Michael Stewart says Aberdeen’s midfield partnership of Sivert Heltne Nilsen and Graeme Shinnie is not a ‘great combination’.
Aberdeen’s winless woes in the Premiership continued at the weekend as they lost 3-0 to St Mirren at Pittodrie.
It’s now 13 games without a victory for Jimmy Thelin’s men with the run stretching back to November 9 when they beat Dundee.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 3 |  Dundee UtdDundee Utd | 24 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 32 | 27 | 5 | 37 |
| 4 |  AberdeenAberdeen | 24 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 32 | 36 | -4 | 35 |
| 5 |  MotherwellMotherwell | 24 | 9 | 4 | 11 | 29 | 39 | -10 | 31 |
The Swede has often went with a midfield two of Shinnie and Nilsen this season and opted that for that duo again on Saturday.
But after watching the Buddies outclass Aberdeen, Premier Sports pundit Stewart believes the Dons need more energy in the middle of the park.
Aberdeen’s Graeme Shinnie & Sivert Heltne Nilsen scrutinised
Stewart isn’t a fan of the Shinnie-Nilsen combination and backed up his point by analysing the second St Mirren goal which was scored by Mikael Mandron.
Stewart told the Scottish Football Social Club podcast: “The big concern I’ve got for Aberdeen – and to be honest, I’ve had it for quite a while – I was never sure whether Nilsen was a positive or a negative.
“And more and more so now, him and Shinnie in the middle of the park, they’re gone. The two of them together. They need extra bodies in there.
“Polvara, unfortunately, is out injured again. But Palaversa, really good football player, but you’re trying to find the right balance and combination in the middle of the park.
“And I’ll be honest, I don’t think Nilsen is what I’m wanting in there – I think they need something else.
“He’s (Shinnie) getting to a stage in his career where his legs are not what they’re used to being. I’m meaning the combination of those two together, I don’t think that’s a great combination.
“When you see that second goal that we’re talking about, not only are the full-backs high, but the distance between the centre-halves and the two central midfielders is ginormous! It’s about 40 or 50 yards of a gap.
“You can’t allow your team to be that disjointed and to a degree, the energy in the middle of the park has dropped massively and you need to reinvigorate that somehow.”
Is the Shinnie and Nilsen partnership the problem?
There’s no doubting that Shinnie and Nilsen have played many times together this season. But across the last couple of months, Thelin has mixed and matched his central midfield duo.
In the previous six games in all competitions for Aberdeen before the St Mirren defeat, Shinnie and Nilsen were not picked together.
That means that while it could be argued Shinnie and Nilsen are not compatible due to their lack of running power, it absolutely isn’t the sole problem.
Aberdeen are shipping too many goals – 15 in their last seven league clashes – and haven’t scored in the Premiership since January 2.
The whole squad is bereft of any confidence and these three issues are much more pressing that Shinnie and Nilsen’s partnership.
Thelin has a massive job on his hands with no real sign of a turnaround as of yet.