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Thoughts After Last Night.....


busby1985

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Positives:

 

Walker. Looked lively and direct when we could get him on the ball. Some nice wee touches and passes between him and Washington. 

 

Washington. For his first exposure to Scottish football I thought he never stopped running and always made himself available even tho he wasn’t getting service. Some strikers we’ve had in the past would’ve just sulked at the lack of service, he got on with it. 

 

Hickey. Composed on the ball, great feet and always looking to go forward. Great prospect. 

 

Mikey Smith. Just a top player. 

 

Things to work on: 

 

Shape, again, was wrong. 442 didn’t work and we where outnumbered in midfield. United played 5 in the middle and it stopped Clare and Irving getting on the ball, facing the United goal looking to play forward passes. With the midfield outnumbered we reverted to type, like last season, and played the ball around the back till we played an out ball looking for either Uche or Mulraney. Yes, the 5 foot Mulraney 😂 was often hit with long balls out to him. People will say we dominated possession but the truth is United where happy for us to have the ball as we weren’t hurting them with it and where playing everything in front of them, that’s easy to defend against. 

 

Tempo. Far too slow on the ball. Too many touches. Didn’t get the ball out wide quick enough. When the tempo is that slow it makes players like Washington, Walker and Uche drop into the all ready crowded midfield and they can’t effect the game, especially with their back to the goal. When we did manage to get little over loads out wide we hit decent balls into the middle, Washington should’ve scored his header from Mulraney’s cross. Walker had a few chances too. A change in shape should help the tempo and also Naisy will help that. 

 

Bobby. Again he’s at fault for the goal. His positioning was all wrong. I don’t buy for a second we aren’t looking for a keeper. If Gordon for example becomes available, he’ll be at Hearts. Bobby is decent in spells but you always know he has a heart in mouth moment and that must effect the defence. 

 

Negatives: 

 

Berra and Souttar. Something just isn’t right with them two at the moment. They are being asked to be on the ball and neither of them look like they enjoy it. Berra will header and tackle anything but he can’t pick a pass. Any form of pressure on the two of them and they panic. Too many times last night they where “almost” caught on the ball or “almost” played the ball too short. 

 

Uche. Sorry but I just can’t see how the big man features in the team going forward. He’s slow, has no touch, carries no goal threat and doesn’t score. His awareness is non existent and he can’t pick a pass. The big man will never work in this side. He will always be seen as a target man or an out ball to Berra and Souttar. Uche with his back to goal is less than useless. Bags of desire and his attitude is bang on, he just isn’t a footballer. Walker, Naismith and Washington will work great together. I don’t see how someone like Uche fits into the side with them. I know people love him and this will annoy folk but it’s just my opinion, I can’t see him doing anything for Hearts. 

 

Like for like subs. We never changed shape during the match, even tho we where being outnumbered in midfield. We have no plan B, we just stick to plan A and hope that by changing the players something will change. We couldn’t get the ball on the deck in the middle of the park as United where man for man in there. Something that plagued us last year was our inability to adapt to what was happening in games and change accordingly. The cup final is a great example of that. Like for like subs with 20/15/10 minutes to go, very rarely change a game. 

 

 

Highlight of the game. The random Chinese man being removed from the main stand for being on his phone??? Stewards just gathered round him and kicked him out. Don’t know if he was streaming the game or something. Was random. 

 

The main stand looks amazing. They’ve done an amazing job over the summer. 

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heartandsoul
7 minutes ago, busby1985 said:

Positives:

 

Walker. Looked lively and direct when we could get him on the ball. Some nice wee touches and passes between him and Washington. 

 

Washington. For his first exposure to Scottish football I thought he never stopped running and always made himself available even tho he wasn’t getting service. Some strikers we’ve had in the past would’ve just sulked at the lack of service, he got on with it. 

 

Hickey. Composed on the ball, great feet and always looking to go forward. Great prospect. 

 

Mikey Smith. Just a top player. 

 

Things to work on: 

 

Shape, again, was wrong. 442 didn’t work and we where outnumbered in midfield. United played 5 in the middle and it stopped Clare and Irving getting on the ball, facing the United goal looking to play forward passes. With the midfield outnumbered we reverted to type, like last season, and played the ball around the back till we played an out ball looking for either Uche or Mulraney. Yes, the 5 foot Mulraney 😂 was often hit with long balls out to him. People will say we dominated possession but the truth is United where happy for us to have the ball as we weren’t hurting them with it and where playing everything in front of them, that’s easy to defend against. 

 

Tempo. Far too slow on the ball. Too many touches. Didn’t get the ball out wide quick enough. When the tempo is that slow it makes players like Washington, Walker and Uche drop into the all ready crowded midfield and they can’t effect the game, especially with their back to the goal. When we did manage to get little over loads out wide we hit decent balls into the middle, Washington should’ve scored his header from Mulraney’s cross. Walker had a few chances too. A change in shape should help the tempo and also Naisy will help that. 

