Dons v FCSB

[OxfordDon]

Christ, could the opening tone of the BBC telly coverage be any more miserable?  God and Dodds sound like we are already 3-0 down.

[manc_don]

I’m guessing none of you need a stream for the game, but is there one?

[OxfordDon]

11 minutes ago, manc_don said:

I’m guessing none of you need a stream for the game, but is there one?

Live on BBC iplayer -  https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/live/bbcscotland

or alternatively -  http://www.fawanews.sc/Aberdeen-vs-FCSB.html

[redordead]

Two centre halves went for the same ball. Left exposed. Criminal mistake. 

It was all going so well until then

[Kowalski]

Whilst we’ve been playing well we don’t look like scoring. FCSB could easily pick us off another couple of times. 

[OxfordDon]

oh my. Red for FCSB

[redordead]

Good half. Poor mistake. Gutted Morris is injured because playing him wide against ten men would be really handy now.

[Kowalski]

FFS. Devlin should have started at left back. We are a better team with him playing. 

[redordead]

That sub went well

[redordead]

I reckon I could beat our whole squad at scoring from thirty yards. It's like we don't practice shooting 

[manc_don]

after all the subs have been made, we look a bit more composed. Thought we were ok in the first but no threat whatsoever.

[redordead]

Thought we were probably the better team. Stupid mistakes were costly but not out of it. 

Great to see ester grab his goal. Not his first on a big occasion.

Do feel Jensen slows it down too much out wide for me. 

Too many subs at the same time costs the second goal for me.

[Kowalski]

Jimmy obviously has his favourites but he needs to take the tinted glasses off and start Clarkson and Polvara (and Devlin) every match! I would also start Sokler next week. 

[manc_don]

Agreed Kow, think it was blatantly obvious that the team that eventually played in the second half was the superior one. I felt bad for Devlin though, as I think he should have started too, but stats wise Jensen appears to be better (probably because he plays). I know Jute will say it was only against 10 men, but they held a very low line so made it hard to penetrate. Got there in the end and deserved at least a draw. Could this be the start of Sokler's redemption arc? Yengi needs to build his confidence somewhere and it ain't in the first team. We can't afford to carry someone like that in a knock out situation.

[dons8321]

35 minutes ago, redordead said:

Thought we were probably the better team. Stupid mistakes were costly but not out of it. 

Great to see ester grab his goal. Not his first on a big occasion.

Do feel Jensen slows it down too much out wide for me. 

Too many subs at the same time costs the second goal for me.

Jensen reminds me of Matty Kennedy - gets the ball wide, moves down the wing, realises he hasn't got the pace to get past the defender, turns back and lays the ball to where it came from.

[Slim]

8 minutes ago, dons8321 said:

Jensen reminds me of Matty Kennedy - gets the ball wide, moves down the wing, realises he hasn't got the pace to get past the defender, turns back and lays the ball to where it came from.

Devlin also doesn’t have the pace but has the cojones to just plow past, through or into the full back anyway. Weird thing to say about a right back but we really missed his determination to get into the box and get a shot away in the last 10 minutes.

[dons8321]

25 minutes ago, Slim said:

Devlin also doesn’t have the pace but has the cojones to just plow past, through or into the full back anyway. Weird thing to say about a right back but we really missed his determination to get into the box and get a shot away in the last 10 minutes.

Totally agree... even if he'd been at LB he would have offered more than Molloy and certainly wouldn't have played "after you Claude" for either of their goals.

[RicoS321]

23 minutes ago, Slim said:

Devlin also doesn’t have the pace but has the cojones to just plow past, through or into the full back anyway. Weird thing to say about a right back but we really missed his determination to get into the box and get a shot away in the last 10 minutes.

Aye, the number of times the ball came to the back post with Jensen hugging the far touchline. It was frustrating. He wasn't great today, but correctly stayed on because the other subs were more justified! He's just a hair too hesitant and misses the opportunity to get beyond his man on most occasions. 

