Heart of Midlothian’s 3-1 defeat at Dens Park was an unfortunate throwback to a period that supporters would prefer to forget. During the first half, Steven Naismith’s side were pedestrian in possession, toothless in the final third and alarmingly susceptible to counter-attacks. In truth, the contest was all but over by the break as Dundee raced into a 3-0 lead.

Fans could have been forgiven for checking their calendars at the interval. The year was indeed 2024, yet this had all the hallmarks of a game from almost exactly a year ago when the men in maroon were decidedly slow out of the traps as the 2023/24 Scottish Premiership season kicked off.

Hearts lost the tactical battle on Saturday against Tony Docherty’s well-drilled team, and they paid the price accordingly. But how did it all go so horribly wrong after a promising opening-day display against Rangers? How did Dundee gain the advantage, and why did Hearts fail to make it more of a contest during that disastrous first half? Let’s take a look.

Taylor crowded out

Gerald Taylor blew Rangers away in his first competitive outing in a Hearts jersey, but his second appearance could hardly have been more stark. The Costa Rican was decidedly second-best in his running battle with Scott Tiffoney and the less said about Taylor’s own goal, the better. There’s no getting away from the fact that he struggled off the ball – but on it he didn’t fare much better.

Dundee had done their homework, and the home side did a fine job of nullifying Taylor’s attacking threat. Playing as a wing-back ahead of a three-man defence, the 23-year-old would be crucial to Hearts’ efforts to advance up the park, and so Docherty’s men did everything they could to keep him quiet. And it worked a treat.

Take a look at the above pressing map, which shows the areas of the pitch where Dundee exerted the most pressure during the opening 45 minutes. The vast majority took place in the areas where Taylor likes to play, and he often found himself at a heavy numerical disadvantage. Left-back Ziyad Larkeche, left winger Tiffoney and even central midfielder Luke McCowan often crowded the Hearts man out, and the end result was that many an attacking move broke down before it could get going.

Below is a typical example. Jorge Grant has the ball, Dundee are back in numbers and Hearts are probing for a way through. Out on the wing, Taylor has taken up a good position and has space to play in. Grant shifts it out to Daniel Oyegoke, prompting Larkeche and Tiffoney to step up.

Tiffoney doesn’t engage Oyegoke though; instead, he waits for the pass to be played before sprinting back, and Taylor is sandwiched between the two Dundee players with few viable options. In the end he’s forced back the way, and Hearts have to start again.

This happened time and again on Saturday evening, and the result was almost always the same. Here’s another instance just a few minutes later. Again, Taylor is in a decent position when Oyegoke plays it forward. Again, Tiffoney doesn’t bother stepping up to Oyegoke, instead waiting for the telegraphed pass to be played. Again, Dundee’s press is triggered – and once again, Taylor is heavily outnumbered and forced back the way.

By crowding out Taylor, Dundee nullified Hearts down the right – no mean feat, considering the lopsided approach Naismith’s side take during build-up play. In Hearts’ system, the right wing-back has a lot of responsibility to progress the play and if you can stop him, the team’s attack can quickly grow stale – and that’s exactly what happened on Saturday.

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No incision

Hearts were struggling to make inroads down the right, and the team’s attacking play suffered as a result. Dundee’s defensive structure was solid when they had men behind the ball – more on that later – and the end result was the sort of careful sideways passing that frustrated fans at times last season.

Hearts’ passing map from the first half is damning and illustrates the point nicely. The vast majority of the team were playing sideways passes from deep positions, while the front three were isolated and didn’t see much of the ball at all.

Take a look at the example below, which follows on immediately from our previous one. Grant is on the ball and the entire Dundee team, with the exception of Simon Murray, is behind it. The ball is worked over to the opposite flank, but James Penrice has nowhere to go, and so the left wing-back plays it back to Cammy Devlin.

After running into a dead end on one flank, Hearts play it back out to the right. Again, there isn’t much on, and Oyegoke tries (more out of hope than expectation) to thread the needle to play in Lawrence Shankland. It’s over-hit and lacks direction, though, and Dundee win a goal kick.

