Aberdeen 0-1 Rangers. Wee blitzkrieg to win a complicated game

We are not going to agree, we must start from that premise, and so to read this text, you must first leave the sharp weapons, the bladed weapons out. Otherwise, go back to the butcher shop on Twitter. The blog aims to ask questions, often without answering them because in this game hardly anyone can. Also, over the years I have learned that questions are always more interesting than answers. 

Thank you!

Initial rationale: Winning the first game of the season and against Aberdeen at Pittodrie is the best possible start, despite certain lapses when we did not play well (mostly in the second half). It was a priori, a demanding confrontation. Twenty minutes of volcanic play and more than an hour without being able to kill the game, living from Kent's goal gave us three vital points.

Aribo in Gene Kelly mode(*). At the beginning of the game, Aribo was very active, almost always playing short, showing himself to receive the ball and return it in that place where the completion of the play requires it. The lad makes his game an act of physical generosity that implies an exciting sense of duty, a respect for the principle of solidarity that helps in the collective. A priori we expected Joe to be the master of the kitchen in that part of the field where many things are decided to tame the ball.

All together they advanced in block, Aribo with dance passes he got rid of rivals, assisting Alfie, Hagi showing up to receive and then Kent was activated and his perpetual partnership with Barisic seemed to be working, but no, there was not much movement around (Kent with spaces to play in may be indomitable, but locked up needs more assistance, collaboration and a better understanding of the collective game). We lost the ball and start again. Hagi attempted a dribble, hesitated, slipped and lost the ball.

The idea of our game was present but Aberdeen proposed something very different. If Gerrard was expecting an opponent to fight for possession, he hit his face with a rival more predisposed to interfere than to rule. To give the battle in the central circle and the periphery, there where the locals pressed to make us uncomfortable or the receivers of the ball. The sheeps were bumper cars to destroy, specialists in the interruption and the master of the keys to close the doors. This became a struggle of push and determination. Aberdeen's spaces were barely spared on the wings, meager attempts by a rather poor team in the attack in the first half (the old and anodyne attempt to surprise with long passes). Also their neutralization strategy worked, they obstructed the creation and game channels. I never believed that McInnes was a great technician, but if he is someone who knows how to build traps and fences, something totally different.

Balogun's presence surprised some by Edmundson's recent continuity in defense. The Nigerian came from completing the season with Wigan so he was fit. Immediately, if we look closely, we notice why Gerrard chose him. The gaffer wants purposeful lads, who defend with the ball at their feet, attacking, determined to keep the game well away from their own area. Edmundson is the kind of fierce defender, strong but he does not have these characteristics. Again, Balogun is purposely the kind of defender who gets ahead on the field with the ball dominated, offering a variety of playing opportunities. In the 33rd minute, Balogun was encouraged, facing high, crossed the lines and reached the rival area to be fouled in a vital place. Then Tav missed the free kick.

The former Mainz was also exposed on the defensive side and did well. He went with impetus to the divided balls. In the second half, Balogun reacted quickly and aborted a clear attack by the locals.

In the heat of that football of breaks and rips:  1-0 Kent!!!! It was about hunting for opportunity. The only one to subvert those old schemes. We surprised them; we needed that fast, clairvoyant ball that Alfie sends through the middle of the sheeps´ backline for Kent to define at pleasure. In this game you have to have speed and mind and the ability to surprise, even more with closed rivals like them.

With more spaces and meters to run, Rangers resumed his game, with some acts of used goldsmiths and opened the field. Took refuge in the odd center, had Hagi active to shoot from outside the area. Although we kept making mistakes with the ball. I expected more audacity from Hagi, more creative faith, that quality that treasures but does not run in tight games like this. It happens, however, that the ball did not arrive in conditions either, a spherical one that places it between the lines. If there is a footballer capable of raising the revolutions of this opaque Rangers, that is Hagi, we are going to need more of him, but also help him shine.

During the preseason, Alfredo was always committed to the evolution of the attack, believing that he is a simple definer is a terrible conceptual error. He breathes thanks to the goals but the ecosystem of his game is not only the imposition on the area but the construction. That yes, is melancholic by the absence of celebratory screams. Alfie lives on self-confidence.

In Pittodrie, Alfredo was consistent with his teammates, provided the ball with his back to the goal for those who came from the front to kick. The goal is quite graphic of Alfredo's contribution. Extremes like Kent going in to take advantage of passes. Or the smell of the Colombian throwing off marks so that the teammates reached the top. Initiating maneuvers, moving defenders away from their area or taking advantage of poor control. He moved dodging the physical game, sticky, to the limit proposed by the sheeps. It seems that McInnes is preparing his players to harass Alfie; fortunately he did not enter that game this time.

Should Alfredo stay up waiting to receive the plate served for dinner or down to rebuild himself in another class of player making a more participatory game? Would that require us to have another player who plays the tough number nine role?

The road experienced the kind of radical change that we suffer when we visited Pittodrie. Aberdeen (with fewer resources than in the recent past) blurred us more in the second half. Again we made mistakes. They installed their game by pressing on the side of Kamara and Tav, fast transitions and some confusion of ours to manage the inability to possess the ball without losing it. The encounter was a heap of small battles for divided balls, where Aberdeen took advantage.

Kamara is asked for many roles. It has a round trip, ideal for schemes like Gerrard, which demands great efforts on the flanks. Even the Finnish occupies the empty space left by the skipper whenever attacks. Nor do I believe that the problem of operation and speed in the transition are the sole fault of Kamara. We are attending one more chapter of "point the finger at someone." It seems that Bongani Zungu is the heir to the throne of that position (at least the publicly acclaimed). That will solve a faster and more decisive game, but it will not finish solving the hole that remains in the right sector when Tav rises and someone has to cover the area.

I think however more needs to Jack in the leading role, not only being in front of the defense to relay. He can organize and scream at the rest with contagious energy. Manage the rhythm of the ball, reactivate recovery efforts after the loss of the ball, overcome the pressure of the opponent and arm the offensive.

Gerrad reached into the bench and put Arfield for Hagi to try to colonize the ball, it did not work. We need to better manage these crises of absence of the ball. We retrieve the ball to lose it again. When we do not have the ball we must be organized, at least to govern the spaces.

The next stop, Leverkusen. Rangers greifen an!!! WATP

(*) for young people homework: search gene Kelly on YouTube.