Four goals in six European games against Kaunus, Stuttgart, Sevilla and Unirea tell its own story.
The UEFA Cup run to Manchester was fantastic and although the football wasn’t pretty to watch at times we were told we just didn’t have the strength to go toe-to-toe and attack the best teams in Europe so the cautious approach was what was required.
But two years on and three transfer windows since Manchester we are still adopting the same mentality and tactical outlook despite spending £3.5m on Kyle Lafferty and £2m on Kenny Miller to bolster our frontline. Walter Smith is right to say that 4-5-1 is a formation played by many of Europe’s top teams in the Champions League but Dan Petrescu showed that being able to adapt and change is just as important as being difficult to break down. Petrescu changed things after 17 minutes to combat our system at 1-0 down. By 65 minutes his charges were 4-1 up while his opposite number - despite the lack of chances being created – retained his tried and tested gameplan until the game as a contest was over. Having gone two up against Celtic so early in the game, with two up front, suggested Smith might think of using that formation against a team we thought would be the weakest in the group.
The facts don’t lie – we’ve not won a European game in normal time with the current system since the quarter final of the UEFA Cup in 2008 and it’s now time to look at changing things. We’re not doing enough in the attacking third with that system; we’re losing games, too many players are being played out of position and the supporters are starting to vote with their feet. Thousands of empty seats does nobody any favours but we’re giving the fans nothing to get excited about on the pitch just now because of our cautious approach on the European stage.
When did the Wily Old Fox become the frightened little kitten?
Miller and Boyd showed against Celtic they can work in partnership in a 4-4-2. Nacho Novo was part of a formidable partnership with Dado Prso but is played wide right or wide left in Smith’s line-ups. Kyle Lafferty has shown he can play well in a front two on the international stage but again appears to either be preferred as the lone striker or played wide off the front man. The thing is we have the strikers that CAN play in a front two or up on their own. When we’re up against better European opposition winning our home games becomes imperative and that means becoming less negative, going two up and having a go. Smith must be able and willing to adapt and change for European games as he does for the league games.
We’ve all seen Smith going with a 4-4-2 against the lower SPL teams home or away but then changing that to 4-5-1 at Parkhead or Pittodrie where we might be a better bet on the counter attack. Now it’s time to bring that to the European stage.
We’ve become far too predictable. Smith is up against good young coaches who are just out of the game and are brimming with ideas and tactics and aren’t afraid to change things and adapt quickly when things go wrong. Already there are calls for Smith’s head but we are in top spot in the SPL, still in the CIS Cup, and still in with a chance of finishing second or third in the Champions League group.
I think Smith deserves a chance to prove he can realise the errors of his ways and get it right. If he remains stuck in the past then I’ll be the first to say his time’s up.
But time is something I’m prepared to give him – at least for now.