Hearts 0 Rangers 2

Rangers put in another excellent defensive display away from home and continued their remarkable run of six wins from six on the road, scoring fourteen and failing to concede in the process.  It was a rather drab performance from Hearts, although they could have levelled at 1-0 had the ball fallen to a more composed striker of the ball than Adrian Mrowiec midway through the second half.

Ally McCoist changed the shape of his side for this visit to Tynecastle, ditching his usual 4-4-2 in favour of a 4-4-1-1, which matched Hearts man-for-man in the centre of the pitch - something Neil Lennon failed to execute in Celtic’s recent defeat at the same ground.

Another notable feature of the Rangers formation saw two left-backs start on the left – Sasa Papac was deployed at left-midfield – and Maurice Edu moved out to the right of midfield.  Hearts have gained a fair amount of success from their advancing full-backs this season and the use of two defensive-minded players as their direct opponents, as well as a three-man central midfield, displayed McCoist’s willingness to prioritise stopping his opponents from playing.

There was little to note about the Hearts formation.  For the third successive match, Paulo Sergio fielded the same starting eleven in a 4-3-3 formation.

Scrappy first half

Hearts dominated the early stages of a first half more noteworthy for its stop-start nature and cynical fouls than any football on display.  Steven Whittaker picked up an early booking and was perhaps lucky to stay on the pitch after a late foul on David Templeton.

This came after he had helped his side take the lead, however.  The former Hibernian full-back collected the ball from Edu around the halfway line and drove towards the Hearts penalty area.  He evaded the challenge, or lack thereof, from no fewer than four Hearts players before feeding Steven Naismith, who struck the ball through the legs of the advancing Marian Kello.

Naismith started the match just off Kyle Lafferty in attack and was a handful for the Hearts defence all afternoon through his movement and intelligent off-the-ball runs.  Eggert Jonsson was the man tasked with man-marking the Scotland international but, for the goal, allowed him to slip free when attempting to stop the run of Whittaker.  Naismith darted into space and finished for his eighth of the season, taking him to the top of the scoring charts.

Hearts then finished the half the stronger side, as they had started the match, but failed to trouble Alan McGregor in the Rangers goal, with the exception of a long-range Rudi Skacel effort.  Rangers, as they have done for many of their away matches this season, sat on their lead and attempted to hit their opponents on the counter attack.

Second half

Rangers’ focus was to get as many men behind the ball as possible for the vast majority of the second half, allowing Hearts plenty of possession.  Hearts managed to carve out two great opportunities – one at 1-0, another at 2-0 – but for all their possession they, for the most part, struggled to break Rangers down.

The main reason for this, mentioned earlier, was the set up of the Rangers side.  Hearts had little joy down the flanks due to the presence of Edu and Papac as auxiliary wide-midfielders.  The Hearts full-backs rarely threatened in advanced areas and both had poor matches, especially Danny Grainger.

Further to this, Hearts were denied space in the centre of the pitch and were rarely able to work the ball through central areas.  Sergio waited until almost eighty minutes had elapsed before making a substitution, sending on Mehdi Taouil for Jonsson.  Taouil is the type of player that can take the ball into feet and find a pass or take the ball past opponents when space is at a premium and it is a change the Hearts manager maybe should have considered making much earlier in the match.

A final reason for the poor performance was the decision-making of some of the Hearts players.  They often elected to play a long ball, a long diagonal pass or a switch of play when there was often a much simpler, shorter passing option available.  On several occasions a Hearts player would make themselves available for a pass in the centre of the pitch yet were ignored.  The Hearts full-backs were particularly guilty of this and Skacel was one player who became visibly frustrated with his teammates.

This is not to take anything away from the Rangers performance.   Knowing the recent form of Hearts at Tynecastle, McCoist intelligently set up his side to stop their opponents and made the right changes at the right time.

After a spell where Hearts greatly dominated possession, McCoist responded by sending on Nikica Jelavic and Gregg Wylde for Lafferty and Papac.  Not only did this produce a goal within three minutes – Carlos Bocanegra picking out Jelavic with a ball over the top of the Hearts defence – it gave Rangers two extra players to target in the final third that could keep the ball in advanced areas something Lafferty had failed to do in his seventy-odd minutes on the pitch.

