Match Thread Aberdeen 1 - 1 HJK Helsinki

[RedArmyFakshun]

4 minutes ago, fine-n-dandy said:

needs a few major improvements in January to hopefully salvage the domestic season

big cash for bojan, prudently reinvested squad-wide, roll on next season

 

[WesthillWanderersFC]

13 minutes ago, Medw1311 said:

I'm sorta feeling the same, that Duk chance goes in and we have a chance to be top of the group at the halfway stage by beating PAOK at home.

We’re not beating PAOK.

We couldn’t get the better of a very average Helsinki.  

 

 

[Medw1311]

1 minute ago, WesthillWanderersFC said:

We’re not beating PAOK.

We couldn’t get the better of a very average Helsinki.  

 

 

Achh I ken min but sometimes you just gotta hold onto positive thoughts no matter how unlikely they might be.

[TerryMcDermott]

1 hour ago, sooth_stander said:

Night of frustration. 3 points were well within our capabilities but not to be. 

I just think the lack of proper width is restricting us. I get why he goes 3/5 at the back away v Frankfurt and Der Hun but at home, I mean, how many times do McKenzie and Devlin get to the byline? Never. Everything is in front of the Helsinki defence, makes it so easy for them to defend against.

On Sunday, there is absolutely no reason to go with 3 central defenders v St Johnstone. Drop Ruby out of that back 3 and go 4–3-3 

Dare I say it….

 

but this might be a situation where Miovski is indeed the lone striker and the likes of Vinny gets an opportunity to drop off the front line and play in the space in front of the fullbacks. Who knows….maybe utilize a player that ONCE May cut inside and threaten instead of artillery from high pressed center backs. We just didn’t have the cleverness to really pick them apart in the final third. A plan B is required in games like tonight where there’s a lot of huff and puff but we’re tactically inflexible and not able to go to the bench and mmhave a new plan of attack. Sokler and Pape The Gueye aren’t the kind of players who will change the way we attack. They’re effectively like for like back ups. And in Sokler’s case, he looks like the knock off version of Miovski you’d get in a Chinatown market for ‘special price’. 

[TerryMcDermott]

12 minutes ago, fine-n-dandy said:

Going to be an extremely frustrating season I think. With far more let downs than highs.

Hun win will probably be highlight of the season.

Really not impressed or optimistic about this team right now. More often than not found wanting & still needs a few major improvements in January to hopefully salvage the domestic season if it’s not too late by then

I think that’s the truth. The Ibrox win probably represents the best of the season. We can offer up disciplined tactical performances where we hold out and counter but we haven’t clicked when in games where we are expected to dominate. And I’m not counting Ross County cause they’re categorically pish. 

[Beechender]

59 minutes ago, DandyWarhol said:

Frustrating night.  Don't normally listen to Radio Scotland but caught Robson's interview and don't agree that we did enough to win the match.  Felt we didn't create nearly enough good chances - speaks volumes that our goal came from one of their defenders misheading the ball.

Disappointing because that was a team we really should've been beating at home.  If we can't beat them then who can we beat at this level?  Just another frustrating night of European football at Pittodrie - seems to have been plenty of them in recent times.  

Probably should've started Barron or Polvara instead of Clarkson.  We looked OK in the first half up until the head knocks, then went really flat.  Never really got going again until we went behind.  Really needed more from our creative players like Clarkson and McGrath.

Also that must be the worst atmosphere at a big European match at Pittodrie I have ever experienced.  Thought there was a few reasons for that and it wasn't just because of the lack of exciting goalmouth action on the pitch.

Just feels like another missed opportunity. Got to get a win on Sunday to keep things moving upwards before the break.

Agreed .Clarkson big ? Tonight.

[torry_battery_ram]

41 minutes ago, Snelders Snottters 89 said:

Duk seems devoid of a calm finish when he gets good opportunities like than he just blasts them. 

He looks like the project player he was touted as being when he first signed at the moment. He also needs to stop the playacting as I think the ref stopped giving him decisions because of his tendency to go down easily. He could do with tips from Lee Miller on how to win a free kick from making it look like you've been poleaxed

[afc_blockhead]

1 hour ago, Byrne Baby Byrne said:

I don’t go to as many games as I used to but any time I do go I would describe myself as bored, frustrated and slightly depressed. It’s a real chore supporting Aberdeen now. 
 

that was fucking shite tonight. Again. 

Definitely seems like thats your personality, regardless of Aberdeen

[graham]

2 minutes ago, torry_battery_ram said:

He looks like the project player he was touted as being when he first signed at the moment. He also needs to stop the playacting as I think the ref stopped giving him decisions because of his tendency to go down easily. He could do with tips from Lee Miller on how to win a free kick from making it look like you've been poleaxed

Yes the Duk has to wise up or taken to the side by someone at Pittodrie and told to stop the theatricals forthwith.Plolish referee not sympathetic to him at all.Duk could have been kicked ten feet in the air and I don't think he would be guaranteed to give him a foul.Helsinki players incensed by him.Has got to stop the playacting Duk,one of my favourite players when on form,.

