Jesper Karlsson is living proof of Aberdeen ambition as teammate blown away by impact
The playmaker was delighted to open his Dons' account in the weekend win over Dundee.
Adil Aouchiche believes Aberdeen’s ambition has been shown by the signing of new hero Jesper Karlsson.
The Swedish international arrived on deadline night on loan from Bologna and has quickly established himself as a Pittodrie favourite.
The winger had previously worked with Jimmy Thelin at Elfsborg and moved from AZ Alkmaar to Bologna for around £9 million two years ago.
“Jesper is a really good player,” Aouchiche claimed.
“He shows his talent every day in the training sessions and on Sunday he was very good on the pitch.
“He scored a good penalty and his second one was really nice.
“He deserved his two goals.
“Everyone here wants to be the best players we can be, so we are really happy to have Jesper here.
“The club showed ambition in bringing him here because he is a big signing for us.
“He is a player of a high level, he has a lot of experience in football.
“In the European games he will be able to show what we can do.
“We have good talents in this team and Jesper is one of them.”
Aouchiche also got in on the act as he and Emmanuel Gyamfi scored their first goals for Aberdeen in the Dundee win.
It wasn’t the former Paris Saint Germain player’s best but it is a big one in the context of getting his Pittodrie career up and running.
He proudly said: “My goal was good to get, sometimes in football the most important thing is to create chances which I have done.
“Now I have a goal, everyone is happy.
“It was a strange goal, I was sitting on the floor but I saw a little space to the right of the goal so I was able to touch it with the outside of my right foot.
“It was a goal anyway and I was able to help the team win, so I was very happy.”
The pressure had grown on the Scottish Cup winners as they failed to score in their first six league games and had picked up just one point.
Aouchiche dedicated this latest win to the fans.
“It wasn’t a comfortable situation over the last few weeks but we stayed together,” the playmaker insisted.
“We worked a lot and worked super-hard, we believed in ourselves.
“It wasn’t easy to live in these moments for Aberdeen but we can move forward now.
“The most important thing was the win - it was for the fans and for the people at the club.
“Of course, it’s important for the coach and the staff because they were happy.
“For the players, it’s good for our confidence that we’ve now won a game in the league and scored four goals.
“It’s three points so it’s all good.”
Aouchiche has insisted that the Dundee result has to be only the start and there is still a lot of work to be done. The first goal is to get off the bottom of the table and then getting the Dons up where they want to be challenging.
The on-loan Sunderland player claimed: “We stayed in our habits, it wasn’t easy to live this situation but everyone was pulling together.
“People outside were speaking a lot but we stayed out of it, we stayed together as players and with the staff.
“We didn’t want to listen to anything else, it’s not good for the mind.
“We worked hard every day and knew in our heads the win would be coming soon. “We got that against Dundee so we’re happy and now we look forward.
“Now we have to stay focused, it’s only one win and that’s not enough for this club. “We have to start winning more and more.”
The Aberdeen squad will get a few days off during the international break before they begin their preparations for their trip to St Mirren.
The 23-year-old explained: “It is always good to have some rest, see family and friends.
“It’s good to switch off after a busy time but you always want to get back to it and go again.
“Everyone will enjoy the time with their families but we will come back and keep pushing now.”