Five Hearts dilemmas surrounding Jambos as international break provides injury hope and reset opportunity
Hearts have entered the international break with questions to ponder.
Everything that could go wrong last week, did go wrong, and now Hearts have some cold storage time to decide what’s next.
A brutal stretch of games that piled up the injuries around Wouter Vrancken’s side ended with a seven-day window bringing bruising losses versus Hibs, Thun and Falkirk. The latter they lost in the Premiership by a 5-2 margin at Tynecastle with the break widely welcomed after going one win from their last eight played.
Next up is Dundee and fans will want to see improved performances from head coach Vrancken’s team. But what dilemmas await the Belgian and his backroom team over the break? We take a look.
Injury clear-up
One major positive from this break is it gives Hearts just under a fortnight to get as many players as possible ready for involvement. Midfielders Ageu and Tomas Magnusson look the most likely to return at Dens Park but Rogers Mato, Christian Borchgrevink, Oisin McEntee and Blair Spittal are all making positive strides towards a comeback. Even if it’s not against Dundee, getting that collection of players back for upcoming matches at home and in the Conference League would be huge.
Then comes the dilemma. Vrancken really needs these players starting-ready now but Malachi Fagan-Walcott’s muscle injury against Falkirk came amid constantly having to play every minute, due to the lack of rotation ability within the camp. A balancing act is required.
Defensive frailties
It’s not just the conceding of goals for Hearts, it’s the manner of them. Both Thun and Falkirk managed to score in transition off set-plays Hearts had at the other end, while the Jambos have been susceptible to penalty box chaos, when a cross has been fired into the danger zone. Falkirk also scored from their own corner routine and it’s left Vrancken’s side with the second worst defensive record in terms of goals against in the league. Yes, that is amplified by the seven shipped against Celtic last month, but similar goals were given away in that game too. Vrancken needs to get to the bottom of it as rivals can now sense opportunity.
“We felt they were there for the taking,” said McGlynn on this week’s Premier Sports Social club. “We just felt there'd be a nervousness in their defence. We felt that the Hearts fans were going to turn up there, they probably weren't sure what they were going to get, and we just felt that we had to go for it. Thankfully getting the first goal, that gave us that footing and gave the players even more belief, and confidence to go and put the foot to the floor. The second goal came from a free kick to Hearts, it goes in and we broke out very quickly and, again, that was something that happened on the Thursday night. We were looking at these situations that we could maybe develop. You're trying to get these things to fit into your game plan, and thankfully, it did.”
Simplification
That rolls into the next talking point, and something Vrancken was asked about after the Bairns defeat, whether his system needs simplified. It’s often unwise for a manager to abandon their principles entirely, because if you don’t believe in them, how can you expect others to? Vrancken doesn’t appear the sort who will do that but the shipping of goals, despite promising attacking play, has sparked questioning.
“Depending on who's coming back, because I think there are players out with a lot of technical awareness who can do these things,” Vrancken said of implication. “And OK, you don't have to blame every player here, because also a lot of players have to play a lot of games and have their reasons, like we said already before.”
Leadership
It was something touched upon by striker Claudio Braga and goalkeeper Beau Reus in their post-match assessments after Falkirk, alongside the manager. Both players held no punches on what they thought of the game, Braga left ashamed, while Reus named the first half where they trailed 4-0 a ‘disgrace.’ The duo spoke of a need for accountability within the dressing room and Vrancken noted a lack of leadership.
This is a largely new group that’s been put together, albeit they’ve been with each other for long enough now that defeats like the Falkirk match shouldn’t happen. Key leaders like Craig Halkett, Harry Milne, Stephen Kingsley and Spittal all missed the game through injury, chuck in Calvin Miller too, who’s been a talisman-style figure since joining from the Bairns. Others must step into their voids and that may be something Vrancken looks to identify in the break.
Transfer talks
Yes, we’re already at that time of year. Free agent moves have already been emphatically ruled out but it will be November 21 by the time Hearts next play a competitive game. Dundee on the road will be the first of an 11-game gauntlet between that date and December 30’s trip to St Johnstone. Inside that will include their final three league phase games in the Conference League, Celtic, Rangers and Hibs, with other tricky ties like an Aberdeen side under new management awaiting. January might seem a mile away right now but the break is shaping up to be one of the last chances where recruitment can take a firm focus before another manic schedule kicks in.
The current squad with everyone fit is actually quite large so Hearts will need to be smart in terms of how many bodies come in. Reus has replaced Alexander Schwolow well so you can tick that off but the defence may become an area to look at, given how much has been decimated by fitness concerns. The same can be said for midfield while attacking options, outside of Miller’s knee problem, have largely stayed fit.