Aberdeen are joint-bottom scorers in the Scottish Premiership after another blank at Pittodrie, with just seven goals in eight league fixtures. Four of those came in the thrashing of Motherwell, two in the opening-day win over Hearts and one in the draw with Hibs before the international break. The only other teams with seven goals are the bottom two, Kilmarnock and Falkirk.
Stephen Robinson must find a way to make Aberdeen's attack their best form of defence. He has signed attacking players, most of whom have proven records in the Scottish Premiership, but so far it has not happened in a red shirt. The Dons drew another blank as they lost at home to St Johnstone on Sunday.
Nisbet's return masks wider issue
Captain Kevin Nisbet has 12 goals in 14 games, a very decent return, but the bulk of those have come in the Premier Sports Cup. He has three in the league, while Ayoub Mouloua, Connor Ronan, Lewis Mayo and Gavin Molloy all have one. Robinson acknowledged after Sunday's game that his wingers and strikers score goals and display their qualities in training, but it is not translating into goals and wins on match days.
Robinson has signed Mitchy Ntelo, Toyosi Olusanya and Mouloua for striking positions and spent money on the flanks on Lewis Smith and Tony Yogane, while Hicham Mahou has come in lately as a free agent. He has to find a way to bring the best out of them.
Formation switch and home struggles
Robinson started with a 4-3-3 in the opening-day win over Hearts, but with the team struggling for points he switched to a 3-5-2, which secured some long-overdue results on the road. They had been four games unbeaten going into the international break, but returning to Pittodrie on Sunday seemed like back to square one. There is currently a lack of flair and imagination, especially at home, with visiting teams confident they can sit in and frustrate the Dons.
Aberdeen dominated the ball against St Johnstone but had nothing to show for it. Nisbet was thwarted and Mouloua was denied by the keeper, but beyond that it was all too sterile and predictable. Robinson acknowledged that his team was too slow and passive in the first period, and it did not help that Mouloua had to go off with a hefty head knock. Most of his changes were positive, bringing Smith, Yogane and Mahou onto the field, but the wide men could not come up with the quality their team was screaming out for.
Balancing act ahead of key fixtures
The switch to 3-5-2 took away the need for wingers and left them out of the team. It is now a balancing act for Robinson to find a formation that gets results. Aberdeen have only conceded nine goals in the league, so the basis is there if he can get more firepower.
Robinson has a proven track record in the Scottish Premiership with Motherwell and St Mirren. He has three big games coming up before the Premier Sports Cup semi-final with Rangers: at home to his old club St Mirren, away to Dundee United and at home to Falkirk. The results in these three fixtures could go a long way to determining how Aberdeen's season is going to pan out.
