Heart of Midlothian were rightly praised for their goalscoring prowess from set pieces earlier in the season.
Back in July, head coach Derek McInnes even joked that set-piece coach Ross Grant had been his “best signing so far”.
That was during the Premier Sports Cup group stage and a run in which centre-backs Craig Halkett and Stuart Findlay, between them, scored six goals in the first six games of the season. Halkett went on to have a three-game scoring streak in league matches a few months later and netted another goal in the 1-0 win over Livingston in January. Stuart Findlay scored vital goals at home against Rangers and Celtic.
It wasn’t just those two on the scoresheet in those early stages of the campaign. All but one of the central defenders scored during the League Cup group stage.
It carried into the Scottish Premiership season. The second goal in the opening game against Aberdeen and the two goals to come from behind at Dundee United the week after – even the penalty won that day was via a corner.
Between those opening league fixtures, Oisin McEntee headed in a corner against St Mirren in the cup, meaning Hearts scored from a set piece in their opening seven matches of the season.
Hearts also had set-piece goals to thank in wins on the road at Livingston, Kilmarnock and Celtic Park.
Not all of the goals mentioned above were directly from set plays. Some were the second or third ball after a flick-on. Others, like Halkett's goal against Livingston, were from the second phase: returning the ball quickly after it is cleared.
The Statsbomb radar below takes metrics related to attacking set pieces and compares Hearts from the start of the season until the start of the year (blue) with this calendar year (red). It only takes league matches into account.
Hearts aren’t creating as many good quality chances as they were from set pieces and aren’t getting as many shots away as they were before the turn of the year.
It is something the coaching staff is aware of and is actively addressing.
“We've had a couple of set-play meetings this week. I think sometimes for us, from our point of view, we're trying to get the balance right," said McInnes.
“Being top of the league for so long would suggest that we normally get the balance right. Results show between attacking and defending. And set plays can sometimes be the catalyst in games. I think of the game at Kilmarnock, get yourselves in front. And you move on from that.
“There's been other games, 1-0 at Livingston. There's games where a set play has got us up and running. “I think when you lose Lawrence [Shankland] and your team and maybe not been as free scoring as we were in recent weeks, then more emphasis is placed on the set plays."
There are a few related reasons for the drop-off.
Firstly, it’s natural for opposition teams to focus more on how to counteract Hearts’ strengths, be it from open play or from set plays. Teams will have cottoned on to some of the methods deployed and come up with ways to nullify them.
It is then up to McInnes, Grant and the rest of the coaching staff to find ways around that. Although that has been hindered somewhat by recent injuries. Hearts have been hit hard in this respect since January and it has affected their set-piece output like it has other areas of their attack.
McInnes’ side is largely solid defensively and has been for the vast majority of the season. Only Motherwell have conceded fewer league goals, for example.
But their attacking output has suffered across the board in recent months, mainly due to Shankland's absence. The captain was the top scorer when he was ruled out and his leadership and know-how in the final third have been missed as much as his goals.
His return, maybe as soon as this weekend against Dundee, cannot come soon enough.
Shankland is not a towering defender always looking to get first contact on set plays but he is still one of the main threats in such situations; a threat in the air but also from anticipating knock-downs and the like. He is one less problem for opposition defences to worry about during set plays.
Another huge miss in the box – in a figurative and a literal sense – has been Oisin McEntee.
In fact, Hearts’ drop-off in this area correlates with the midfielder’s recent injuries. The chart below shows the Irishman’s league minutes. He has missed more games than he has started this year and, given his stature, it is no surprise Hearts have been less of a threat during that time.
It’s not necessarily his goals, he only has two this season, one of those in the league – though an important one in the win at Celtic Park. But he is the type to get first contact, sometimes to the benefit of others, like for Claudio Braga’s equaliser against Celtic in the 2-2 draw at Tynecastle.
If he is not doing that, McEntee is at the very least occupying one of the tallest players or best headers of the ball in the opposition ranks.
Findlay is another who has been missing recently through injury and, taken together with the other absences, reduces the threat in the opposition box significantly.
Arguably, another issue is the quality of the deliveries. This was the case in the recent game at Kilmarnock. Hearts had nine corners, eight of them from the left and after Alexandros Kyziridis' first couple of attempts were poor, he was replaced on them by Marc Leonard.
That was something of a one-off, however; there are few, if any, games this season when the set-piece deliveries have been as poor as that.
Read more
- Derek McInnes on Hearts set-pieces meetings and possible Shankland and Devlin return
- Hearts injury hope for Beni Baningime and Harry Milne and Tomas Magnusson update
- Cammy Devlin's view on Hearts contract situation and what he told McInnes and Jones
Free kicks and corners can be the difference in tight games and the Hearts boss suggests they could be the difference in a tight Scottish Premiership title race.
“You need to look at different reasons for it," added McInnes. “We're aware of set plays. There's been a wee downturn in that and I think there's various factors for why that's been.
“But it's something we're conscious of. It's something we're discussing. It's something we want to try and work at to try and be the best. Because you never know between now and the last eight games.
“The team who is the most productive with set plays might just make the difference. So it's something that we're really aware of."