Conclusion

Without doubt, McCoist won the tactical battle from start to finish.  Stopping the Hearts full-backs from influencing the game and matching the home side man-for-man in the centre of midfield meant Hearts were largely ineffective and, with players like Naismith in attack always likely to finish one of his side’s chances, it culminated in a very efficient performance from the champions.

Hearts shouldn’t be too discouraged from their performance.  Even though they didn’t create much and were woeful in front of goal when they did, they were simply defeated by a better side with a better strategy.  The one worrying thing from a Hearts point of view was their manager’s lack of a plan B and hesitancy in making changes earlier.

Hearts 2 Celtic 0

After an inept performance versus St. Johnstone last week, Hearts were always likely to make changes.  Mehdi Taouil, David Obua and Stephen Elliott dropped out with Rudi Skacel, Eggert Jonsson and David Templeton starting.  Paulo Sergio stuck to his usual 4-3-3 formation but moved Ryan Stevenson into a lone-striking position.  The other significant difference was to move Adrian Mrowiec slightly further forward, using Jonsson as the deepest of the midfield three, but more on that below.

With Joe Ledley, Bream Kayal and Scott Brown unavailable, Neil Lennon was forced into a 4-4-2 with two out-and-out wingers.  Kris Commons returned to the starting line up and Badr El-Kaddouri came in at left-back.  Fraser Forster replaced Lukas Zaluska in goals.

The pros and cons of Lennon’s 4-4-2

Whether out of design or necessity, Lennon’s decision to field Commons and James Forrest brought about a degree of tactical success.  Danny Grainger and Jamie Hamill have thus far been effective at getting forward and putting dangerous balls into the box and, given Celtic’s vulnerability from crosses, their being pinned back negated that threat to a certain extent.

The knock-on effect was a shortfall in the centre of midfield.  Sergio decided to go with three defensive-minded midfielders and instructed Ian Black and Mrowiec to press the Celtic central midfield.  This left Jonsson as a spare man to sweep up in front of the defence, which was effective for the most part.

Victor Wanyama had a very good first half, both with and without possession, but the Hearts tactics stopped his partner Ki Sung-Yeung from getting on the ball and dictating play.  A further consequence was the supply to Gary Hooper was cut.  Hooper thrives on through balls and linking up with his strike partner but he grew increasingly frustrated with his lack of time on the ball.

The first half was pretty even, with both sides creating a few chances, the best of which fell to Mohamed Bangura.  Forrest collected the ball after a poor defensive header from Grainger and sent in a delightful cross but the Sierra Leone striker’s header was pushed around the post by Jamie MacDonald.

Hearts’ strategy

Much has been made about Paulo Sergio’s change in style since he took over as manager, but any attempt to patiently build from the back was, at least temporarily, abandoned as Hearts looked to move the ball quickly to Skacel and Templeton.

John Sutton was again left out, however, Stevenson was deployed as the lone-striker, perhaps a sign of the new manager conceding that a physical presence is required in attack.  The Hearts back line and goalkeeper was not as averse to hitting long, direct passes up towards him.

Hearts’ play was less laboured, less predictable and, most significantly, more effective.  Their decision to vary their play more meant that they enjoyed more time in and around their opponent’s penalty area than last week. 

Second half

The second half began with a sustained period of pressure from the away side, forcing MacDonald into another couple of saves.  Then, against the run of play, Hearts took the lead on fifty-eight minutes.

Skacel was about to be substituted when he fired a low strike across Forster and into the net.  Celtic’s main weakness this season has been their inability to defend crosses and again they failed to deal with one here.

The cross in question hung in the air, giving the Celtic defence plenty of time to react, but Daniel Majstorovic again displayed his indecisiveness by failing to attack it.  Templeton cushioned the ball, laying it off in the same movement, for Skacel to finish.

Lennon reacted immediately by withdrawing Bangura for Antony Stokes, a switch he may have made regardless, but the Irish international was given little time to make an impact before his side were reduced to ten men.

