Aberdeen fan view: An alarming start to the season with Dons a distant second

Better teams than Aberdeen may come to grief at Tynecastle this season.

And it must not be forgotten that only 90 minutes of playing time has passed since the Dons’ most momentous win for a generation.

This, though – for a club which ought to be suffused with confidence and aspiration after a summer of celebration – was an alarming start.

With one league game in the books, it is easy to see what Hearts’ identity will look like. Aberdeen’s is still stuck in the post.

Other than the centre-forward position, which is a yawning area of weakness, this was probably as strong as Aberdeen’s midfield and attacking resources are going to be this season. Among them are players of notable individual talents, that much is true. Their highlight reel come May might be eyecatching.

But this is not yet a unit; there is little sign of combinations and cohesion having yet been developed. Gaps between teammates seem too wide, in both body and mind.

Dons will take time to get up to speed

The price, perhaps, of European qualification. Aberdeen have been watching from the training field while all of the league’s other teams have had chances – in some cases, several – to chip off the rough edges.

Here an obviously unrefined Dons line-up was exposed to an opponent well into its competitive stride, and was a distant second best.

Their selection on opening night suggests that most of the starting eleven had been pencilled in as Jimmy Thelin’s favoured options for the campaign ahead, but he will not be applying indelible ink to many names in the depth chart on this basis.

Losing is one thing; even doing so by multiple goals it is still possible to show shoots of what the squad could blossom into. Watchers of Aberdeen’s soil are left waiting for anything to break through the surface.

[Source: Press and Journal]