Why Michael Steinwender has been playing right-back for Hearts

In fairness, the position has a troubled recent history at the club and the whole right flank of the current team has not been nearly as settled as the regular Harry Milne-Alexandros Kyziridis combo on the other side.

Derek McInnes noted as much recently, and the fact that the right wing/midfield has not had an established starter all season has had a knock-on effect on the right-back.

The arrival of Islam Chesnokov in January, who for now at least appears to have the right-wing position to lose, should ease the troubles.

The Kazakh winger started ahead of Steinwender in the most recent win last weekend and Hearts recorded a clean sheet, keeping Falkirk at arm’s length for most of the 90 minutes.

Like many other sides this season, the Bairns looked to attack down Hearts’ right and Steinwender was tasked with man-marking Calvin Miller.

The Austrian performed well, barely putting a foot wrong. There was a moment in each half when his pass or touch put the ball out of play, but it was no worse than the mistakes made by the other three defenders on the day. Defensively, he was sound.

Yet, before and after the match, Steinwender’s inclusion didn’t sit well with some Hearts fans.

He was an early Jamestown Analytics signing from Neil Critchley's time in charge. Arriving in January last year, he helped improve a poorly performing team, forming an effective centre-back partnership alongside fellow winter transfer window recruit Jamie McCart.

A red card in the Scottish Cup semi-final a few months later and Steinwender has barely been used in his natural position since.

When he returned from suspension, Liam Fox had taken charge on an interim basis and turned mostly to the players who had been at the club from the start of the season.

While McInnes is a fan of Steinwender, competition in central defence has limited his game time. This is mainly down to the form and fitness of Craig Halkett, who missed a lot of last season with injury.

However, there has been a spot for Steinwender at right-back, especially when Oisin McEntee has been unavailable. 

Two natural right-backs have been signed during Steinwender’s time at the club but McInnes’ preference, more often than not, for McEntee or the Austrian has not gone down well with everyone. 

Yes, Steinwender has made mistakes this season, but there isn’t a player in the team who hasn’t. He is blamed by some for Easter Road when the entire starting XI had an off day.

More recently, Steinwender sliced the ball into his own net at Ibrox, but that, while a clear error, was just one of those things and nothing to do with the position he was playing.

The fact is that, as well as making a few errors, Steinwender has been excellent in wins at Celtic Park, the Falkirk Stadium and at home to Rangers. He also came on at half-time at Dens Park, with his team down to 10 men, to deal with Dundee’s most dangerous player Tony Yogane. And he was part of the side that defeated St Mirren a few days later when Hearts played most of the game a man down. There are more examples.

McInnes trusts his 1v1 defending and, according to Statsbomb (in the graphs below), Steinwender has this season performed almost as well as Milne when it comes to the number of times he is dribbled past and he slightly outperforms Milne for the percentage of dribbles successfully defended. 

Yet some Hearts fans want a more natural right-back. Preferably one that gets forward.

The club went into last month’s transfer window needing to fill the position and snapped up Jordi Altena almost as soon as it opened. The Dutchman is stereotypically a very good technical footballer, his crosses are a threat and he is no stranger to a goal.

However, the full-back has started just four times since his arrival. A converted midfielder – and a winger before that – it was pointed out in our scout report when he signed that there is work to be done defensively.

Altena had only been playing at right-back for around six months before he joined and was perhaps viewed more as a summer arrival, but when interest grew in the player, Hearts made their move.

There is a good chance, as with many Jamestown signings, that we will not see the best of him until next season, when he is more acclimatised. 

Maybe if Hearts had kicked on from winning most weeks to winning comfortably and dominating each week, we would have seen more of Altena. The same goes if Hearts were having a more ‘normal’ season and currently fighting for the European places. That theory extends to the likes of James Wilson and Sabah Kerjota, who likely would have had more game time were the club not competing for its first Premiership title in 66 years.

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For now, McInnes prefers someone who can defend better in the right-back position, especially if the opponent has a threat on the left. Defending against these threats is where Altena needs to improve and is why Steinwender replaced him at half-time at Dens Park. Altena had struggled against Yogane.

There is a line of argument that Hearts shouldn’t be worrying about the opposition, and there may be some individual cases when McInnes has been guilty of worrying too much about this. But the Hearts boss's meticulous focus on the opposition is part of the reason why Hearts are top of the league.

Hearts aren’t in a position to go out every week without worrying about how other teams can hurt them; only Celtic and Rangers at the peak of their powers can do that. Most victories have been narrow and being on the right side of the margins more often than not is why they enjoy a four-point lead at the top of the league. Being defensively sound is a big part of it.

McInnes wants to play, ideally with two strikers and two wingers. Against Falkirk, it was a front three with Tomas Magnusson joining them from midfield. A balance is needed elsewhere and it is why, more often than not, a defensive option is preferred at right-back.

Just like McEntee, it may not be Steinwender’s natural position, but his skillset works for how McInnes wants to play – not least for providing an aerial presence down that side.

It’s why we’ve only seen Altena from the start in matches that Hearts are expected to dominate possession. And it’s why we only saw Borchgrevink at home to Kilmarnock and as a wing-back on the side of a back three against Aberdeen.

The story of the Norwegian is more complex than Altena’s. Borchgrevink arrived at the club in the summer after signing pre-contract ahead of McInnes' arrival. As mentioned, he started in the Premiership opener but has been unlucky with persistent fitness issues. That has precluded him from ever getting a proper run in the team.

So while a more attacking right-back may be a regular feature of the side in future, for now McInnes is looking for more insurance in the position, and it's working.

It has other benefits: allowing Milne more license to get forward on the other side and, relatedly, giving the formation the flexibility to become lopsided and essentially a back three in possession.

It is understandable for questions to be asked when two right-backs have been signed, yet a midfielder and a centre-back have played the vast majority of the games in the position.

However, some of the blame levelled at Steinwender has been disproportionate relative to the attention his team-mates receive and, at times, over the top.

The Austrian has played a key role as McInnes has sought a balance that gives his team the best chance to win a game. It is a balance that has taken Hearts to the top of the Scottish Premiership going into March.