 

Bobby. Again he’s at fault for the goal. His positioning was all wrong. I don’t buy for a second we aren’t looking for a keeper. If Gordon for example becomes available, he’ll be at Hearts. Bobby is decent in spells but you always know he has a heart in mouth moment and that must effect the defence. 

 

Negatives: 

 

Berra and Souttar. Something just isn’t right with them two at the moment. They are being asked to be on the ball and neither of them look like they enjoy it. Berra will header and tackle anything but he can’t pick a pass. Any form of pressure on the two of them and they panic. Too many times last night they where “almost” caught on the ball or “almost” played the ball too short. 

 

Uche. Sorry but I just can’t see how the big man features in the team going forward. He’s slow, has no touch, carries no goal threat and doesn’t score. His awareness is non existent and he can’t pick a pass. The big man will never work in this side. He will always be seen as a target man or an out ball to Berra and Souttar. Uche with his back to goal is less than useless. Bags of desire and his attitude is bang on, he just isn’t a footballer. Walker, Naismith and Washington will work great together. I don’t see how someone like Uche fits into the side with them. I know people love him and this will annoy folk but it’s just my opinion, I can’t see him doing anything for Hearts. 

 

Like for like subs. We never changed shape during the match, even tho we where being outnumbered in midfield. We have no plan B, we just stick to plan A and hope that by changing the players something will change. We couldn’t get the ball on the deck in the middle of the park as United where man for man in there. Something that plagued us last year was our inability to adapt to what was happening in games and change accordingly. The cup final is a great example of that. Like for like subs with 20/15/10 minutes to go, very rarely change a game. 

 

 

Highlight of the game. The random Chinese man being removed from the main stand for being on his phone??? Stewards just gathered round him and kicked him out. Don’t know if he was streaming the game or something. Was random. 

 

The main stand looks amazing. They’ve done an amazing job over the summer. 

Great post, agree with everything you say. Well summed up.

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The most worrying thing for me is that we seem unable to win games. We have carried on where we left off last season in that we don't take our chances and gift wrap a goal to the opposition. This needs to be addressed or we could end up with another disappointing league position despite outplaying teams in most of the games.

 

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We’re definitely a work in progress, for every positive we have a negative for sure. Big Uche has been worked out, if he can’t overpower defenders he offers very little. Defensively we still appear to have issues in the central area which is surprising when you consider who we have in there. Midfield definitely needs a player with a bit of bite in there. I’m not panicking tho as we’re gonna be vastly improved come August.

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portobellojambo1

I thought we played some decent football at times, but there is still a way to go. I've been reading the board over the last couple of weeks and in terms of pre season many have said that what happened during those games didn't interest them it was all about getting fitness up for the opening game of the season, which was last night. Although we did play some decent stuff last night, on a pretty shit night for anything never mind football, the end result after 90 minutes was 1-1, at Tynecastle against a team a division below us, which is why I say there is still a bit to go, and more than one player who doesn't look as if the fitness is at the right level yet. I read on the match thread some comments which intentionally or not suggested we were excellent/really good last night, and weren't, or the discussion last night/this morning would have been about a victory.

 

What we have to do now is make sure that in the two visits to Cowdenbeath and Methil we win both those games, and rack up a good win against Stenhousemuir. If we accept, as many keep saying, we are nowhere near the OF and are competing with 3/4 other team for the European places then the two cup competitions realistically become the only avenues for success in terms of winning something. So we have to push on quickly and make sure we don't throw more qualifying points away during this section phase.

Edited by portobellojambo1
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grumpyespana
11 minutes ago, jambmoz said:

We’re definitely a work in progress, for every positive we have a negative for sure. Big Uche has been worked out, if he can’t overpower defenders he offers very little. Defensively we still appear to have issues in the central area which is surprising when you consider who we have in there. Midfield definitely needs a player with a bit of bite in there. I’m not panicking tho as we’re gonna be vastly improved come August.

Was surprised that Halkett was not in there he has a bit of bite and scores goals.

 

Edited by grumpyespana
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3 minutes ago, portobellojambo1 said:

I thought we played some decent football at times, but there is still a way to go. I've been reading the board over the last couple of weeks and in terms of pre season many have said that what happened during those games didn't interest them it was all about getting fitness up for the opening game of the season, which was last night. Although we did play some decent stuff last night, on a pretty shit night for anything never mind football, the end result after 90 minutes was 1-1, at Tynecastle against a team a division below us, which is why I say there is still a bit to go, and more than one player who doesn't look as if the fitness is at the right level yet. I read on the match thread some comments which intentionally or not suggested we were excellent last night, and we far from that.

