4 key reasons for Hearts' huge defensive improvement

But, with that revelation out of the way, an effective and impressive defence will be key in helping Hearts land third spot and a return to the group stages of European football.

Saturday's 1-0 win over St Johnstone brought the team their fifth clean sheet of the league campaign. Some may not think much of it but for context it took until the end of January and the 23rd game of last season to reach that many, adding just one more before the end of the Premiership campaign.

In addition, it should not be underestimated how crucial that defensive solidity has been this season. Hearts are currently averaging just a goal a game in the Premiership. Since March, the club's support has watched their side score three goals in a league fixture just twice, neither of which are from this campaign. On the flipside, only Celtic and Rangers have conceded fewer while half of the 12 goals shipped in the 13 games so far came in two games against the Old Firm.

READ MORE: 3-5-2 v 4-2-3-1: What is the best option for Hearts - positives and issues

It is a marked improvement on last season. The team gave up, on average, 1.5 goals a game, albeit they scored at a much higher rate, 1.66 goals a game compared to just 1. If only the two could be combined? (The two good ones, of course!)

Hearts' defensive performance from 2023/24 so far is compared to 2022/23 in the diagram below. As you will be able to see, this season (in blue) is engulfing last season's performance. There are areas we will come onto explore but in brief, Steven Naismith's men are playing higher up the pitch, they are more disruptive to the opposition therefore limiting the number of opportunities the opposition have and have made a stark improvement in defending set pieces.

Let's look at the key factors for such an improvement...

Individuals

The signing of Frankie Kent has had a significant impact. Hearts missed a dominant centre-back, a defender who wins his battles and positions himself in the centre of the box to repel crosses, for the majority of last season with Craig Halkett's injury problems. That has been fixed with the Englishman comfortable in a back three or back four.

He has been able to build an ever-growing relationship with Kye Rowles. The Aussie had a dip after coming back from the World Cup where it should be remembered he didn't look out of place. He has since grown in confidence and while he is never going to be that aggressive centre-back, his attributes mesh well with someone like Kent and Halkett before him.

Then there is Stephen Kingsley. The second half of last season was a very difficult period for the player who wanted to do all he could to help the team into third. He has been faultless while playing different roles.

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Style of play

The way Hearts have been playing with and without the ball are key factors. 

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola values the importance of having control of the ball as both an attacking and defensive mechanism. “When the opponent has the ball far away from the goal and when you have the ball, that’s the best way to defend," he said.

If Hearts have the ball they are not under pressure and therefore less likely to concede. Simple. Fans only know too well that the team have had plenty of the ball this season. They are averaging 59 per cent of possession - an increase of five per cent - and 537 passes - up from 470 - per 90 minutes. While the team are yet to come up with the magic formula for breaking teams down effectively and efficiently, they have been able to stifle the threat from the opposition.

READ MORE: How Hearts displayed growth with St Johnstone win compared to early season struggles

Just as importantly, the team are defending higher up the pitch and more aggressively. Last season the team's defensive distance (the average distance from a team's own goal from which it makes defensive actions) was 41.69 putting them in the bottom four of the Premiership. They are now top four at 44.45. It doesn't seem like a big jump but with regards to this metric it is significant.

The two graphs below illustrate how Hearts are much more proactive higher up the pitch. The two lines below the pitch graph show the team's defensive activity in comparison to the league average. Naismith's men are well below the average for engaging with the opposition in and around their own defensive third but above the average in the final third.

Compare it to last season. Notice the massive drop off between the team's defensive third to the attacking third. A substantial difference.

That has had a knock-on effect. It has allowed Hearts to win the ball higher up the pitch and be more disruptive. The passing success rate of the opposition is just 68 per cent, the second best figure in the league, one per cent behind Celtic. Last season it was 73 per cent. 

There has been a similar improvement in how often Hearts are engaging with the opposition. PPDA (passes per defensive action) is one of the better indicators of pressing intensity. Hearts are closer to the Old Firm than they are to the rest of the Premiership, allowing just 7.79 passes before a defensive action such as a tackle, interception or foul. The league average is 9.70.

