Why Hearts' defeat to Aberdeen raises more questions than answers

In recent years, the trip north to Aberdeen has been one that Heart of Midlothian fans have approached with justifiable trepidation. The last seven visits to Pittodrie resulted in the men in maroon making the journey back home with nothing to show for their exertions. Historically, it has not been an accommodating venue.

That wasn’t the case on Saturday, though. Steven Naismith’s side travelled to the Granite City to face an Aberdeen team that has been out-of-sorts, to say the least. With the Dons occupying eleventh place in the Premiership standings and with just three league wins under their belts this term – and manager Barry Robson under severe pressure – this was a terrific opportunity for Hearts to end their winless run in the north east and finally put that unwanted record to bed.

For the opening 45 minutes, it looked as though they would do just that. Amid the swirling rain and howling wind, the visitors started pretty well at Pittodrie. There was a nervousness from the home support, with every poor touch or misplaced pass met with frustrated grumbles and groans – something that played into Hearts’ hands. The away fans would have hoped for a victory, but their hosts needed one. That urgency creeped in from the stands onto the park, to the point where Aberdeen were rushing their attacks and taking the wrong options.

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When Hearts took the lead from that rarest of all beasts – a goal directly from a corner kick – the effect became even more pronounced. The home fans weren’t shy about letting their feelings be known as the tension was ratcheted up. Hearts, for their part, remained unflappable. In truth, they hadn’t offered too much in possession – but off the ball, they were excellent at restricting the Dons to a few half-chances that didn’t seriously trouble Zander Clark in goal. Naismith’s game plan was working.

The first half was a professional if unspectacular display from the away side, but the second was anything but. Aberdeen, who had looked to hit Hearts on the counter when attacking in the first half, opted for a change in strategy. Now, the Dons were playing direct. Long balls forward were usually repelled in the first instance by Hearts’ centre-halves, but there was a huge gap in between the defensive and midfield lines – a gap that was soon filled by onrushing Aberdeen players as the hosts committed more men forward.

It soon became apparent that the tide had turned. Hearts increasingly found themselves pinned back deep within their own territory, unable to get forward with any sort of purpose. A few dangerous-looking Aberdeen attacks were repelled before the inevitable happened and Bojan Miovski drew the Dons level on 52 minutes. The momentum, it seemed, had irrevocably shifted. The only question now was: how would Hearts respond?

The short answer? They didn’t. Naismith turned to his bench, first bringing on Kyosuke Tagawa and Jorge Grant, followed soon after by Aidan Denholm and Craig Halkett – but the result was the same. It was one-way traffic by this point, and it was no longer a matter of which side would get the next goal. The only point of debate was who would score for Aberdeen and when, and so it was no surprise when Leighton Clarkson rifled in a 92nd-minute winner.

Naismith was scathing in his post-match assessment. “We beat ourselves today, if I'm honest,” said the Hearts head coach. “After being in control for so long and doing so well, we end up getting bullied and that's inevitably what has cost us. As Aberdeen started going more direct, we didn't deal with the first contacts enough or the second balls. Any 50-50 duel, we didn't win enough of them. That gave them a bit of momentum. Ultimately, that's what cost us.”

Naismith isn’t wrong, but the lack of any sort of meaningful response will be an understandable concern for Hearts supporters. When the former Scotland internationalist first landed the top job at Tynecastle Park, he promised forward-thinking football, vowing to never simply sit back and grind out an ugly win.

“[Hearts supporters] want a team that goes into every game trying to win it,” Naismith told Hearts TV shortly after being appointed. “Not one that that’s going to defend or hold out for a draw or a 1-0 lead. I was like that as a player. I wanted to be on the front foot, and enjoyed having the ball and creating opportunities. I want to play entertaining football. That’s easy to say and harder to implement.”

Those final few words appear prophetic indeed, and they have occasionally been used as a stick to beat Naismith with. This Hearts side have lots of qualities, but regularly creating chances and being merciless in front of goal are not among them. Since the start of the season Hearts haven’t scored more than twice in any Premiership match, and have only won by more than a solitary goal twice.

READ MORE: Steven Naismith insists 'bullied' Hearts beat themselves in Aberdeen defeat - Q&A

The marketing material doesn’t really match up with the reality at this point of Naismith’s reign, but that is far easier to forgive when the team are getting results regardless. The recent wins over Livingston, Motherwell, St Johnstone and Kilmarnock weren’t exactly thrill-a-minute, edge-of-your-seat stuff, but Hearts were at least hard to break down and were worthy winners on each occasion.

The same cannot be said of Hearts’ performance at Pittodrie. They surrendered the initiative all too easily and when everything was said and done, few could have any complaints about the final result. The battling qualities we have seen lately were conspicuous by their absence in the north east, and the team’s inability to create any sort of meaningful chance in the second half was a bitter disappointment.

Naismith must now draw a line under the display, but it cannot simply be written off as a bad day at the office. Hearts were out-fought and out-thought at Pittodrie, and the nature of the second-half collapse raises more questions than answers. With trips to Celtic Park and Easter Road on the horizon, Naismith and his coaching staff need to find solutions of how to respond when the going gets tough.

There are plenty of lessons to be learned from Saturday’s defeat – time will tell if Naismith and his backroom team will take them on board.