 

What we have to do now is make sure that in the two visits to Cowdenbeath and Methil we win both those games, and rack up a good win against Stenhousemuir. If we accept, as many keep saying, we are nowhere near the OF and are competing with 3/4 other team for the European places then the two cup competitions realistically become the only avenues for success in terms of winning something. So we have to push on quickly and make sure we don't throw more qualifying points away during this section phase.

Yeah I posted because I read the match thread and couldn’t believe people thought we where “excellent” in a one one draw with a side the division below us. Loads of positives could be taken from last night, mostly individual performances but the overall performance was nowhere near where it needs to be. It’s the first competitive game so I get it never was going to be the finished article. I would’ve liked to have seen some of the flaws from last season addressed in this game however, like shape and tempo. We don’t seem to have worked on this or came up with a solution to the problem. 442 isn’t going to work. Here’s hoping we see improvement game by game before the season starts. 

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letsalldothebeattie

Positives:

We played some decent stuff at times

Michael Smith the guys just reliable

Irving looks a proper player

Hickey looked class yet again give that boy a 10 year deal and a buyout of £100million

Walker good to see him back and looked in decent form got stuck in which is more than he done for spells last time

Washington looked decent enough hopefully goals start to flow in the coming games

 

Negatives

For large spells it was same old same old as last season

Souttar/Berra partnership looked off

Uche for me was poor, should be worried when Naisy signs as he could lose his place 

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chuck berrys hairline

We really need to get some momentum or tempo in our play. Last night was same as last year 💤💤💤. I'm not believing the players are playing like that on purpose. We need to have some movement and not statues like last night. We can only make our own space to exploit. There was better football at the WWC compared to last night, the football wasn't that great on a whole some nice flashes but we are a division and a huge budget of a difference to Dundee Utd. We should be spanking these teams easy, unfortunately last night is a sign of what's coming and it'll be another season wasted imo

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56 minutes ago, busby1985 said:

Positives:

 

Walker. Looked lively and direct when we could get him on the ball. Some nice wee touches and passes between him and Washington. 

 

Washington. For his first exposure to Scottish football I thought he never stopped running and always made himself available even tho he wasn’t getting service. Some strikers we’ve had in the past would’ve just sulked at the lack of service, he got on with it. 

 

Hickey. Composed on the ball, great feet and always looking to go forward. Great prospect. 

 

Mikey Smith. Just a top player. 

 

Things to work on: 

 

Shape, again, was wrong. 442 didn’t work and we where outnumbered in midfield. United played 5 in the middle and it stopped Clare and Irving getting on the ball, facing the United goal looking to play forward passes. With the midfield outnumbered we reverted to type, like last season, and played the ball around the back till we played an out ball looking for either Uche or Mulraney. Yes, the 5 foot Mulraney 😂 was often hit with long balls out to him. People will say we dominated possession but the truth is United where happy for us to have the ball as we weren’t hurting them with it and where playing everything in front of them, that’s easy to defend against. 

 

Tempo. Far too slow on the ball. Too many touches. Didn’t get the ball out wide quick enough. When the tempo is that slow it makes players like Washington, Walker and Uche drop into the all ready crowded midfield and they can’t effect the game, especially with their back to the goal. When we did manage to get little over loads out wide we hit decent balls into the middle, Washington should’ve scored his header from Mulraney’s cross. Walker had a few chances too. A change in shape should help the tempo and also Naisy will help that. 

 

Bobby. Again he’s at fault for the goal. His positioning was all wrong. I don’t buy for a second we aren’t looking for a keeper. If Gordon for example becomes available, he’ll be at Hearts. Bobby is decent in spells but you always know he has a heart in mouth moment and that must effect the defence. 

 

Negatives: 

 

Berra and Souttar. Something just isn’t right with them two at the moment. They are being asked to be on the ball and neither of them look like they enjoy it. Berra will header and tackle anything but he can’t pick a pass. Any form of pressure on the two of them and they panic. Too many times last night they where “almost” caught on the ball or “almost” played the ball too short. 

 

Uche. Sorry but I just can’t see how the big man features in the team going forward. He’s slow, has no touch, carries no goal threat and doesn’t score. His awareness is non existent and he can’t pick a pass. The big man will never work in this side. He will always be seen as a target man or an out ball to Berra and Souttar. Uche with his back to goal is less than useless. Bags of desire and his attitude is bang on, he just isn’t a footballer. Walker, Naismith and Washington will work great together. I don’t see how someone like Uche fits into the side with them. I know people love him and this will annoy folk but it’s just my opinion, I can’t see him doing anything for Hearts. 

 

Like for like subs. We never changed shape during the match, even tho we where being outnumbered in midfield. We have no plan B, we just stick to plan A and hope that by changing the players something will change. We couldn’t get the ball on the deck in the middle of the park as United where man for man in there. Something that plagued us last year was our inability to adapt to what was happening in games and change accordingly. The cup final is a great example of that. Like for like subs with 20/15/10 minutes to go, very rarely change a game. 

