JIM GOODWIN has tried to explain the reasoning behind his side’s wildly defensive performance against Celtic on Saturday.
The Aberdeen manager set up his Dons side to frustrate Celtic but in doing so gave up too much. The home side ended the game with just 20% possession with Callum McGregor out passing the entire Aberdeen side.
It was a very surprising tactical move. While Celtic expect teams to go negative against their high pressing, high intensity style, Aberdeen usually make a game of it. Instead, their support was treated to a turgid display that ultimately ended in failure.
After the game, Goodwin tried to justify the tactics:
“The players put a lot into the game defensively. They were very organised and committed. We showed bags of concentration to get to the point where we were hoping to keep a clean sheet.” Goodwin told RecordSport.
“Nobody does that against Celtic, who have been scoring four and five. Their goal was a fantastic strike and we felt it was going to take something like that to unlock our defence. They were starting to force things.
“It’s a real bitter pill to swallow because we have put so much into it. If we were sitting here with a 0-0, I would be very happy but we didn’t get it.
“Listen, there are plenty of ways to play a game of football. We went to Ibrox, tried to have a go and could have conceded 10.
“So we tried to frustrate Celtic and we did that. We just didn’t do enough with the ball when we got it.
“It’s not a style of football our fans have been used to. We have been very attacking and scored a lot of goals. But today I felt this was the best way to give us a chance.
“I heard the mumping and moaning from the fans at the end and I understood it. But I felt this was the best way to get something.
“As much as I’d like to say we can go toe to toe with Celtic – we have tried that in the past and it hasn’t worked. So we tried something different and for 87 minutes it worked, even though it’s not good to watch.”
We’re not saying teams should open up against us and go toe to toe but Aberdeen fans are used to seeing more from their team in this fixture. They want to see their players have a go and get in the faces of the Scottish Champions. Instead, they were served up garbage and watched their team fall to defeat.
Callum’s goal was a win for football as much as it was for Celtic. Any neutrals watching the game on Saturday would have switched off. Aberdeen have enough about them to give us a better game than they did. That falls on Jim who tied to replicate the draw he got against Celtic last December while managing St Mirren.