His manager had revealed before the match that Commons may not last the ninety minutes but surely he didn’t mean it in this sense.  In stark contrast to last season, Commons has so far had a torrid campaign and there was only ever going to be one outcome after his reckless lunge on Mrowiec.

Celtic then moved to a 4-2-1-2 formation, with Forrest in behind Stokes and Hooper, and continued to enjoy the majority of the possession.  El-Kaddouri was then removed and replaced with Paddy McCourt as Celtic switched to a back three, but they failed to break Hearts down.

Sergio’s response to the red card was to move to a 4-4-2/4-4-1-1formation – Ian Black moved to right-midfield with Skacel just off Stevenson – and attempt to defend the lead.  A risky move considering the danger that Celtic still possessed.  It paid off, however, as Hearts grabbed a second goal on the counter.

A long ball from Grainger was chased down by Templeton and his clever back-heel was collected by Stevenson, who remained composed before finishing. 

Conclusion

There was much tactical interest and plenty of excitement in this encounter.  Neil Lennon may have been forced into a 4-4-2 with two wingers but it helped in nullifying the threat of the Hearts full-backs.

This led to a shortfall in the centre of park which worked to Hearts’ advantage.  Paulo Sergio decided to field three battlers in central midfield and this denied Ki time and space, which he finds and exploits in most matches, ultimately cutting the supply to the strikers.  Celtic’s failing, other than the red card, was again an inability to deal with crosses.

Sergio abandoned his patient pass-from-the-back approach in favour of a quicker, more direct strategy and it suited his side.  The interest, going forward, will lie in whether or not he continues with this approach in future matches, at least until he has the players to do otherwise.

Hearts 2 Hibernian 0

Hearts deservedly defeated a toothless Hibernian side in the first Edinburgh derby of the season.  Even though the football on display was not of the highest quality, it was an intriguing ninety minutes with plenty of commitment from both sets of players.

Paulo Sergio made eight changes from the 0-0 draw at White Hart Lane but only one change from their previous league outing.  Ian Black returned from suspension and took his place in centre midfield alongside David Obua and Adrian Mrowiec.  The inclusion of Obua suggested a 4-2-3-1 formation, however, the Ugandan international was deployed in a more reserved role in a tight central midfield three, meaning that the home side lined up 4-3-3.

Colin Calderwood made three changes from the league defeat to St. Mirren last week, dropping David Wotherspoon, Viktor Palsson and David Stephens in favour of Sean O’Hanlon, Junior Agogo and new loan signing Richie Towell.  There was also a change in shape for the Easter Road side as Matt Thornhill was moved out to the left of midfield in a 4-4-2 formation.

The respective shapes meant that Hearts enjoyed an extra man in the centre of midfield.  Further, their full-backs pushed on at every opportunity, forcing Thornhill and Ivan Sproule into defensive duties for most of the first half.  The result was that Hearts edged possession.

Hearts focus down the left but get joy down the right

It is clear that the new manager is trying to instil a pass-from-the-back approach at Tynecastle, equally clear that some of the players aren’t suited to it and are finding it difficult to shake off their old habit of lumping the ball down the channels.

Club captain Marius Zaliukas, no stranger to the odd howler, was guilty of a few stray passes in the first half and Andy Webster, his central defensive partner, hit a few high, inaccurate passes in the direction of Andy Driver.

The exclusion of John Sutton, even from a place on the bench, is further evidence that Sergio is sceptical of fielding a target man as his lone striker and that he wishes his side to retain possession and create opportunities through passing moves, as opposed to feeding off knock-downs and second balls.

Conversely Hibernian took a direct approach, choosing to field two big strikers that they were all too happy to hit with long, direct passes.  Agogo would look to drop off into space but his movement was tracked, more often than not, by Mrowiec.

The Hibs front two pressed the Hearts defenders, forcing them into the mistakes referred to above, although the rest of the side failed to follow suit.  This meant that large gaps appeared between the Hibs front two and back eight, another reason why Hearts made better use of their possession.

Hearts attempted to play the ball to Driver at every opportunity and get him running at Towell.  He rarely got the better of the Hibs right-back however, as Hearts struggled to create anything clear cut.