Was Dorrington injured? He wasn't great either, but not terrible. The sub should have been to either take Molloy off, or take Shinnie on for Dorrington and put Molloy back to his actual role. I think I said elsewhere that Molloy was never a left back, and that's been proven tonight. He was terrible. Had zero clue how to play the role, and can't play with his back to goal. 

Otherwise, thought the subs were correct and at the right times. Thought it was Yengi's best 45 minutes for the Dons! Just need to keep Polvara benched until he signs the new deal. 

Overall, they were the more clinical and dangerous team. But for a wild and unnecessary lunge, they might have given us a doing. Their number 9 was especially good, a top player. I think they'll have too much for us over there. We can certainly set up better against them, but I don't think it'll make a huge difference, we're not there yet. We had glimpses of decent play with no end product from the starting front four. I don't think Aouchiche works with Clarkson either. He faded significantly, and Clarkson was/is better. 

The referee was worse than any Scottish ref I've seen. 

[OrlandoDon]

Saw parts of the game, here’s my thinking. Devlin has to be left back for now. End of. Many of us have been saying this, what does jimmy have against devlin?

we missed chances, yengi missed one early from a palaversa cross (I think), from about 6 yards, maybe he was unsighted from the defender but he’s rank. Awful. Not the answer in any game and I do actually think Ambrose is better.

sokler is clearly not match sharp hence his miss(es), the header past the post and shot from the palaversa knock down, but he works his balls off. Very pleased he got his goal. Until we have a heathy and legit 9, Sokler is our best option.

i totally understand the polvara dilemma. As someone who has coached footie in the US for almost 30 years, there are a ton of nice technical players here. But they just don’t have the bite, fight, desire, and passion. Is that polvara?? He’s a good fit for Europe where isn’t not a battling Scottish game, expect him to get minutes next week. 
not a fan of inverted wingers. Today was crying out for Morris to burn the full back wide yet milanovic cut inside almost every time with little success. Did we not learn last year that good things happen when we hit the line and put crosses in?? Inverted wingers also require a mobile 9 to be making diagonal runs out of the middle when the winger cuts in, and that’s not yengi, he gets in the way.

all to play for, hopefully that’s kneuster fit, but we have to have devlin with him too. Although I wonder if we see a back 3/5 next week like the cup final. 

 

[OrlandoDon]

Just watched the highlights. Molloy can’t play when he has to think. At central defense he gets stuck in, but out wide he has to use his brain. He looked nervous, much like he did alongside ruby, and that hurts those around him. Saying that, kneuster should have stepped up and taken the ball for the second goal Instead of watching molloy try to play backwards where he’s so uncomfortable. Molloy reeks of fear and that hurts your team.

think next week may be better actually. We were 100 miles an hour in the first half, too much youthful enthusiasm, we need to be calm under pressure. sitting in and countering may suit us much better. Plus a game like that probably suits sokler too with his pace and mobility.

[Panda]

1 hour ago, RicoS321 said:

The referee was worse than any Scottish ref I've seen. 

Same one that chalked off McTominay's goal in Spain, and aye tonight he was chronic.

1 hour ago, OrlandoDon said:

Saw parts of the game, here’s my thinking. Devlin has to be left back for now. End of. 

Or Shinnie, who came on at left back and was one of the reasons for the improvement late on.

I would start Devlin over Jensen in Bucharest though.

1 hour ago, OrlandoDon said:

sokler is clearly not match sharp hence his miss(es), the header past the post and shot from the palaversa knock down, but he works his balls off. Very pleased he got his goal. Until we have a heathy and legit 9, Sokler is our best option.

I'd also agree Sokler should start, he's far better than Yengi in pretty much every aspect of the game. 

But, I don't think he missed chances because he's not match sharp, he just has that in him which is stopping him from being our starting number nine.

1 hour ago, OrlandoDon said:

yet milanovic cut inside almost every time with little success. Did we not learn last year that good things happen when we hit the line and put crosses in??

 

I thought Milanovic was excellent in the first half. But, he would drive into good positions and then we rarely had another player in a good spot to take advantage. A lot of that is on Yengi, but also Aouchiche, Palaversa and Keskinen don't have that penalty box instinct.