 

 

Highlight of the game. The random Chinese man being removed from the main stand for being on his phone??? Stewards just gathered round him and kicked him out. Don’t know if he was streaming the game or something. Was random. 

 

The main stand looks amazing. They’ve done an amazing job over the summer. 

Hard to disagree with any of that 

 

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rick witter

Same old failings different season. 

 

Basic errors at the back. 

Souttar and Berra launching it long as no midfield players confident enough to take control. 

Don’t score enough. 

 

Some decent individual performances but as a team we look exactly the same. A mid table side. 

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I think this season will be much better than last.

 

Washington looks great, what Vanecek should've been. Haring and Naismith still to come, Halkett to settle in.

 

Plus the youngsters like C. Smith, Hickey, McDonald, Cochrane, Irving... a lot more depth we can start to depend upon this time around from the academy.

 

Just the goalkeeper that leaves me a little concerned, but we'll see.

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A_A wehatethehibs

It’s crucial for the likes of Walker, Mulraney, Clare, Washington and Uche to get themselves on the scoresheet in these next few LC group games. These players need to get their goals tally ticking over. Goals is the only way we are going to start winning games. We need to use these games to bang in 5 or 6 and get into the scoring habit. We should have scored more than 1 last night, the scoring form has to be sorted as the top priority. 

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Kirky Jambo

I think some people are a bit hard on Uche. A few infuriating moments last night but his hold up play was good, he won a fair few free kicks and deserved an assist for the pass through to walker. I actually thought he could have had a pen in the lead up to Irving’s red where I thought he got his head to the ball before the keeper caught him.

 

Id like to see us go for a pass and love style of play which may see him lose his place, but for so long as we go with direct tactics I think he is doing ok

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Not much you can take from it tbh. Typical Hearts display in the sense we controlled possession, had the bulk of the chances, yet couldn't win the game.

 

No individual performances blew me away, but I said before the game, majority of the first team players barely kicked a ball in the friendlies so wasn't expecting much.

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avhudtheteeshirt
51 minutes ago, letsalldothebeattie said:

Positives:

We played some decent stuff at times

Michael Smith the guys just reliable

Irving looks a proper player

Hickey looked class yet again give that boy a 10 year deal and a buyout of £100million

Walker good to see him back and looked in decent form got stuck in which is more than he done for spells last time

Washington looked decent enough hopefully goals start to flow in the coming games

 

Negatives

For large spells it was same old same old as last season

Souttar/Berra partnership looked off

Uche for me was poor, should be worried when Naisy signs as he could lose his place 

Two or three times Uche passed to their players in and around the 18 yard box, why was there no Hearts player backing him up?

When Naismith does sign these passes will fall for him as he reads the game so well!!!!

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Mr Elwood P
20 minutes ago, kila said:

I think this season will be much better than last.

 

Washington looks great, what Vanecek should've been. Haring and Naismith still to come, Halkett to settle in.

 

Plus the youngsters like C. Smith, Hickey, McDonald, Cochrane, Irving... a lot more depth we can start to depend upon this time around from the academy.

 

Just the goalkeeper that leaves me a little concerned, but we'll see.

 

Also got White who,  if he gets fit, will be a great mentor for Hickey. 

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Lord Beni of Gorgie

Even with Naismith 2 to 3 short of where we should be. The third is a keeper 2nd a playmaker and first a striker who will finish ruthlessly 

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2 minutes ago, Sir Gio said:

Even with Naismith 2 to 3 short of where we should be. The third is a keeper 2nd a playmaker and first a striker who will finish ruthlessly 

I think Washington could be our striker and Naismith is clinical. Agree with everything else tho. 

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1 hour ago, busby1985 said:

Positives:

 

Walker. Looked lively and direct when we could get him on the ball. Some nice wee touches and passes between him and Washington. 

 

Washington. For his first exposure to Scottish football I thought he never stopped running and always made himself available even tho he wasn’t getting service. Some strikers we’ve had in the past would’ve just sulked at the lack of service, he got on with it. 

 

Hickey. Composed on the ball, great feet and always looking to go forward. Great prospect. 

 

Mikey Smith. Just a top player. 

 

Things to work on: 

 

Shape, again, was wrong. 442 didn’t work and we where outnumbered in midfield. United played 5 in the middle and it stopped Clare and Irving getting on the ball, facing the United goal looking to play forward passes. With the midfield outnumbered we reverted to type, like last season, and played the ball around the back till we played an out ball looking for either Uche or Mulraney. Yes, the 5 foot Mulraney 😂 was often hit with long balls out to him. People will say we dominated possession but the truth is United where happy for us to have the ball as we weren’t hurting them with it and where playing everything in front of them, that’s easy to defend against. 