The teams had largely cancelled each other out – with Hibs missing the best chance of the half through Garry O’Connor – until around five minutes before half-time when a mistake allowed Hearts to take the lead.

Callum Booth tried to pick out Thornhill inside his own half.  The pass wasn’t the greatest but the recipient was also at fault and allowed Jamie Hamill to disposes him before exchanging passes with Ian Black and cutting the ball back for Ryan Stevenson who finished from seven yards.

Further blame can be thrown the way of Isaiah Osbourne who made little attempt to track Stevenson’s run.

Second half

Hibernian emerged from the second half a different side.  Calderwood moved Sproule to just behind the front two and Thornhill to the right in a midfield diamond formation.  With the Hibernian full-backs pushing on for the first time in the match, they now enjoyed a man advantage in the midfield zone.

For the best part of ten minutes they had Hearts on the ropes, however, as soon as the home side created their first chance of the half, the momentum again swung their way.  From then on there was only ever going to be one winner.

The advantage of enjoying an extra man in the centre of midfield, via a diamond formation, was outweighed by the formation’s major flaw.  The narrow nature of the midfield means that the full-backs become exposed when defending.  With the wide players Hearts possess, and the attacking nature of their full-backs, along with the poor form of Callum Booth so far this season, it was no surprise that Hearts created several opportunities down the Hibs left-hand side.

Three chances in quick succession were created down this side: Booth was nowhere to be seen when Stephen Elliott forced Graham Stack into a save; Stevenson then got in behind the same player to cut back for Elliott, who this time hit the post; and finally Hamill wasted an opportunity by electing to shoot when he should have cut the ball back for a tap in.

Calderwood responded by withdrawing Sproule and Agogo for Akpo Sodje and Leigh Griffiths on the hour mark, moving to a 4-3-3 formation.  The difference between the 4-3-3 formation of Hearts and that of Hibernian was that Hearts’ wide players are more naturally wide players/midfielders who looked to track back.  Hibernian’s were strikers who stayed in attack waiting for their side to work the ball forward.

Hearts increased their lead minutes later when Webster headed in a Hamill corner, an attack that again originated down the Hibs left side, although on this occasion the blame cannot be directed towards Booth.

Conclusion

Yet another comfortable victory for Hearts in the Edinburgh derby.  The home side certainly weren’t at their best but were up against a side devoid of confidence and, it seems, any kind of coherent strategy.

Against Kilmarnock, two of the four goals Hibernian conceded were a direct result of crosses from the right and in this match; it was again their main weakness.  Booth was partly at fault for the opening goal but his second half performance was as much down to his manager’s decision to leave him exposed after the change in formation.

After all the pre-Towell talk of Hibernian requiring a right-back, it now seems that the opposite side needs to be addressed.

Hearts’ new approach under Paulo Sergio is beginning to take shape although it is yet to be seen whether or not the players’ mentality can be altered to fit how he wants the side to play.  The centre-backs are not the best ball-players and the lack of a deep-lying playmaker to aid transitions to attack may also be detrimental.

Obua was played in a deeper role and had a decent match but has failed to hit anything near a good run of form in his three years at the club.  Scott Robinson may possess the required attributes but is still largely untried as a first team regular.

Hearts 3 Aberdeen 0

Hearts recorded their first league win of the season with a comfortable victory over a poor Aberdeen side. 

Paulo Sergio lined up his side in a 4-2-3-1 formation with David Templeton and Arvydas Novikovas deployed as inverted wingers.  Scott Robinson started alongside Adrian Mrowiec in central midfield due the suspension of Ian Black.  Ryan Stevenson started as the more advanced of the central midfield three but as the first half progressed, Stevenson took up increasingly advanced positions, making Hearts’ shape resemble more of a 4-4-2.

Craig Brown made three changes from his side that lost at St. Mirren Park last week, bringing back Fraser Fyvie and Youl Mawene after their recovery from injury and Rory McArdle at the expense of  Pater Pawlett, Clark Robertson and Josh Magennis.  They lined up in a narrow 4-4-2 with Robert Milsom and Fyvie, the widest of the midfield four, as auxiliary midfielders as opposed to wingers.  Wingers, and thus a certain amount of creativity, are what Aberdeen lack at the moment and this was evident throughout the ninety minutes.