How Hearts (in red) compare to the Premiership across different defensive metrics can be seen below. The closer the color is to the edge of the circle the better that team is performing.

With Hearts playing higher up the park they have been more susceptible to throughballs. Opposition teams have managed seven shots so far this season, scoring twice. The team conceded nine shots in the entirety of last season from throughballs but gave up five goals.

The positive from defending further away from goal, however, is the team are not giving up as many goals and chances from crosses into the box. There has been three goals from 24 opportunities. Last season it was 15 from 100 shots. Remember, we are already over a third of the way through the league season. Which leads us nicely onto...

READ MORE: Why Hearts are struggling to make the most of attacking set-pieces

Set-pieces

Goals conceded from set pieces and open-play crosses was a real issue last season in all competitions. In the Premiership Hearts shipped 28 goals from such situations. So far this season? Just three.

Kent's arrival has been a huge help. He is someone who takes command of the box and organises. So does defending higher up the pitch. It becomes substantially more difficult scoring from crosses the further away from the box the team in possession are.

As for set-pieces, namely corners, there has been disgruntlement amongst fans over the tactic of bringing every player back to defend. Why do managers do this?

Specialist set-piece coach Andy Parslow was asked this question earlier this season by Sky Sports.

He said: "A general principle of football is that when you are attacking you want to create space, when you are defending you want to restrict space. A good way to restrict space is with bodies. The more bodies inside the 18-yard box, the less space for attackers to run into."

Has it worked for Hearts? Yes but with a caveat.

The Tynecastle Park side are the only team to have not conceded from a set piece this season in the Premiership. The caveat? Hearts are overperforming with the expectation that they should have conceded three. Doing so would still have them as one of the better teams at defending set plays and still a massive improvement on last campaign when 16 goals were shipped from set pieces. A big test will come at Rugby Park on Saturday against Kilmarnock's version of The Monstars.

A key change has been the move to a hybrid system of picking up at corners.

As mentioned Hearts pack the box, with the back three - Rowles, Kingsley and Kent - all playing zonal, lining up across the edge of the six-yard box with Lawrence Shankland stationed at the front post and others picking up. An example can be seen below.

The trio have responsibility to take command of their area but crucially they are not marking anyone so can focus on reading the ball and then reacting.

Change to a back three

In recent weeks Naismith has switched to a back three, away from a preference of a back four. This has only improved aspects of the defensive performance.

The team haven't been as aggressive, playing slightly deeper and are less intense in the press. But on the flipside Hearts are more solid with the extra defender and look less likely to lose goals from counter-attacks. 

Below compares Hearts' four games with a back three (red) to the defensive performance of the season as a whole.

Zander Clark

Finally, a mention for Zander Clark. His performances this season and how he has deputised for Craig Gordon is worthy of a standalone feature. There has been an error or two, namely the goal conceded at St Mirren, but he should be credited for a solid campaign.

He has been helped by his defence, facing just 40 shots. Of goalkeepers to have played every game only Rangers' Jack Butland has faced fewer shots. But his goal prevention rate is positive with 1.18 prevented. The sixth best ratio of the 18 goalkeepers who have featured in the top flight this season.

Clark's shot stopping and positioning are sound, while there can be issues when being assertive off his line, whether it is sweeping or dealing with crosses. But he has been a fine deputy for Gordon and will provide stiff competition going forward should the Hearts legend return to the starting XI soon.

Conclusion

Hearts have made really positive strides defensively this season through the recruitment of Frankie Kent, the change in the team's style in terms of where they defend, how they defend and how they control possession and with their approach to set pieces. It provides the team with a solid foundation.

If Hearts were to concede goals at the current rate for the entire league season it would be the best defensive performance since the 2006/07 season when just 35 were given up.

Now, if the attack can begin functioning in a similarly effective and efficient manner...