with a win.
‘As a group with new players we need to take confidence from that. Now it’s a case of focusing on the league and also the Conference League.
‘I think our quality is there for everyone to see. We also have a very special stadium and we know we have this army behind us all the time.
‘We see the difference they bring — it’s something for everyone to be proud of and it can be key on European nights.’
We need to play to our strengths but we don’t want to concede this amount of goals