[RedArmyFakshun]

2 minutes ago, graham said:

l.Duk could have been kicked ten feet in the air and I don't think he would be guaranteed to give him a foul.Helsinki players incensed by him.Has got to stop the playacting 

its part of the modern game, and yes, he does play to it, but if he was white he'd get far more decisions

facts is facts

[Jigsaw666]

41 minutes ago, fine-n-dandy said:

Going to be an extremely frustrating season I think. With far more let downs than highs.

Hun win will probably be highlight of the season.

Really not impressed or optimistic about this team right now. More often than not found wanting & still needs a few major improvements in January to hopefully salvage the domestic season if it’s not too late by then

Still say the frustration will come more from managerial tactics rather than the squad as a whole. Robson just doesn't impress for me.

[graham]

14 minutes ago, RedArmyFakshun said:

its part of the modern game, and yes, he does play to it, but if he was white he'd get far more decisions

facts is facts

That was an interesting moment when at least two Finnish players came very close to hauling Duk up from the ground as he rolled and writhed about in supposed agony.A genuinely injured player always stays remarkably still.Ten minutes were added to an otherwise  uneventful first half.Any chance I had of enjoying the new series of All Creatures Great and Small on Channel 5 +1 at 10pm on returning home was ruined !!!!!!!!

[RedArmyFakshun]

7 minutes ago, graham said:

A genuinely injured player always stays remarkably still

that's not necessarily the case for ear injury, and i speak from experience

you can roll around or get up and assault the cunt that did it

but you don't stay still

[graham]

6 minutes ago, RedArmyFakshun said:

that's not necessarily the case for ear injury, and i speak from experience

you can roll around or get up and assault the cunt that did it

but you don't stay still

Yes you are right injured players can be known to retaliate ! I fully accept that.

[RedArmyFakshun]

11 minutes ago, graham said:

Yes you are right injured players can be known to retaliate ! I fully accept that.

duk's retaliation was to roll around rather than get up and deck the cunt

but you can't do nothing, the kinetic energy released has to be fulfilled

[RedArmyFakshun]

doubler

[NorthCarolinaDon]

Some right miserable people on here, you'd think we had lost by ten goals. Was not a top performance by any means, but if the misses by Duk(Which he should have made) went in and their GK was not on his game, we would have won this going away. Maybe I am just a glass half full kind of guy and always will be.

 

[fine-n-dandy]

22 minutes ago, NorthCarolinaDon said:

Some right miserable people on here, you'd think we had lost by ten goals. Was not a top performance by any means, but if the misses by Duk(Which he should have made) went in and their GK was not on his game, we would have won this going away. Maybe I am just a glass half full kind of guy and always will be.

 

It’s a huge chance missed & the game we most expected to win being a home game v the other ‘weakest’ side in the group, every right to be miserable with that abomination of a performance 🤷

 

I hate the attitude of ‘just one game’ etc. when that ‘one game’ has been the majority of our seasons shite showings

[Dons79]

Just in after an arduous day, disappointing result against a team a feel we should have bet, shows our lack of experience at this level, miovski is unplayable at times, devlin put in a shift, Clarkson was poor, duk didn’t have his best game, should be scoring the 1 on 1, least still in our hands with back to back wins against Paok puts us in a strong position 😂, referee and his team were abysmal, shocking performance, 

we move on

[Dons79]

Up in 2 hours 😭😭😭😭

[Frank Grimes]

I swear some of you just support Aberdeen with the sole purpose of being fucking miserable 

Some on here must’ve been raging on Saturday when we won 3-1 at Ibrox and couldn’t piss and moan like toddlers

Last night wasn’t great but even with a win it was going to be tough ask to qualify from this group

New squad who seem to be gelling a bit better 

Move onto Sunday which is much more important, I’ll happily join in on the moaning if we don’t win that one 

[TerryMcDermott]

3 minutes ago, Frank Grimes said:

I swear some of you just support Aberdeen with the sole purpose of being fucking miserable 

Some on here must’ve been raging on Saturday when we won 3-1 at Ibrox and couldn’t piss and moan like toddlers

Last night wasn’t great but even with a win it was going to be tough ask to qualify from this group

New squad who seem to be gelling a bit better 

Move onto Sunday which is much more important, I’ll happily join in on the moaning if we don’t win that one 

Is it more important? I’m not being funny, just thinking that if Euro games aren’t more important then why do we give a shit if we finish 3rd or 5th? I would have thought that games like Helsinki are the pinnacle for these lads where getting out of a Euro group would be a massive achievement. That’s why I was kinda surprised there more than a couple of lacklustre performances. We should be right up and flying for these nights. 