 

Tempo. Far too slow on the ball. Too many touches. Didn’t get the ball out wide quick enough. When the tempo is that slow it makes players like Washington, Walker and Uche drop into the all ready crowded midfield and they can’t effect the game, especially with their back to the goal. When we did manage to get little over loads out wide we hit decent balls into the middle, Washington should’ve scored his header from Mulraney’s cross. Walker had a few chances too. A change in shape should help the tempo and also Naisy will help that. 

 

Bobby. Again he’s at fault for the goal. His positioning was all wrong. I don’t buy for a second we aren’t looking for a keeper. If Gordon for example becomes available, he’ll be at Hearts. Bobby is decent in spells but you always know he has a heart in mouth moment and that must effect the defence. 

 

Negatives: 

 

Berra and Souttar. Something just isn’t right with them two at the moment. They are being asked to be on the ball and neither of them look like they enjoy it. Berra will header and tackle anything but he can’t pick a pass. Any form of pressure on the two of them and they panic. Too many times last night they where “almost” caught on the ball or “almost” played the ball too short. 

 

Uche. Sorry but I just can’t see how the big man features in the team going forward. He’s slow, has no touch, carries no goal threat and doesn’t score. His awareness is non existent and he can’t pick a pass. The big man will never work in this side. He will always be seen as a target man or an out ball to Berra and Souttar. Uche with his back to goal is less than useless. Bags of desire and his attitude is bang on, he just isn’t a footballer. Walker, Naismith and Washington will work great together. I don’t see how someone like Uche fits into the side with them. I know people love him and this will annoy folk but it’s just my opinion, I can’t see him doing anything for Hearts. 

 

Like for like subs. We never changed shape during the match, even tho we where being outnumbered in midfield. We have no plan B, we just stick to plan A and hope that by changing the players something will change. We couldn’t get the ball on the deck in the middle of the park as United where man for man in there. Something that plagued us last year was our inability to adapt to what was happening in games and change accordingly. The cup final is a great example of that. Like for like subs with 20/15/10 minutes to go, very rarely change a game. 

 

 

Highlight of the game. The random Chinese man being removed from the main stand for being on his phone??? Stewards just gathered round him and kicked him out. Don’t know if he was streaming the game or something. Was random. 

 

The main stand looks amazing. They’ve done an amazing job over the summer. 

Good analogy, well thought out and  summed up. Difficult to disagree with any of it. 

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9 minutes ago, avhudtheteeshirt said:

Two or three times Uche passed to their players in and around the 18 yard box, why was there no Hearts player backing him up?

When Naismith does sign these passes will fall for him as he reads the game so well!!!!

 

Uche didn't have the awareness to know where his team mates were and made a number of wrong decisions.

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We were good but not very good and certainly not excellent

 

A game we should have won by a couple of goals at least

 

We tried to play football and there was a brightness about us for most of the game

 

Even in his short career so far Hickey displays performances way above his age...at this rate he might not be that long with us

 

Irving did well and showed he is worth a look in the first team squad

 

Smith is a very solid right back and with Walker in front of him had a very good game..Walker did well also

 

Washington needs games and put the effort in but he will need to improve

 

Uche looks as though he was told to get the ball in once he had created room rather than dwelling on the ball as per last season but his cut backs etc were poor especially in the first half

 

Of course we need to improve but it was not a performance of doom and gloom

 

We have a few very good first team players still to come into the side and with fitness improving for others improvement should follow

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1 hour ago, busby1985 said:

Positives:

 

Walker. Looked lively and direct when we could get him on the ball. Some nice wee touches and passes between him and Washington. 

 

Washington. For his first exposure to Scottish football I thought he never stopped running and always made himself available even tho he wasn’t getting service. Some strikers we’ve had in the past would’ve just sulked at the lack of service, he got on with it. 

 

Hickey. Composed on the ball, great feet and always looking to go forward. Great prospect. 

 

Mikey Smith. Just a top player. 

 

Things to work on: 

 

Shape, again, was wrong. 442 didn’t work and we where outnumbered in midfield. United played 5 in the middle and it stopped Clare and Irving getting on the ball, facing the United goal looking to play forward passes. With the midfield outnumbered we reverted to type, like last season, and played the ball around the back till we played an out ball looking for either Uche or Mulraney. Yes, the 5 foot Mulraney 😂 was often hit with long balls out to him. People will say we dominated possession but the truth is United where happy for us to have the ball as we weren’t hurting them with it and where playing everything in front of them, that’s easy to defend against. 

 

Tempo. Far too slow on the ball. Too many touches. Didn’t get the ball out wide quick enough. When the tempo is that slow it makes players like Washington, Walker and Uche drop into the all ready crowded midfield and they can’t effect the game, especially with their back to the goal. When we did manage to get little over loads out wide we hit decent balls into the middle, Washington should’ve scored his header from Mulraney’s cross. Walker had a few chances too. A change in shape should help the tempo and also Naisy will help that. 

