To be fair tonight i dont think we played very badly at all, only not to our potential and the players lost to injury were a blow.

 

Clark was shocking, severin and young werent in the game as much as they should have been because the midfield was key for us tonight.

 

I have to admit that Touzani, Miller and even Byrne were great tonight, and Jeff did well when he came on, id fully expect all 4 to start at the weekend.

 

At the end of the day the first goal came from a silly tackle that probably never had to be made and the second came from a very very soft free kick, nothing to be ashamed of losing 2-0 in those circumstances against a team thats just spent well over 40 million, especially given the fact that we had a few good chances as well.

 

EDIT:

 

And diamond showed a great example to the rest of the team, taking a heavy knock and insisting on carrying on despite being in obvious agony, showed the spirit we need as a captain -  Take note Mr. Severin

To be fair tonight i dont think we played very badly at all, only not to our potential and the players lost to injury were a blow.

 

Clark was shocking, severin and young werent in the game as much as they should have been because the midfield was key for us tonight.

 

I have to admit that Touzani, Miller and even Byrne were great tonight, and Jeff did well when he came on, id fully expect all 4 to start at the weekend.

 

At the end of the day the first goal came from a silly tackle that probably never had to be made and the second came from a very very soft free kick, nothing to be ashamed of losing 2-0 in those circumstances against a team thats just spent well over 40 million, especially given the fact that we had a few good chances as well

 

We didn't play badly. Touzani was nothing short of excellent. Perhaps JC can explain why this guy has sat out so many games?

 

The penalty.. well, i reckon Mikey thought he was shooting, but it was a lovely touch from Aguerro and no complaints about the pen. The ref for the second was utterly awful, we can't legislate for that

 

Miller played ok, but THAT miss sums him up. He's supposed to be our STRIKER.  Fuck me that was brutal.

 

Sad to lose, but we didn't disgrace ourselves. We have to take the positives into the league. I'd love to see Hart and Diamond our centre half pairing with Touzani a fixture too in front of them. We have to solid up, and reckon that's the way to go. De Visscher also has to become a fixture. He knows how to play football, which is a bonus, especially at Pittodrie, as you can imagine...

 

One final note... Severin, our supposed captain, begging for Simao's shirt. Fuck off. Just fuck off. If you were a real captain you'd have been sulking down that tunnel at full time. That utterly sickened me. It's Simao, good player, it wasn't Zidane. Get a fucking grip, you make us look like amateurs, which is funny, as that is how you played when you were on...

I thought Miller, Touzani, Byrne ( ) and Diamond were huge tonight. Thought Smith played well until he decided he was injured as well. Ok, Miller missed an absolutely golden chance, but he's not exactly Romario, so i'm not going to get hung up on it - it doesn't make him any better or worse than he is, a half decent SPL level striker.

 

Severin finally got the boot in the arse he's deserved for a long time and the "how very dare you" look on his face when he was taken off made me think he's going to have a sulk about it now. I hope not, because if he was to discover the fighting spirit he has shown in the past consistently, he could be inspirational. It's all ifs and coulds though.

 

Second goal, bad luck Clangers. When your luck's out, your luck's really out.

Despite the defeat, I was very pleased with the Dons performance last night. I was expecting a hiding, especially with the three chances they created in the first five minutes, but we got into the game and matched them in some areas.

 

On an unrelated topic, I wasn't expecting to see the game, I got in and switched the TV on and pressed the red button on my Freeview box hoping to keep up with the action on Score on the BBC (once they'd stopped talking about English clubs), then it came up with "Coming up: Atletico Madrid v Aberdeen Live". If I wasn't so fat, I'd have done a backflip.

Touzani was nothing short of immense.  On that form, he has to be a stick on to play the holding role every week IMO.  He was fierce in the tackle and his use of the ball was superb.

 

Lee Miller had a very good game, as did Dick Byrne, which surprised me to say the least. 

 

Smith was also looking like his old self up to the point he got injured. 

 

Despite the result, i'm more than satisfied.

Touzani was nothing short of immense.  On that form, he has to be a stick on to play the holding role every week IMO.  He was fierce in the tackle and his use of the ball was superb.

 

Lee Miller had a very good game, as did Dick Byrne, which surprised me to say the least. 

 

Smith was also looking like his old self up to the point he got injured. 

 

Despite the result, i'm more than satisfied.

 

Why could he not have waited 3 minutes until half time? Old JC wasn't happy with him at all.

Why could he not have waited 3 minutes until half time? Old JC wasn't happy with him at all.

 

Aye i don't know what that was all about - bit of a strange one.

