Aberdeen Tactics Watch: Has a Dons manager's adjusted approach ever made a BIGGER Scottish Cup final impact? All credit to Jimmy Thelin

Press and Journal

6 days ago

It was a wonderful day for the Red Army on Saturday as Aberdeen lifted the Scottish Cup for the eighth time in their glorious history – and since this is a tactics-focused feature, one wonders whether in ANY of the previous seven Dons Scottish Cup successes, the manager's adjusted tactical approach has had such a big impact on the final?
Jimmy Thelin's deployment of a 5-3-2 system – for the first time this season – was something very few people saw coming and surely added some confusion to Celtic's pregame preparations.
Within the shape adjustment, we saw Nicky Devlin restored to the team (at left-back), Graeme Shinnie back in midfield, and young Jack Milne at the heart of the defence.
The first half possession stats provide all the information on the effect Aberdeen's adjustments had on the cup final.
The Dons managed 16% in the opening period.
Yet, for all their time on the ball, Celtic had few clear-cut chances.
High regains and quick counters weren't pursued by Aberdeen, with Topi Keskinen and Kevin Nisbet – the front two pressers – a bit deeper than in previous matches.
BOTH kept an eye on Callum McGregor in the Celtic midfield, but were less likely to press the Hoops' center-backs.
As a result, the Dons were more compact as a unit with less space in between the lines:
In a flat midfield three, Shinnie, Leighton Clarkson and Ante Palaversa shuffled over to pick up Paulo Bernardo and Arne Engels as the ball moved, and there was less space for Celtic full-backs Alistair Johnston and Greg Taylor when they chose to invert inside.
When one of those four Celtic men made runs in behind, there was always an Aberdeen man tracking him.
The pass wide to the Celtic winger was still on, as in previous meetings, but Aberdeen's full-backs, Devlin and Alexander Jensen, were able to be more aggressive and get tighter with an extra centre-back and CB closer to them to provide cover.
Devlin, on his weaker left side, was also suited to handling Nicolas Kuhn, because the Hoops wideman wanted to drift inside.
On the few occasions when Celtic were able to find a pass between an Aberdeen centre-back and full-back, the Dons had numbers-up inside the penalty area. Thelin had his overload in the box – just at the other end.
Unfortunately, for the third consecutive match, the Dons conceded from a corner.
It was a tough goal to concede, and while the Dons got their share of luck in this game, the Celtic goal was certainly some bad luck.
Nisbet and Keskinen worked very hard but were rarely able to retain possession higher up the field and the Dons struggled to get out.
However, the introduction of Pape Gueye on 57 minutes gave added physicality to the Aberdeen frontline and a target for goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov to hit from goal-kicks.
Indecision began to creep into Celtic's play as the Dons defence maintained concentration.
Hoops centre-halves Liam Scales and Cameron Carter-Vickers progressed further forward, passes were picked off, and Aberdeen were able to find the quick combinations to beat the counter-press. Confidence was growing.
Then some of the connections between Celtic's midfield started to fail – with Bernardo guilty of failing to make a simple pass to McGregor as Aberdeen started to engage higher.
These moments did not amount to anything concrete for Aberdeen, but gradually the Dons spent more time in the Celtic half.
When the Dons then made their triple substitution on 79 minutes, it seemed like they were going to change shape, before Palaversa was pulled back from the subs bench to take his place back in midfield.
As it was, sub Shayden Morris took a spot in an unfamiliar role on the right of a midfield three.
With the higher press, Bernardo made another unforced error, which provided the initial opening for Gueye to deliver a cross:
The Dons did a great job in retaining possession to set up the opportunity, with Gueye again doing very well to keep the ball and Morris holding his width:
Of course, there was an element of luck in the equalising goal, via Celtic keeper Kasper Schmeichel's calamitous attempt to cut out the cross, but just look at the numbers in the box:
Morris continued to have a major impact on the game, causing concern and creating chances from corners.
He added another outlet – whether for through-balls or as a ball carrier, and regardless of whether it was Taylor or Jeffrey Schlupp up against him at left-back, Morris had the match-up advantage.
Following Mitov's superb save from Daizen Maeda, the Scottish Cup final entered extra-time.
As the minutes ticked by, the focus and concentration of the Aberdeen rearguard deserves special mention.
No player overcommitted and left too much space in behind or left a foot in too late, they forced Celtic to break them down – and the Hoops were unable to do so, paving the way for penalty kicks:
The penalty heroes were Mitov, Shinnie, Dante Polvara, Oday Dabbagh, and Palaversa, with four outstanding penalties under the weight of pressure at the Celtic end, and two (almost three) saves.
But the highest of praise goes to Thelin and his backroom team for instilling the belief in their players and coming up with a plan to keep the team competitive in the final.
He now has the credit and money in the bank to shape his team even further to his vision. The future is bright.