[Frank Grimes]

10 minutes ago, TerryMcDermott said:

Is it more important? I’m not being funny, just thinking that if Euro games aren’t more important then why do we give a shit if we finish 3rd or 5th? I would have thought that games like Helsinki are the pinnacle for these lads where getting out of a Euro group would be a massive achievement. That’s why I was kinda surprised there more than a couple of lacklustre performances. We should be right up and flying for these nights. 

I’d obviously prefer that but to me the long term aim is finishing 3rd more often than not so we’re qualifying for the groups on a regular basis, bringing more money into the club with the hope of being more competitive in these competitions in years to come 

Let’s be honest, we’ve been a shambles since late 2019

Instant success in Europe was always a tall order 

Domestic fitba is just more important to me, I’d rather win the league cup than make any progression in Europe this season 

[Cambridge Red]

Interesting point raised by one of the commentators on the radio that we seem to perform better when we're not expected to win eg - Frankfurt and Ibrox, and not so well when we are. 

So maybe that's possibly a mindset thing that can be worked on as a group for the future. Learning to cope and deal better with the pressure of expectation on the team. Because I think they probably subconsciously play with a bit more freedom when the expectation isn't so high.

I could be talking complete bollocks but made me think it could be something to look into.

[Geoff_Tipps]

Don't worry lads @Millertime will be back to singing AFC's praises when they win comfortably at the weekend.

Spare a thought for the poor lad, bipolar disorder is not something that should be mocked and is a serious condition.

CHIN (🤭) up Frankie, I've got your back.

[caledonia]

Moaning cunts at least it €166,000 for a point (last years figures) having said that its €500,000 for a win (again last years figures)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Europa_Conference_League

[caledonia]

Doubler

[perthshirered]

7 hours ago, Russell said:

: "We deserved to win the game. That's evident, we all saw that. I'm disappointed with the goal we lost. They had one shot at goal. That's testament to how well we defended and pressed. But the frustration of having another 17 shots. We should've scored a couple more, been a bit more clinical. If we'd done that, we could have won that game by three or four.

"It's not easy to blame. We have to take it as a team. Our last four games we've scored 10 goals. Our xG has been very high this season. Against Hacken we had 26 shots - we should've scored more goals. Because of the way we play, we want to go fast through the lines, press well, bring speed through the game. That's what getting us chances but we need that last bit to be more clinical.

"When you get it right, you score four like against County. Tonight that wee bit was missing. It will come.

[On red card] "Massively surprised. I need to be careful what I comment on. The level of player and game has to be officiated at the correct standard as well. I didn't think the standard was right tonight. A lot happened on the pitch that wasn't right for me. We all saw it. We all saw the decisions getting made. It wasn't the standard required at this level.

"100%. That's the frustration for me. That was a good performance. That's five performances in a row we've really performed. Scored 11 goals, could be sitting with 12 or 13. The sucker punch is them scoring with one shot on target. That's good going from us. We were coming up against a good side. They took PAOK all the way, they have Finnish internationals, good players. They couldn't handle it. The real pleasing thing for me is five of their players went down with cramp - they couldn't handle it."

 

Don't see anything wrong with any of that

You dont? 

They couldn't handle it after they went one up and we started to up it. Why didn't we raise the tempo from the start? That's 100% down to Robson but as long as a few of them got cramp, that's cool. Codswallop. 

We weren't fast or speedy, we are predictable and deliberate. Opposition are happy to stand and watch our defenders pass it across the back line, they know we are aimless and going nowhere when we do that, then the first point they are pressed it's fall even deeper or launch it long. 

If we are playing 3/5 in the centre, we should be controlling the midfield, rarely this season have we been in control of a match for a prolonged period. 

[RUL]

I thought it was a poor performance and mostly shite atmosphere. If you take away red shed most of crowd acted as if it was another meaningless game v Livingston. Silence and offered no backing. No wonder team was flat as fuck.

The highlight was Miovski. Absolutely outstanding yet again. Going to be devastating when Cormack flogs him in January.

[DelMonte]

28 minutes ago, RUL said:

I thought it was a poor performance and mostly shite atmosphere. If you take away red shed most of crowd acted as if it was another meaningless game v Livingston. Silence and offered no backing. No wonder team was flat as fuck.

The highlight was Miovski. Absolutely outstanding yet again. Going to be devastating when Cormack flogs him in January.

Whether it’s right or wrong, the team needs to give the crowd something to get going. Whole game was flat so the atmosphere followed suit.