Sunday’s 4-0 victory over Partick Thistle was as routine as they come for Hearts. The home side set the tempo early on at Tynecastle, dominating the ball and keeping their cinch Championship opponents penned in deep within their own territory.
The opening goal may have had a touch of fortune about it – Kye Rowles’ glanced header ricocheted off Brian Graham’s standing leg and into the back of the Thistle net – but there was also a degree of inevitability about it all too. The early advantage settled Frankie McAvoy’s men, who patiently probed for their next opening while keeping the Jags at an arm’s length.
The match had the feel of a training exercise about it. The visitors were reluctant to go long and determined to play out from the back, even though each and every attack was snuffed out before it carried any real threat. When debutant Odel Offiah’s header from an Alex Lowry corner crashed in off the underside of the bar on the cusp of half-time, the result was almost sewn up.
Lawrence Shankland would make sure of that within a few minutes of the restart, capitalising on some slack defending from Aaron Muirhead before rifling the ball home. Summer signing Kyosuke Tagawa came off the bench and added some gloss to the final scoreline, coolly slotting the ball home to register his first goal in maroon.
All in all, Hearts’ management team could be pleased with their afternoon’s work. Six changes had been made to the team that had defeated Rosenborg in the Europa Conference League on Thursday night, yet the players barely had to get out of second gear to secure a commanding and comfortable victory.
Tougher tests surely lie ahead – Kris Doolan’s side have still to fully click into gear and rediscover the attacking mojo that made the Jags such a thrilling watch during last season’s Premiership play-offs – but as the old adage goes, you can only play who’s in front of you. And there was very little to fault about Sunday’s performance.
A potential banana skin was turned into a cakewalk within 10 minutes, despite the raft of changes made by McAvoy and Steven Naismith – and with the first leg of Hearts’ Conference League play-off against PAOK on the horizon, being able to chop and change without disrupting the team’s rhythm is an invaluable trait to possess.
“We have recruited players we believe can come in [to the starting XI],” technical director Naismith explained after the match. “The reason they have come in today is not just because they didn’t play in the previous game. This game suited a lot of the players who did come in.
“Each game is different so what we need on Thursday [against PAOK] is different to what we will need next Sunday [against Dundee] and that will be different from the following Thursday [against PAOK].
“So, everybody is starting to understand. It is not that there is one stronger team over the other. There are different games for different players.”
Naismith makes an interesting point. If Hearts progress into the group stages of the Conference League, then the team will have to manage the demands of competing in Europe whilst also holding their own on the domestic front.
It can be a tricky balancing act, but it is one that former manager Robbie Neilson managed pretty well. On the seven occasions Hearts played a league fixture after a midweek European tie, they won four, drew one and lost two (away to Celtic and Aberdeen). Results on the continent could have been better, but Neilson managed his squad well to ensure European hangovers were few and far between.
McAvoy and Naismith will need to follow suit this term. The first leg against Rosenborg was followed by a stuffy goalless draw at home to Kilmarnock – not the worst result, given the flying start Derek McInnes’ men have made to the new season – and the management team will need to rotate the squad to compete on multiple fronts. The team they have assembled looks capable of doing precisely that.
Strength in depth and alternative options are what are required, and this Hearts side looks well-stocked in both departments. The above graphic shows the capital club’s squad depth in the 4-2-3-1 formation that appears to be favoured this term, and it is as Naismith said: there are at least two players in each position, often with distinct skill-sets that will be more suited to certain opponents than others.
Versatile players like Peter Haring and Andy Halliday, who aren’t included in the above graphic, can fill in in a number of roles while youngsters like Aidan Denholm are able to supplement the squad as and when required. And the overall standard is high, too: most would be playing pretty much every week if they plied their trade for a side further down the table.
In this era of congested fixture lists, more substitutes permitted per game and ever-lengthening stoppage time, having a balanced squad is more important than ever. Different opponents require different approaches, and the work that Hearts have done in the summer transfer window has ensured that the team possesses the necessary flexibility and versatility to compete on multiple fronts this season.
Whether European group-stage football can be achieved for a second season in a row remains to be seen but one thing appears fairy certain: Hearts’ squad is ready for it.
