week 3 opponent preview Aberdeen

By: j | August 21st, 2008

Week three has the Rangers off to venture to Pittodrie Stadium to face Jimmy Calderwood’s Aberdeen.

The Dons are an interesting mix of guile, opportunism and potential. They are a club that makes their home an absolute fortress but have had massive problems on the road. Statistically they are a peculiar club to pin down as in the past they have scored too little, given up too many goals and yet they have the grit and tenacity to climb up the ladder and earn a European bid. As someone who appreciates the underdog who just gets the tough job done, that alone makes me appreciate Aberdeen.

The strength of the club or should I say the future of the club starts in the back-line with Andrew Considine and Charlie Mulgrew. These two will be fixtures in the clubs defending core for years to come and Charlie Mulgrew has the ability to push the ball forward in a more attacking position. In the midfield and attacking positions, its likely best to say the club is lacking creativity, confidence and needs to be more aggressive. The midfield of Gary McDonald, Scott Severin, Derek Young and Mark Kerr needs to balance their defensive concerns with greater flanking attacks to create a more advantageous defensive position and are typically losing defending positions in the similar vein.

Their striking threat lays firmly on the shoulders of Lee Miller, who has affirmed his solid finishing ability, along with Darren Mackie and the extremely promising Chris Maguire. As it relates to nineteen year-old Chris Maguire, he has shown tremendous touch and vision around the goal and will reward the club with quality service if given the time. In addition, Aberdeen added Tommy Wright who scored at a formidable pace with Darlington of League Two. He’s a very interesting talent, who if he gains confidence and controls his emotions could go a long way in solving Aberdeen’s goal scoring woes.

Part two of our review will follow with the Rangers approach to the match.