Aberdeen can forget about a third-place finish in the Premiership this season if they continue to give away cheap goals. For all the plaudits the Pittodrie boss Jim Goodwin has earned for the 28 goals that his new look Dons side have netted so far in the Premiership this season, it's the Dons defensive frailties that continue to let them down and particularly on the road. After his first game in charge of the Pittodrie side back in February, which ended in a 1-1 draw with Motherwell at Fir Park, Goodwin vowed that he would “iron out” those defensive problems in a few weeks.
But nearly nine months on from that statement, little progress has been made on that promise. As well as totally reshuffling his attacking options in the summer transfer window, Goodwin also restructured his defence. Declan Gallagher, David Bates and Funso Ojo were moved on after falling out of favour, whilst young star Calvin Ramsay went on to bigger and betting things by joining Liverpool for a club record fee.
Aberdeen’s major defensive surgery over the summer began with Anthony Stewart joining the club from Wycombe Wanderers on a free transfer. He was soon joined by full back Jayden Richardson from Nottingham Forest, and Celtic centre back Liam Scales who arrived on a season-long loan. The Dons rounded off their recruitment in defensive areas by bringing in left back Hayden Coulson, who also joined the club on a loan deal from Middlesborough.
But despite the huge changes in the back line, Jim Goodwin and Aberdeen continue to be plagued by the same problems on a regular basis. The Dons have won five of their six home matches this season, but that one blip came in a 3-2 defeat to Motherwell as they squandered a 2-1 lead to come away from the game with nothing.
It's been on the road that Aberdeen’s defensive woes have been made glaringly obvious. They were just seconds away from securing a rare victory against Ross County in Dingwall, until a complete lapse in concentration allowed William Akio to ghost in and nick a point for the Staggies. And last month a suspended Goodwin watched on as his side were run ragged 4-0 by winless Dundee United, who were gifted two first half goals in quick succession to put the game out of the Dons reach.
Despite switching to a 3-5-2 formation in recent weeks with Ross McCrorie coming into the back line, on Tuesday night their inability to defend basic situations came to the fore once again. Livingston grabbed a poor opening goal after the visitors failed to clear a corner, to take an early lead before the Lions went on to win 2-1 and move level on points with the Dons in third place.
The Irishman and his team are quite rightly earning praise for their attacking exploits this season, with new strikers Bojan Miovski and Luis 'Duk' Lopes quickly hitting the ground running. Although his side currently sit third in the Premiership ahead of Livingston on goal difference, Goodwin knows that his side will not be able to meet their expectations at the end of the season unless they learn to keep things tight at their own end.
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