 

Bobby. Again he’s at fault for the goal. His positioning was all wrong. I don’t buy for a second we aren’t looking for a keeper. If Gordon for example becomes available, he’ll be at Hearts. Bobby is decent in spells but you always know he has a heart in mouth moment and that must effect the defence. 

 

Negatives: 

 

Berra and Souttar. Something just isn’t right with them two at the moment. They are being asked to be on the ball and neither of them look like they enjoy it. Berra will header and tackle anything but he can’t pick a pass. Any form of pressure on the two of them and they panic. Too many times last night they where “almost” caught on the ball or “almost” played the ball too short. 

 

Uche. Sorry but I just can’t see how the big man features in the team going forward. He’s slow, has no touch, carries no goal threat and doesn’t score. His awareness is non existent and he can’t pick a pass. The big man will never work in this side. He will always be seen as a target man or an out ball to Berra and Souttar. Uche with his back to goal is less than useless. Bags of desire and his attitude is bang on, he just isn’t a footballer. Walker, Naismith and Washington will work great together. I don’t see how someone like Uche fits into the side with them. I know people love him and this will annoy folk but it’s just my opinion, I can’t see him doing anything for Hearts. 

 

Like for like subs. We never changed shape during the match, even tho we where being outnumbered in midfield. We have no plan B, we just stick to plan A and hope that by changing the players something will change. We couldn’t get the ball on the deck in the middle of the park as United where man for man in there. Something that plagued us last year was our inability to adapt to what was happening in games and change accordingly. The cup final is a great example of that. Like for like subs with 20/15/10 minutes to go, very rarely change a game. 

 

 

Highlight of the game. The random Chinese man being removed from the main stand for being on his phone??? Stewards just gathered round him and kicked him out. Don’t know if he was streaming the game or something. Was random. 

 

The main stand looks amazing. They’ve done an amazing job over the summer. 

 

Good post.  👍 Totally agree in respect to shape, midfield and Uche.

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David McCaig

No issues with our shape yesterday and although United had an extra man in midfield we were completely dominant.

 

The only changes I would make would be Haring and Naismith for Irving and Clare... Not that I thought that either were poor last night.

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There were positives but we still didn’t win which was frustrating, similar to last season.

 

We seem to be struggling at home these days, only 8 wins last season and the season before. Apart from the relegation season (which was a unique situation) you need to go back to 1999/2000 since we won fewer games at home.

 

We seem to play some nice stuff, have plenty of possession but just lack a killer touch to get the wins.

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7 minutes ago, David McCaig said:

No issues with our shape yesterday and although United had an extra man in midfield we were completely dominant.

 

The only changes I would make would be Haring and Naismith for Irving and Clare... Not that I thought that either were poor last night.

United allowed us to have the ball and we barely created anything from open play. Possessions means nothing if you don’t use it properly. They knew exactly how to play against us, like many teams do. Give us the ball, keep us in front of them and make us try break them down, they know we struggle with that. The goal comes from a set play. Shape didn’t work and doesn’t work with the players we have. I’d imagine the shape will change when Haring and Naismith are fit. We have the squad, just need the manager to start getting a tune out them. 

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21 minutes ago, Saughton Jambo said:

Good analogy, well thought out and  summed up. Difficult to disagree with any of it. 

Easy to disagree with the use of the word "where" when it should be "were" but apart from that I agree.

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2 minutes ago, graygo said:

Easy to disagree with the use of the word "where" when it should be "were" but apart from that I agree.

😂 I’m still hungover from the skyline lounge hospitality GG. Next time I will read it more thoroughly before giving any approval 😉

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4 minutes ago, busby1985 said:

United allowed us to have the ball and we barely created anything from open play. Possessions means nothing if you don’t use it properly. They knew exactly how to play against us, like many teams do. Give us the ball, keep us in front of them and make us try break them down, they know we struggle with that. The goal comes from a set play. Shape didn’t work and doesn’t work with the players we have. I’d imagine the shape will change when Haring and Naismith are fit. We have the squad, just need the manager to start getting a tune out them. 

Aye they just gave us the ball and let us attack them the whole match. 

Do you seriously believe this?

They couldn't string 2 passes together, that's why we had so much of the ball, not some deliberate ploy on their behalf.

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Who_put_the_ball_in...

Enthusiastic about the performances of Hicky and Irvine. Do I think we have improved enough to better 6th place? Probably not.

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1 minute ago, Saughton Jambo said:

😂 I’m still hungover from the skyline lounge hospitality GG. Next time I will read it more thoroughly before giving any approval 😉

Good man. 👍

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1 minute ago, Who_put_the_ball_in... said:

Enthusiastic about the performances of Hicky and Irvine. Do I think we have improved enough to better 6th place? Probably not.

