Hearts transfer review: How new signings have fared

In this article, we will separate each player's performance into three categories - attacking, passing, and defending - and compare their performance in a maroon shirt with their most recent season elsewhere. These players are compared against others in similar positions and have played a sufficient number of minutes. The figures are displayed as percentiles. The higher the percentile, the better they are performing. For example, if you have the best goals-per-90 data in the league, you’d be in the 99th percentile. If you haven’t scored, you’d be in the first percentile with everyone else who was yet to score.

Kenneth Vargas

Attacking

Vargas has recently come under some scrutiny due to his lack of goal involvement this season. Thankfully, we saw the attacker get off the mark with a game-winning goal against Livingston, and hope that will open the floodgates for the fiery Costa Rican. Previously he hadn’t had such issues, ranking well in both goals and assists in his homeland. The 21-year-old has taken less shots so far in Scotland, so he may be taking time to acclimatise and get over some early nerves. If he’s able to be braver and take shots when he gets half-chances, he may be able to rack up some more goals.

Passing

From this graph it looks as if Vargas is less likely to be heavily involved, and more likely to be an impact player. Although it sounds counterintuitive, I think it may be a bit worrying that his passing accuracy and passing accuracy to the final third are both substantially greater in Scotland. To me, this shows he’s playing it safe instead of taking the riskier pass. Fans have been vocal about the lack of creativity in attack, and this seems to be evident here. Is it a tactical choice, a player not wanting to risk a pass or a lack of more enticing options to aim for?

Defending

The main change in Vargas’ defensive stats is the distinct difference in successful duels and aerial duels between the two seasons. This shows to me either a stylistic difference between the two leagues, or a difference in how Vargas has been utilised. The Costa Rican league is pretty physical, and Vargas seems to enjoy the physical battle, so has he been told to not be as involved in duels and instead hold his shape?

READ MORE: The key changes that show how Hearts' first-team regulars are evolving

Frankie Kent

Attacking

Kent contributed two goals and two assists for Peterborough last season, and his lack of goal contributions are the main difference in this section of his graph. We see a player who ranks highly with successful dribbles in both seasons but has been more likely to make progressive runs in Hearts colours. Let’s hope he starts hitting the target with his shots, as a few goal contributions this season I’m sure would be welcomed by Hearts fans.

Passing

Kent has been consistent during both seasons. He gets on the ball a lot and is highly accurate with his passing. There’s not much to dive into this section. I don’t think we need to investigate the 94-percentile difference in his crossing accuracy at this stage (but maybe we can try him on the right wing if he keeps this up!).

Defending

Kent most recently played in League One in England, in a team that were enjoying their football towards the top of the league. The stylistic differences in the league, a difference in centre-back partnerships, as well as the differences in how teams set up against his side probably highlight the main differences in his defensive stats. Hearts and Peterborough fans will hail Kent as a warrior and a ball-winner, but the data from his last season in England doesn't tell that story. With fewer duels and aerial duels, it’s possible that teams either used the long ball sparingly and only when it was a good option, or his central defensive partner was another of the ball-winning mould. In maroon, he’s the player that strikers will avoid when looking to compete in a duel, due to his strong physical presence. Attackers try to play off the physically weaker Kye Rowles, and in turn it either leaves a weaker attacker up against Kent, or the Englishman will be free to attack a ball without an opposition player tight on him.

READ MORE: How recruitment works at Hearts and the transfer process

Calem Nieuwenhof

Attacking

A player who has split opinion so far in his Hearts career. The 22-year-old has travelled to the other side of the world on the back of a breakout season in Australia that left him on the receiving end of an abundance of praise from pundits in his homeland. One of the main reasons the Aussie has split opinion is down to the misunderstanding of what his role within a team should look like. Some fans have seen a YouTube video or two, and expect him to be a Colin Cameron or Paul Hartley-style box-to-box midfielder who’ll create an abundance of chances and contribute to goals being scored. While he potentially could grow into that role, he only began to contribute to goals in his last season in Australia. He’s yet to record a goal or assist in Scotland but he’s been improving in confidence as time’s gone by. If he can start adding to the scoresheet, then Hearts fans will begin to further appreciate the Under-23 internationalist.