Part of the reason that Hearts were so determined to attack in the wide areas is that they didn’t have much of a central presence. Barrie McKay was deployed in the No.10 role at the weekend – something that we’ve previously advocated – but on this evidence, Naismith will perhaps be reluctant to try that experiment again.

There was one moment where we could see how such a ploy might work in practice. About midway through the first half, Grant intercepted a loose Dundee pass, and quickly shuffled it forward to McKay, who had space to run into.

McKay carries it forward before sliding it out to Penrice on the far side, who has acres of space to play in.

The former Livingston man hits a low cross towards the back post towards Kenneth Vargas – a nice enough idea – but it’s intercepted and cleared.

That incident may seem fairly innocuous, but it isn’t. Remarkably, that was the only pass in the final third that McKay played before he was hooked at half-time. In fact, McKay only completed nine passes the entire time he was on the park. Mohamad Sylla effectively man-marked the playmaker out of the game.

A combination of Taylor being stifled, predictable passing, and McKay’s anonymous display led to one inevitable outcome: Hearts created very, very little. And things weren’t much better at the other end.

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Pressing problems

Hearts struggled to fashion opportunities when they had bodies forward at Dens Park, but many of the team’s issues on the day started earlier in the move. Dundee’s high press during the first half caused all sorts of issues for Naismith’s side. Take a look at the home side’s passing map below, which provides a good indication of the team’s average position. Notice that with the exception of three defenders, a holding midfielder and the goalkeeper, every player is in the Hearts half.

Whenever Hearts were building out from the back, Dundee’s press took on a familiar pattern. Murray, playing as the lone striker, was the first line of the press but wasn’t really tasked with winning the ball. He was usually bypassed without too much difficulty, but the second line proved harder to overcome. Tiffoney and Sebastian Palmer-Houlden would push up onto Hearts’ wing-backs, while central midfielders McCowan and Innes Cameron would advance in the central areas. Hearts were reluctant to go long – and they often played their way into trouble as a result.

Below is a typical example. Hearts are building out from the back when the ball is played into Grant. Murray is practically stationary – his only job is to put pressure on Frankie Kent if Grant plays it back – while McCowan sprints forward to put pressure on the ball. Tiffoney, Palmer-Houlden and Cameron hold their positions in an attempt to cut off the short passing options for Grant.

Out of frame, Vargas drops to collect the ball and Grant tries to find him – but the Costa Rican is quickly swarmed by three navy blue shirts.

McCowan gets a foot in and Cameron wins the loose ball, and now Dundee are on the attack.

An over-hit pass from Tiffoney causes the move to break down, and Kent is able to intercept and hoof the ball to safety – but it’s a warning for Hearts.

Unfortunately, it goes unheeded. Dundee’s high press would lead directly to the opening goal, and it was entirely preventable from a Hearts perspective. It starts when the ball is played back to Zander Clark, with the goalie then opting to hoof it long up the park. When he mis-kicks the ball, Hearts are in a world of trouble thanks to the chasm between the defence and the midfield.

McCowan nips in ahead of Grant to steal the ball and drives forward into the open space. Kent comes out to meet him when the ball is shifted wide to Tiffoney.

Tiffoney, an excellent dribbler, now has Oyegoke right where he wants him in a 1v1 duel. Kent has to keep an eye on McCowan at the edge of the box, but just look at Cameron a little further back. He’s in acres of space, completely unmarked and if Tiffoney cuts it back, he’s in a great shooting position.

Tiffoney decides to go it alone, and the ball somehow squeezes in at Clark’s near post.

The other two goals are harder to quantify from a tactical perspective – the second was an own goal from Taylor, the third a penalty – but while the 3-0 scoreline at the break was perhaps a little flattering to Dundee, no one could argue that Docherty’s men weren’t worth the lead.

The change in personnel and formation for the second half led to an improvement for Hearts in the second half, but the damage had already been done. Naismith’s men were out-fought and out-thought during the opening 45 minutes – and when that happens, the outcome becomes inevitable.