 

How are the team's that finished above us looking?

 

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3 minutes ago, busby1985 said:

United allowed us to have the ball and we barely created anything from open play. Possessions means nothing if you don’t use it properly. They knew exactly how to play against us, like many teams do. Give us the ball, keep us in front of them and make us try break them down, they know we struggle with that. The goal comes from a set play. Shape didn’t work and doesn’t work with the players we have. I’d imagine the shape will change when Haring and Naismith are fit. We have the squad, just need the manager to start getting a tune out them. 

We could have scored half a dozen last night . I know we didn't but to say United let us have the ball is utter nonsense .

Uche was way off the pace initially but his touch got better as the game went on . Don't think he featured in Ireland ? He'll be a major player for us this season.  DU have an excellent centre half pairing , better than many in our league .

Washington , I think will get goals .

Lots of positives , particularly Irving and Hickey 

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9 minutes ago, graygo said:

Aye they just gave us the ball and let us attack them the whole match. 

Do you seriously believe this?

They couldn't string 2 passes together, that's why we had so much of the ball, not some deliberate ploy on their behalf.

They went man for man in midfield and had an extra body, the covered the space and closed down any over loads we had. Was like a training exercise, defence vs attack and United where ready and prepared for it. We barely troubled them from open play. Few glimpses in the first half but nothing to get all worked up about. Our shape didn’t work and it played into Uniteds hands. Poor choice of words from me saying “allowed” but my point is valid. They where prepared for spending the game without the ball and coped with us fairly easily. Most teams do when we have the ball and play the game in front of opposition as we lack width and tempo. 

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ArcticJambo
16 minutes ago, graygo said:

Aye they just gave us the ball and let us attack them the whole match. 

Do you seriously believe this?

They couldn't string 2 passes together, that's why we had so much of the ball, not some deliberate ploy on their behalf.

 

12 minutes ago, johnthomas said:

We could have scored half a dozen last night . I know we didn't but to say United let us have the ball is utter nonsense .

Uche was way off the pace initially but his touch got better as the game went on . Don't think he featured in Ireland ? He'll be a major player for us this season.  DU have an excellent centre half pairing , better than many in our league .

Washington , I think will get goals .

Lots of positives , particularly Irving and Hickey 

 

Don't want to speak for the busby but I get the feeling that this is what he meant ... they couldn't hold the ball for any length of time.  Their CBs and midfield were shocking in possession (you could argue this was down to the pressure too, and I'll concede I was low down opposite end) but the result is the same, we didn't create many clear cut chances (especially in the second) that weren't mistakes or from the breakdown despite them being in disarray on many occasions.  We had a lot of the ball and didn't look particularly impressive against a Championship side. 

 

Early doors of course but if you take the game in isolation and then project onto playing against superior sides in the SPL, it's all a bit dunno!

Edited by ArcticJambo
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ArcticJambo
4 minutes ago, busby1985 said:

They went man for man in midfield and had an extra body, the covered the space and closed down any over loads we had. Was like a training exercise, defence vs attack and United where ready and prepared for it. We barely troubled them from open play. Few glimpses in the first half but nothing to get all worked up about. Our shape didn’t work and it played into Uniteds hands. Poor choice of words from me saying “allowed” but my point is valid. They where prepared for spending the game without the ball and coped with us fairly easily. Most teams do when we have the ball and play the game in front of opposition as we lack width and tempo. 

 

Arbroath did exactly the same, set-up wise and probably a bit better than United last night, albeit against a better class of Hearts player.  Hence the need for a mid that can get past his marker and drive on, which in turn moves defenders around.

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David McCaig
45 minutes ago, busby1985 said:

United allowed us to have the ball and we barely created anything from open play. Possessions means nothing if you don’t use it properly. They knew exactly how to play against us, like many teams do. Give us the ball, keep us in front of them and make us try break them down, they know we struggle with that. The goal comes from a set play. Shape didn’t work and doesn’t work with the players we have. I’d imagine the shape will change when Haring and Naismith are fit. We have the squad, just need the manager to start getting a tune out them. 

I thought we missed a stack of good chances Walker, Uche and Washington all missed a sitter apiece.

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rick witter
24 minutes ago, busby1985 said:

They went man for man in midfield and had an extra body, the covered the space and closed down any over loads we had. Was like a training exercise, defence vs attack and United where ready and prepared for it. We barely troubled them from open play. Few glimpses in the first half but nothing to get all worked up about. Our shape didn’t work and it played into Uniteds hands. Poor choice of words from me saying “allowed” but my point is valid. They where prepared for spending the game without the ball and coped with us fairly easily. Most teams do when we have the ball and play the game in front of opposition as we lack width and tempo. 

Spot on. We lack the creativity to break teams down and even when we do get one or 2 half chances our strikers can’t take them. 

