Derek McInnes was correct to point out that team selection was not the reason for Heart of Midlothian's defeat in Sunday’s Edinburgh derby.
The same 11 players who started the game have all been a huge part of why they lead the Scottish Premiership at the halfway stage.
Even looking at more recent results, the same players – other than one or two enforced changes – were responsible for three impressive results in a row against Celtic, Falkirk and Rangers. Results that rekindled the title-challenge debate and led some commentators to go one further.
If a wake-up call was needed, it was delivered in 60 out-of-sorts minutes on Saturday at Easter Road.
"We've had loads of plaudits this season about how we play, the goals we score, the individual element of our team, but we don't do the basics well enough today. It's as simple as that,” said Derek McInnes after the game.
“You can look at team selection, you can look at all the rest of it, but [for the first goal] we don't stop a switch of play, we don't stop a cross and we don't match a run.
"Basics in any game, particularly a derby game, need to be done. We've got the way we've got this season, not by being Barcelona, not by being something that we think we are and we're not, but by doing the basics well and playing from that. We never did that well enough.”
This is certainly true of the first-half performance. Some have questioned the inclusion of Michael Steinwender after he failed to stop Nicky Cadden’s cross for Jamie McGrath’s opener and went on to have a difficult first half.
Naturally, after such a result, a centre-back playing at right-back is an easy target. Some fans question why right-back Christian Borchgrevink isn’t playing. However, Steinwender barely put a foot wrong in the three games before and McInnes, fairly often, has asked whoever is in that position to tuck in as a third centre-back. It's why Steinwender and, before him, Oisin McEntee, have largely performed well in the role.
Borchgrevink was signed under the previous head coach and doesn’t appear to be the type of full-back McInnes is looking for, at least in a back four.
The right-hand side has been an issue all season, something referenced even after wins, but McInnes has managed to find solutions for the most part. The fact that Hearts look set to add a right-back next month suggests he doesn’t quite have the bodies he wants for the position.
There was also a case to bring back Beni Baningime from the start, especially after his performance in the second half. But after only making his return the week before from an injury lay-off, it was decided that a substitute appearance would be best for the midfielder.
There are also growing calls for Sabah Kerjota to get more game time. Justifiably so after another eye-catching performance off the bench, and he may well have played his way into contention. But no one could grumble with Hearts lining up with the same front three that hit form over the last three matches.
Other than Hibs’ two goals, caused by individual errors, the first half was fairly even, and it could have been a different game had Lawrence Shankland taken his chance.
That was another big disappointment on the day: not working goalkeeper Raphael Sallinger until well into the second half.
Half-time changes
It was at the start of the second half when Hearts were really under the cosh. And they could have been further behind than three before their late rally.
Had Hearts been just one goal down going into the break, maybe the changes would have been more subtle. But after McGrath crossed from almost exactly the same position as Cadden had for the opener and Josh Campbell made it 2-0 just before half-time, McInnes responded with a double change and a different formation.
As the Hearts boss explained afterwards, Harry Milne coming on at right-wingback was designed to keep tabs on McGrath.
Milne has done a defensive role on that side to great effect before and the change did help to nullify McGrath. Where it can be awkward is going the other way. He can look cumbersome in possession at times, in a way that he doesn’t on his natural side.
There are also times when he doesn’t make the same run a winger, or a natural right-side wing-back, would or isn't on the same wavelength as a team-mate.
In this example, Milne does well to find Baningime inside and the midfielder plays the perfect threaded through ball.
Unfortunately, Milne holds his run rather than move into the space that Baningime finds and Hibs retrieve possession.
On the other side, Alexandros Kyziridis was moved to left-wingback, which had both positive and negative results.
Once again, the goal, as well as a few of the other Hibs chances, is down to an individual error – a poor decision, this time from Stuart Findlay. The defender went on to have a torrid spell, at one point challenging his own player for the ball.
Some of his errors were his own doing, although there were times when his options were limited due to Kyziridis pushing up higher than a more natural wing-back would.
The example below was typical of the start to the second half. Craig Halkett finds Findlay with a pass, but Kyziridis (out of shot) has pushed up high, limiting the defender's options.
Smelling blood after spurning an opportunity to put Hibs 4-0 up, Josh Mulligan pressed Findlay, forcing him back to the goalkeeper.
For that period after half time, the home side were able to either exploit the spaces behind Kyziridis or else force him back to defend areas he didn’t want to be in – as willing as he is in a defensive sense.
In an attacking sense, you saw glimpses of what Hearts have missed from him when he plays on his more natural side. The tricky winger was responsible for creating the chances to get Hearts back into the game, and almost responsible for setting up an equaliser were it not for a fantastic reaction save from Sallinger.
By the end of the game, Kyziridis had more successful dribbles than anyone else and had created more chances than anyone else. He was joint third in the list for the total number of shots behind Shankland and Kieron Bowie.
The vast majority of that came in the second half when he was on the left and up against Kanayo Megwa and, later, Chris Cadden.
Even in the first half, Hearts looked more dangerous down the left than the right, mainly through two Stephen Kingsley crosses. However, there were a couple of times when Claudio Braga, in a promising position, either chose the wrong option or lacked the technical ability of Kyziridis to beat his man.
Conclusion
Hearts’ late rally wasn’t enough to salvage a point or to save face from almost falling further than three goals behind after a nightmare start to the second half.
All they have done is avoid their worst derby defeat in decades and possibly taken the tiniest bit of encouragement from almost digging themselves out of a 3-0 hole for the second time this season.
It would have been interesting to see how the second half would have panned out, whether Hearts would have settled into their shape better, had they not conceded the third so early. The third goal led to a period of panic in which Hibs pressed aggressively and exploited the spaces. Hearts could have been on the end of an embarrassing scoreline at one point.
At the same time, it would be good to see Kyziridis moved back to his natural position after his second-half display. It may not happen immediately, but the addition of Islam Cesnokov will add to the right-sided options, hopefully freeing up Kyziridis to play on the left more often.
As we wrote in the aftermath of the defeat at the weekend, Hearts were out-derbied by Hibs.
That is the main reason for the defeat. Hibs’ goals were easily prevented and Hearts, solid defensively for a while now, were two goals behind at the break because they didn't do the basics, especially for the opener.
But Hearts also took a while to settle into their new shape at the start of the second half. The half-time changes solved some problems but, after conceding again so early, they created one or two more.
And Kyziridis' second-half performance, once Hearts eventually settled, showed exactly what the winger can do playing on his natural side.
