Aberdeen manager Stephen Robinson has revealed his coaching team has been working with Ayoub Mouloua to turn him into a more complete striker after the Moroccan international scored twice in the friendly victory over Dunfermline Athletic.
The 24-year-old, who joined from FUS Rabat in the summer, has already made an impact with a Rabona penalty against Kilmarnock and his first Dons goal against Motherwell. He added two more goals in the weekend win at East End Park.
Hold-up play the focus
Robinson acknowledged Mouloua has an eye for goal but said improving his hold-up and link-up play, which are crucial in the Premiership, has been the focus.
“Ayoub’s finishes, the two of them were excellent. He has that in his game,” Robinson said. “The biggest aspect for me was his hold-up play. That is something we are trying to improve because of his physicality, taking a touch and bringing people into play, that was the most pleasing aspect of the game.”
Mahou builds fitness
French winger Hicham Mahou also featured as he continues to build up his fitness and push for his competitive debut. Robinson said: “Hicham played a wing-back and that gives us a real attacking option. He needs more game time and more minutes.”
Aberdeen entertain St Johnstone on Sunday, and Robinson stressed the importance of building on the unbeaten run they put together before the break.
Formation tweak and fitness work
“It was important to get a real competitive game in this three-week window. We start to build up a little bit of momentum before that and it was important to continue with that,” he said. “Some positive performances and some glimpses of some of the newer players, against a Dunfermline side who have been really challenging at the top end of the Championship.”
The friendly allowed Robinson to tweak his formation to give most of his wingers game time. “We ran them hard on Friday. It wasn’t their normal pre-match day preparation. We knew this wasn’t a competitive game, it was a friendly game. That is what you need,” he said.
“You need to have those levels of fitness if you are going to press the way I want to press. We want to sit off and allow teams to come out and then we have triggers that we press. I thought our triggers to press were excellent in the second half and we came out with the ball a lot of times.”
He added: “Lots of good things and things we could be better at, like moving the ball quicker, the end products and decisions. Things we have been looking at in training, with players playing slightly higher up the pitch in a 3-4-3 formation. It was good to look at the things that were good or can be better. In the second half, I thought we moved the ball really quickly. We had some really good one-touch play and ultimately, it was about getting that edge back again and fitness and sharpness when you are not playing games.”
Klein and Briedl impress
New goalkeeper Daniel Klein also got a run out. Robinson said: “Credit to Daniel. He is up against a top goalkeeper in Marius, so it was good to get him minutes. We know we have a very strong goalkeeping department.”
He added: “Alex Briedl, I thought was excellent. Everything takes time. You can see these boys starting to get an understanding now and starting to get to the levels of fitness and physicality. We are pleased with the workout.”
“There were lots of good performances. Mats was excellent when he came on. That’s what you want. We have a squad of 24 players who are all competing. Nobody can take their place for granted. That is healthy and we are aiming to keep building.”