I was quite happy with most of our lads....Diamond, Byrne very good, Touzani, excellent.

 

Severin was still short of his best, and the only thing that saved Chrissy fucking Clark from a total raging at was the performance of the ref.

 

How was that a freekick for the second. Why was clangers booked for catching a ball that was jusrt out of play, but one of AM's lads got away with a dangerous over-the-ball attack on one of ours early in the second half. (Think it was JDV, not certain thoiugh) I'd expect that from an sPL OF ref, but in Europe???

I was quite happy with most of our lads....Diamond, Byrne very good, Touzani, excellent.

 

Severin was still short of his best, and the only thing that saved Chrissy fucking Clark from a total raging at was the performance of the ref.

 

How was that a freekick for the second. Why was clangers booked for catching a ball that was jusrt out of play, but one of AM's lads got away with a dangerous over-the-ball attack on one of ours early in the second half. (Think it was JDV, not certain thoiugh) I'd expect that from an sPL OF ref, but in Europe???

 

I think Clangers was booked for telling the ref quite clearly to fuck off.

SEVE - PISH AND I HOPE HE IS DROPPED ON SATURDAY.

 

Everyone else who started probably got pass marks, Smith was making some good runs and crosses before he got injured, and McNamara was playing on of his better 20 minutes for the club. De Visscher didn't deliver tonight, Clark fairly anonymous. Byrne had a good game, as did Miller and Zander.

 

The sooner Seve is no longer captain the better IMO.

BBC said attendance = 30,000. Can't find it anywhere else, surely it wasn't as few as that?

if Touzani doesn't start on Sunday then JC is an even bigger eedgit than I thought

(that goes for JDV too btw but then JC has already shown he doesn't want to start him)

Diamond, Byrne, Touzani, Miller, JDV, excellent performances.

 

Seve won't be at the club much longer wi the attitude/performances he's been putting out never mind being club captain.

 

Touzani was just immense.

 

Touzani was just immense.

 

He certainly was. was so nice to see someone in a Dons shirt being so composed on the ball against such illustrious opponents.

 

makes you wonder why hasn't been playing more...

He certainly was. was so nice to see someone in a Dons shirt being so composed on the ball against such illustrious opponents.

 

makes you wonder why hasn't been playing more...

 

Fuck yeah. Why indeed.

this is only my opinion and may get shot down but here goes:

i reckon touzani was immense against madrid because he had more time on the ball and the game wasnt as fast. in scotland the game happens at lightning speed and has a tendency to pass certain players by if they arent quick enough. i would have touzani in this category, when he has played (would include today against hibs) the games that fast that he's just that extra yard off a perfect tackle. today he was quite late with a couple of challenges.

thats the only reason i think he may not have played more often in scotland.

I think there's definitely something in that theory. When he was played at the back last year, Touzani looked a bit of a liability in some games. Undoubtedly talented, but just wasn't used to the pace of the game. I thought he did well again today, certainly wouldn't be looking to drop him, but i don't think Hibs forced him to play as quickly as a Motherwell/Hearts would. Having said that, his passing of the ball today was generally very good even when he was under pressure, and his tackling was, barring a couple of late ones, very good indeed.

I think there's definitely something in that theory. When he was played at the back last year, Touzani looked a bit of a liability in some games. Undoubtedly talented, but just wasn't used to the pace of the game. I thought he did well again today, certainly wouldn't be looking to drop him, but i don't think Hibs forced him to play as quickly as a Motherwell/Hearts would. Having said that, his passing of the ball today was generally very good even when he was under pressure, and his tackling was, barring a couple of late ones, very good indeed.

 

Only one way he can get used to the pace of the game, and we all know what that is...

Mind you, the same theory applies to Kevin McNaughton. That boy had talent ... and plenty of it. But the game often sailed past him at Aberdeen. Now that he's down in Cardiff and playing a much slower game, he's being given the time and the space to put his talents to good use. And it's showing, because he's pretty much guaranteed a start for Cardiff these days.

I don't subscribe to the "Scottish game is played at 100 miles per hour" theory any more.  Sure if you watch the Italian Leagues there's a lot more build up play from the back whereas we tend to lump it up the park.  But if you pull out any of your old Dons tapes or watch some footage from Youtube/DVDs those games were played at 100 miles per hour!

 

Let's face it, there's been a huge influx of foreign players who have came into our league over the years who have cut it and if foreigners really struggled with our pacey game then our national team would be putting teams to the sword all over the globe.

 

If you're technically good enough to kill the ball dead every time then I'd say you're going to be good enough to adjust to the pace of the SPL.

 

As Bobby says, Touzani will only get used to it by playing more games.