Hearts use width, Dons lack creativity

Hearts began the match attempting to play the ball out from the back but due to Aberdeen’s pressing and the lack of movement further up the pitch, for example, midfielders dropping deep to collect the ball from the defenders, they were forced to knock the ball long more often than not.

Aberdeen started the brighter and were unlucky not to open the scoring on eleven minutes when a Kari Arnason header crashed off the bar.  Aberdeen included three centre-backs in their back four plus the likes of Scott Vernon and Arnason, meaning they were a big, physical side.  Hearts struggled to cope when defending set-pieces and were lucky not to concede from any of them.

Unfortunately this was the only department where Abderdeen were threatening.  The set-up of their midfield relative to Hearts’ was strange.  Isaac Osbourne and Arnason, both defensive midfielders, started in the middle, with Fyvie and Milsom, two more creative players, either side but still narrow. 

With Stevenson often positioned beyond Aberdeen’s two central defensive midfielders and Scott Robinson and Mrowiec always behind the ball, Hearts didn’t possess too much threat through the middle.  Where they did possess a threat was down the flanks: Novikovas and Templeton are tricky players and were often offered support by their advancing full-backs.

Further to this, the Aberdeen full-backs failed to provide any width.  Rory McArdle, normally a centre-back, isn’t the type to advance, and even so he was pinned back by Templeton, and Richard Foster, naturally a right-sided player, always looks to cut inside on to his right foot.

The narrow nature of Aberdeen’s midfield played to Hearts’ strength and it was no surprise that two of the three goals came from wide areas.  The first saw Mawene knock on a Danny Grainger cross into the path of Novikovas, who cut inside and on to his stronger foot – one of the benefits of inverted wingers – before finishing.

Hearts increased their lead ten minutes before half-time when John Sutton tapped in a Templeton cross.  The lack of a challenge from McArdle when Templeton advanced with the ball allowed the young winger to head for the byline and knock the ball across goal.

Second half

Both sides made changes at the break.  Aberdeen replaced Darren Mackie with Pawlett, who took up a right-sided midfield role, with Fyvie now playing must off Vernon in attack.  Rudi Skacel was introduced for the home side after Novikovas picked up a knock.  Stevenson was moved out to the right with Skacel taking up a central position.  The change saw Hearts return to more of a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Hearts added a scrappy goal seven minutes into the second half when Robinson prodded the ball through to an unmarked Sutton who beat the advancing David Gonzalez to the ball to claim his second of the match.

The goal all but ended the match as a contest although things could have been different had Fyvie done better with a few opportunities that fell his way in his now more advanced role.  The eighteen –year-old found himself in plenty of space after a Milsom cross but could only fire wide.  Around a minute later Fyvie was found in the box once more by Milsom, this time via a reverse pass, but his ball into a crowded area was a poor one.

Ryan Jack was introduced for McArdle, possibly with the intention of providing more impetus and width from full-back, and Josh Magennis replaced Scott Vernon but both failed to make any impact on proceedings.

The match then entered a phase of endless long balls.  Aberdeen’s strategy from the off was direct in nature but they failed to make the ball stick in advanced areas.  It appears that Hearts have been instructed by their new manager to build from the back – they started the match attempting it and at one point Sergio could be seen shaking his head after the umpteenth punt up-field from Kello – but it seems alien to them.  The centre-backs don’t seem the most comfortable at this approach and, as noted earlier, there was a distinct lack of willingness from the midfielders to drop deep and collect the ball from them.

Conclusion

Not the best performance Hearts will ever put in but a comfortable victory against a poor side nonetheless.  In wide areas they have players who can beat men and whip in dangerous balls and there seems to be the potential for goals from many areas of the pitch.

The victory instead must go down as a poor performance from the away side.  They defended abysmally, lacked creativity in midfield and their narrow set up – both in terms of their midfield four and the lack of width provided by their full-backs - merely played to the strengths of Hearts.