Stick or twist? Aberdeen's dilemma facing Celtic and Rangers
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Aberdeen 'deep block' not effective - Sportscene analysis
"We tried to have a go at Celtic on the opening day of the season and lost 2-0. We tried to have a go at Rangers at Ibrox and lost 4-1. Today, we tried to come up with a different game plan to frustrate Celtic and hit them on the counter attack."
After his side's 1-0 loss at home to Celtic, Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin neatly summed up the dilemma facing all teams coming up against the Old Firm.
Press or sit? Stick or twist? Aberdeen have tried both approaches in three attempts against Glasgow's big two this season and come out with zero points.
Rangers visit Pittodrie on Tuesday as Goodwin looks to make it fourth time lucky and the Aberdeen boss will be under pressure to be less defensive in his approach.
Aberdeen 'embarrassing' against Celtic?
Goodwin was crystal clear and made no apologies for his team's tactics against Celtic, a game in which they were seven minutes away from a draw before Callum McGregor's late winner.
"It was all about containment," he told BBC Scotland. "It's not a way I particularly enjoy setting my team up, but we respected the opposition before the game.
"If we had come away with a 0-0, it would've been our sixth draw in 46 fixtures against Celtic in the league, so we knew how tough the task was going to be."
Aberdeen sat deep and had two shots, neither of which were on target, with their total chances totalling as 0.06xG (expected goals). They completed 119 passe, to Celtic's 754, with the visitors managing 33 shots from their 81% of possession.
Goodwin's point was that, if they had held on, a draw against the league's best side would have made the tactics worth it, but it's not a view shared by everyone.
"I think he's way off the mark saying, if they'd got a point, they'd have been very happy with it," former Aberdeen captain Willie Miller said on Sportsound.
"They would have accepted it, the fans wouldn't have been happy with it. Even if Aberdeen had come out of this game with a point, I still don't think it's acceptable.
"Fans have turned up in their numbers and watched exciting football and got their hopes up."
Aberdeen are not the first team to sit deep and try to shut down space in the final third to frustrate Celtic.
Goodwin cited pre-match the work his old club, St Mirren, did in beating Celtic 2-0 earlier this season, the only side domestically to beat Ange Postecoglou's team.
It was clearly the blueprint for Aberdeen, but there were two key differences that made all the difference for St Mirren.
While Stephen Robinson also used a back five and midfield three shuttling across to outnumber Celtic's wide players, the Paisley side were not as deep - their defensive line was slightly higher - which allowed them to get closer to Celtic in possession.
St Mirren (black) average position against Celtic (purple) in their 2-0 win on 18 September
Aberdeen (black) average positions against Celtic (purple)
They made 18 tackles on the day, while Aberdeen managed just eight, and because they got higher up the pitch, they were able to get their wing-backs in crossing positions for their forwards.
St Mirren's strikers had almost double the number of touches that Bojan Miovski and Duk did at Pittodrie. And, crucially, the team managed nearly treble the number of crosses - scoring from two of them.
In essence, it does St Mirren a disservice to suggest they set up in exactly the same way.
"There's a balance to be had," former Hearts midfielder Michael Stewart said on Sportsound.
"Not being as open and expansive as Aberdeen were at Ibrox against Rangers. But you're at home, you need to be offering more than Aberdeen did. Aberdeen at home against anybody with 19% possession is embarrassing."
So, should Aberdeen have a go?
Goodwin's point was that they'd tried having a go in previous games against Celtic and Rangers and conceded six goals and scored one.
"We got lots of plaudits for going to Ibrox and trying to be aggressive and press high up the pitch and we got beat 4-1, going on 10," he said. And nobody would disagree they were outplayed.
It's an obvious point, but there is a balance to be had between both approaches. After going a goal up at Ibrox, they could have retreated slightly, for example.
Hearts went toe-to-toe with Celtic on 23 October with a depleted defence and ended with more shots and a better xG rating. They were unlucky to lose 4-3.
Ultimately, the result was no different to Aberdeen's, but Hearts fans left feeling entertained and like their team had fired a shot, which makes a difference to the mood around a result.
Aberdeen had won six of their seven home games before the visit of Celtic, scoring nearly as many as the Old Firm on their own patch. In Miovski and Duk, they had two of the in-form forwards in the division.
Goodwin has consistently espoused successful attacking football and it has been in evidence at Pittodrie - if not on the road. Next up, is the visit of Rangers.
Suddenly, the Irishman is under some pressure to show he can find the right formula in these matches with the squad he has without resorting to the same tactics he did against Celtic.
"I know they got a pasting at Ibrox, but Rangers are not the same beast as Celtic," former St Mirren striker Rory Loy said on Sportsound.
"Rangers' backline has got three of four players playing out of position. If Jim Goodwin sets up that same way against Rangers, it would be criminal.
"There's an opportunity there. He can't be as expansive as he was at Ibrox. But he has to come up with something so when they win the ball back they go: How do we get close to the opposition goal?"
Livingston, St Johnstone and St Mirren, twice, have all taken points against the Old Firm using a variety of strategies. Aberdeen, who have much greater resource, are now under pressure to do the same.
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