Sokler, to be fair to him, is very good at sensing where the ball is going to come to.

26 minutes ago, OrlandoDon said:

think next week may be better actually. We were 100 miles an hour in the first half, too much youthful enthusiasm, we need to be calm under pressure. sitting in and countering may suit us much better. Plus a game like that probably suits sokler too with his pace and mobility.

We have the personnel to go and win there, even if - as @RicoS321says - overall they're a better team than us (they are the Romanian champions after all).

But Thelin has to get the line-up spot on.

Would like to see Sokler, Clarkson, Shinnie and Devlin all start over there.

[OrlandoDon]

24 minutes ago, Panda said:

Same one that chalked off McTominay's goal in Spain, and aye tonight he was chronic.

Or Shinnie, who came on at left back and was one of the reasons for the improvement late on.

I would start Devlin over Jensen in Bucharest though.

I'd also agree Sokler should start, he's far better than Yengi in pretty much every aspect of the game. 

But, I don't think he missed chances because he's not match sharp, he just has that in him which is stopping him from being our starting number nine.

I thought Milanovic was excellent in the first half. But, he would drive into good positions and then we rarely had another player in a good spot to take advantage. A lot of that is on Yengi, but also Aouchiche, Palaversa and Keskinen don't have that penalty box instinct.

Sokler, to be fair to him, is very good at sensing where the ball is going to come to.

We have the personnel to go and win there, even if - as @RicoS321says - overall they're a better team than us (they are the Romanian champions after all).

But Thelin has to get the line-up spot on.

Would like to see Sokler, Clarkson, Shinnie and Devlin all start over there.

Would you go with the cup final tactics with 3 at the back, devlin left wing back, and shinnie center mid? Or are they not that good that we’d be giving them too much respect?

[Panda]

1 hour ago, OrlandoDon said:

Would you go with the cup final tactics with 3 at the back, devlin left wing back, and shinnie center mid? Or are they not that good that we’d be giving them too much respect?

I don't think they're as good as Celtic. I think this is akin to going to Ibrox. They're the favourites, clearly have threats, but are beatable.

At the moment, I'd go

Mitov

Devlin Dorrington Knoester Shinnie

Nilsen Clarkson

Polvara

Milanovic Sokler Keskinen

Dorrington because he's more comfortable on the ball than Milne. Polvara because Aouchiche I don't think is a guy suited to counter attacking football (happy to be proved wrong). Sokler far more mobile than Yengi.

 

[manc_don]

I wasn't sure if we stuck with Jensen and had Devlin on the left, with Shinnie coming on later to replace Devlin. FWIW, I don't rate Jensen highly, think Devlin offers us more in terms of grit, but I thought Shinnie was excellent off the bench today and really helped the step change that was required.

Sokler has to start, it would be great if he was able to finally step up after a season of injury and not hacking the pressure of being Miovski's replacement. Seems a very likeable guy and want him to succeed.

I'd think that should be Milne on the sidelines of a bit? Hasn't been overly impressive so far this season.

[Jute]

Did we keep Shinnie on the side lines due to the ref and his card happy record? Ref was awful but him flashing the red card probably saved us from losing last night. They definitely tired in second half from playing so long with 10 men. 
 

With Gyamfi allegedly being injured since he arrived a left back should have signed on loan long before now. Molloy clearly isn’t the answer at left back and looked every inch a centre back playing out there. I would rather Devlin was at right back as Jensen just cannot defend for me. We should have a left back in. The back 4 as a whole was not working last night but think that was all down to the centre backs being constantly exposed by full backs making mistakes and being out of position. 

Going forward in first half the system falls apart as Yengi simply isn’t good enough. I would love to be on the same drugs as whoever signed off on him being good enough. Sokler should start next Thursday but team will need to change approach as cannot see Sokler being able to play the way Thelin wants his striker to play. 
 

If it stays 11 v 11 next week fully expect them to have to much for us but that’s a good thing as winning the Conference League final and celebrating on German beer will be more fun anyway.