We are not and still don’t look like a team that can score 2 or 3 goals in a game to win in convincingly. 

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JamboGraham

It was yet another typical Hearts performance against a team coming to Tynecastle for a draw/sneak a win on the break. It was the same on Monday night against Inverness. Over half the league play this way against us week after week in the league. We need to start taking a greater percentage of our chances.

 

Yet again we dominated possession, created more than enough chances and failed to take almost all of them. This puts incredible strain on the backline and goalkeeper (who are not without fault or question) but our inability to score at the other end puts excessive reliance on our defence to keep a clean sheet. 16 shots last night, 6 on target, 1 goal. Its simply not a good enough return.

 

This inability to convert chances also brings individual referee decisions into play more than they should, by that I mean decisions going against are more critical due to the unnecessarily tight nature of the score line.

 

We can debate all day about shape, tempo, subs, etc. but once again the shape, tempo, subs, etc. created more than enough chances to comfortably win the game.

 

Our inability to convert our chances is crippling us.

Edited by JamboGraham
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21 minutes ago, JamboGraham said:

It was yet another typical Hearts performance against a team coming to Tynecastle for a draw/sneak a win on the break. It was the same on Monday night against Inverness. Over half the league play this way against us week after week in the league. We need to start taking a greater percentage of our chances.

 

Yet again we dominated possession, created more than enough chances and failed to take almost all of them. This puts incredible strain on the backline and goalkeeper (who are not without fault or question) but our inability to score at the other end puts excessive reliance on our defence to keep a clean sheet. 16 shots last night, 6 on target, 1 goal. Its simply not a good enough return.

 

This inability to convert chances also brings individual referee decisions into play more than they should, by that I mean decisions going against are more critical due to the unnecessarily tight nature of the score line.

 

We can debate all day about shape, tempo, subs, etc. but once again the shape, tempo, subs, etc. created more than enough chances to comfortably win the game.

 

Our inability to convert our chances is crippling us.

Fair summary.

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Pants Shaton

Agree with most of the analysis.

 

Thought we were decent last night.

 

Uche is difficult to assess - did a lot of hard stuff well and then the easy part badly.  

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been here before

Probably more positives than negatives but as its only the first real game of the season lm not getting too worked up or concerned.

 

The game should have been buried by an hour though.

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been here before
Just now, Pants Shaton said:

 

 

Uche is difficult to assess - did a lot of hard stuff well and then the easy part badly.  

 

As with all these 'surprise' players, team soon find a way kf playing against them. Utd doubled up on him each time he got the ball. The trick is getting him to find the pass to exploit that.

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I was interested to see if Neilson has been able to adapt and change since he was at us but no....go a goal up then defend for the rest of the game. Not unlike a Neilson team to lose a goal with a minute to go (first half at least) Some of their fans were frustrated by this tactic, not unsurprisingly. So it looks like a hard struggle for them to get out of the Championship once again.

As for ourselves....taking the conditions into account, Hickey got man of the match, he really is a great wee player and reminds me of Gary Naysmith at that age. I would just keep him in the team for now until form drops, which i will in time. Berra and Souttar were just...well, Berra and Souttar, Michael Smith was as solid and dependable as you'd expect, Walker looked a threat but maybe should've been taken off at halftime, he was knackered. Uche looked a bit short of sharpness and needs to look up more before making a pass, Mulraney looked dangerous with his pace and crosses, Not sure about Conor Washington, didn't really do a lot but still early days. Irving looks decent, scored a goal and looked like he was quite prepared to hit on sight a couple of times. Sean Clare....pretty unconvincing in midfield, needs to get more involved. Thought he looked anonymous during the game at times.

Tough game as expected, weather ruined the game as well as the ref who could've booked more Utd players and could've easilly had three of them sent off for late challenges or second yellows. At least our penalties were all well taken.

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Positives :

- penalty taking 

- Bobby saved a penalty 

- youth players standing out 

- first half we switched play quickly into Mulraney and Walker who took men on (not aimless punts)

- Washington looks very intelligent, talks through the game and reads the space. He could link very well with an intelligent partner like Naismith 

- Souttar in possession 

- that team was still missing Halkett, Haring, Naismith, who should tighten up the middle of the park/spine 

- Jamie Walker looked very sharp and willing to work 

 

Negatives:

- Uche, relying on strength and got caught up in wrestling 

- missed too many chances, first half especially 

- decision making in the final third, cut backs to Dundee United defenders 

- subs, took too long to introduce fresh legs when out players looked tired and it's still pre season 

- new season, same Clancy. Brutal ref 

- gifted them a goal through our errors, much like the cup final. 

Edited by jambo19
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siegementality
1 hour ago, graygo said:

 

How are the team's that finished above us looking?

 

So we are looking for teams to have went backwards rather than us improve?

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