Robbie Neilson reveals Craig Halkett development plan as Hearts boss explains preference for 3-4-3 formation

From day one of Hearts’ winter training camp in the Costa del Sol, Robbie Neilson made it clear that he wanted his team to return to predominantly using the 3-4-3 formation.

It was the system which the Tynecastle Park side used almost exclusively last term as they stormed to third place, a spot in the Scottish Cup final and secured eight games in Europe for the following season. But those extra demands came at a cost with the sheer volume of matches, packed into a schedule already tight due to the World Cup break, leading to an injury crisis.

Without several important players to make the formation work, Neilson began to move away from it and preferred a 4-3-3 variation as the cinch Premiership drew to a temporary shutdown prior to the finals in Qatar.

The 3-4-3 has its detractors within the Hearts support. There is a school of thought that it’s a little on the negative side with the use of five defenders. However, Neilson believes it’s the best way to build from defence to attack and wants to get back into the habit of using it to help foster an identity for his side.

Robbie Neilson congratulates Craig Halkett after Hearts defeated Kilmarnock 3-1 on their return to action in the cinch Premiership. Picture: SNS

“I think it gives us the opportunity to control a lot of the game. We've got a lot of good centre-backs who can step forward, build from the back and create overloads. It also allows us to get people close to Shankland,” the head coach told the Evening News.

“As I said in the summer, we will change at points and continue using the 4-3-3 when we need to for certain games. I just think we need to get that consistency. We're trying to build an identity. We want to say 'this is how we play and this is how we recruit for players who can play in that formation'. We're going to work on it every week because we've got good players. We don't want to be changing just to counteract the opposition.”

One benefit to the system is that it manages to fit Craig Halkett, Kye Rowles, Stephen Kingsley and Alex Cochrane, four players too good to leave on the sidelines, into the same starting XI without having to do something odd like use Halkett at right-back.

The central defender does, however, have to step out of his comfort zone a little by playing on the right of the three. As someone who typically plays with an aggressive style and is dominant aerially, the central position would typically be a better fit. But his manager believes Halkett is too good a footballer with his confidence on the ball to limit himself by focusing purely on the defensive side of the game.

Robbie Neilson issues instructions to the Hearts players in training ahead of Saturday's match at Tynecastle. Picture: SNS

“We spoke to him during the week about it,” revealed Neilson. “Halks likes to play in the middle of the three where he can be dominant in the air, but I think he's got the quality to play on the right-hand side.

“When you've got an outside centre-half stepping forward it becomes very difficult to stop. It's something we're going to keep working with him on. You could see against Kilmarnock when he steps forward he can play some great passes. He was even getting forward and getting into the box.

“I was just pleased to get the points. We've been off for five weeks with the break. It's almost like the first game of the season. Getting back in after the break you just hope the spark is there and it was first half.”

Hearts could conceivably have been out of sight at the end of the first period at the weekend as goals from Josh Ginnelly and Lawrence Shankland had them two goals up amid a thoroughly dominant performance. They weren’t able to quickly find the third goal to kill the game off and had to endure some nervy second-half minutes after Ash Taylor pulled one back before Shankland made sure of the points from the penalty spot.

Josh Ginnelly, who started as Hearts' No.9, celebrates after opening the scoring against Kilmarnock. Picture: SNS

Neilson wants his players to become more ruthless and put opponents to the sword when they’re already on their knees.

“We spoke about it at half-time,” he said. “Can we get the next goal and then the next goal? Kilmarnock made a change and became more aggressive, but I felt we were maybe overplaying at times.

"A lot of good play was when we were direct, but we kind of kept possession a lot and that then encourages teams to come and press you. I think there's still a lot to get better at, that's for sure. It would be great to sometimes go 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, 5-0 in these games, but it's difficult.

“With the goal we need to get that sorted. We're playing here. You can have all the possession and score, but if you're going to give up poor goals like that, you know... it's a free volley from four yards out. We need to cover up the back. We've had a look at it and we'll deal with it during the week.”

Another wrinkle of the system was the use of Ginnelly and Shankland. The former, a career winger, played as the No.9 while Shankland started on the right of the three. It worked very well with Ginnelly’s pace causing Kilmarnock all sorts of problems, particularly in the opening period.

Neilson admits it was a specific tactic aimed at hurting Saturday’s opposition, but it is something he will be doing again in future.

“When you play against Kilmarnock they'll typically set up in the back three and go man for man, trying to pressurise you,” he said. “We just felt if we had a couple of outside 10s then it would leave the striker one-v-one and with Gino's pace we'd be able to exploit that. And to be fair that happened a few times, including getting the first goal from it. I was quite pleased with that.”

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