Passing

With a pretty similar shape being seen on both sides of the graph, Nieuwenhof has been pretty consistent in his passing stats between the two seasons. An accomplished passer, who is above average in most passing metrics. While he might not light the place on fire with his range of passing, he likes to get involved and retain possession with accurate passes.

Defending

The area I believe he stands out. His positioning and movement off the ball sees him finding good areas to close down players. He may not be involved in a vast amount of ground or aerial duels, but wins a high percentage of the duels he’s involved in. While he may not be involved in a vast amount of duels, he’ll instead use his positioning to create interceptions. He’s a lot like his countryman Cammy Devlin in a defensive aspect.

READ MORE: Why next 8 games are defining for Steven Naismith at Hearts - and Motherwell is huge

Kyosuke Tagawa

Tagawa has played the least out of the players featured in this article. Going by the above data, it’s evident why. But this can be a lesson to supporters both in how scouting works and how it’s important to give certain players time to adapt. Tagawa spent last season on loan at Portuguese Primeira Liga strugglers Santa Clara, a team who finished rock bottom of the league. The team were low on confidence, scored the joint lowest goals (26), and had the second lowest possession (42.8 per cent). This doesn’t exactly bode well for an attacking player, no matter how talented. A certain Lawrence Shankland had a similar experience prior to joining Hearts, but had the luxury of knowing the Scottish leagues and being able to speak the language and have the support of family. Tagawa hasn’t.

Sporting director Joe Savage revealed to Hearts Standard the club were keeping tabs on Tagawa for a long period of time, so instead of judging him in his most recent season, I’ve taken a look back to his time in Japan. Whilst at FC Tokyo, Tagawa played at every youth level for the national team, and achieved two caps for the senior national team.

Attacking

Tagawa racked up a high number of goals per 90 minutes for the Japanese club, as well as having a high xG number. He was an attacker who managed a high number of shots, and had a lot of touches in the box. If he can replicate this form in Scotland, he will do well.

Passing

On top of his lower numbers for dribbles, offensive duels and assists, his lack of positives in the passing metrics helps to paint the picture of a player who may not be heavily involved and providing link up play, but one who is more of an impact player. He’ll look to find himself in positions in the box to take shots and score goals.

Defending

Tagawa has proven that he can not only be above average in his success rate in duels, but can also use his height to win the ball in the air. He’s not been as successful so far in Scotland, but the sample size for his data this season is fairly small, with the player only playing 154 minutes in the league.

I’m hopeful that Tagawa will be a successful transfer for the Gorgie club. If the fans can be patient and supportive of him, and we are able to regain the form that led to his national team call-up, then we will have a good player on our hands.

READ MORE: The importance of Hearts B: Pathway, periodisation, investment and its future

Yutaro Oda

Oda seems to have been around forever, but only signed in January. It took until the final six games of the season for him to become a regular, so it’s only fair that he’s included in this article.

Attacking

From an attacking standpoint, the Japanese Under-23 internationalist is a standout. Funnily enough, the majority of his attacking stats are polar opposites between seasons. At Hearts, Oda has shown this season that he can contribute goals, and has done so by finding accuracy in his shooting. At Vissel Kobe, he stood out on most of the other metrics. He showed that he would provide assists, perform a high level of dribbles, and be involved and win a high level of offensive duels. If he can keep up his goal scoring and shooting accuracy, and return to the levels of his other attacking stats whilst in Japan, this fan favourite could really become a cult hero for Hearts.

Passing

A fairly average looking passing area of the graph isn’t entirely strange to see in an exciting wide attacking player. These types of players are usually more impact players, and don’t look as impressive in passing metrics. For Oda, I’d be much more interested in him improving his attacking metrics, and less worried about what the passing section of the graph looks like. It is encouraging that the number of passes into the final third and their accuracy are higher, and I'd hope that we can see a similar trend with his crossing data going forward.

Defending

Oda’s work rate and intensity means he’s involved in a good amount of duels, and manages a high number of interceptions. If he could learn to be more disciplined in his defensive side and increase the percentage of duels that he wins, he could really be an asset to Hearts with his off-the-ball work. I think that even if his defensive data doesn’t look too impressive currently, I'd still argue that the speed and intensity he shows at times will lead to a high number of turnovers from misplaced passes.

Note: Alex Lowry and Odel Offiah were not included due to a lack of data available from previous seasons, owing to a lack of minutes at first-team level.