How Hearts were dumped out of League Cup in miserable fashion

Steven Naismith's men passed up a number of opportunities in the first half before an abysmal second half. In the end, Hearts were lucky to only lose 2-0. 

Joel Sked looks back at a concerning performance and cup exit as Hearts continue to search for first win of the season. 

Wake-up call

If the first-half performance at Dundee wasn't a wake-up call then this most certainly was. Hearts started last season slowly. Twelve months ago you could point to a new management team getting their ideas across and players, who joined later in the window, bedding in. No such excuses can be used this time around. Eight changes were made to the team that lost at Dens Park with Hearts viewed as having an impressive and deep squad. An early but also big and pertinent question, is this squad actually good enough for such sweeping changes? On this viewing, no. Some of those handed starts simply didn't deliver. Yutaro Oda began brightly but as soon as he missed a guilt-edged chance he faded before fizzling out. Liam Boyce too often took the wrong decision. Ross MacIver gave the defence a really tough time. But it was a collective failing. Expectations have risen after last season. The standards over the last two games have slipped well below those expectations. Well below. And they need to increase massively now the team face a Viktoria Plzen side well-versed in European football.

No one to blame but themselves

Firstly, it should be noted that Hearts started the match well. Some of the football they played going forward was encouraging with Blair Spittal playing some incisive passes to open up Falkirk. But even with that, there were elements of the performance that were disjointed and sloppy. In and out of possession. When the ball was lost the team were far too open. Both full-backs were pushed very high. James Penrice was out wide stretching the game and Gerald Taylor often central. When possession was lost, Falkirk had acres of space to break into. Not only that but a Hearts centre-back partnership of Craig Halkett and Stephen Kingsley were then left exposed, having to cover a large area, down the sides and behind. Take the opening goal from the Bairns. Liam Boyce lost possession sloppily but the reaction wasn't good enough. When Falkirk motored down the Hearts left, who was having to sprint back to try and put pressure on? Yan Dhanda. The structure wasn't there in transition and Hearts looked vulnerable when they had to defend.

Reaction to going behind

The performance after going behind deteriorated massively, culminating in the messiest of second goals with numerous players unsure what happened as they sought to work out how they ended up in such a mess. Add in the fact, Nicky Hogarth, after a great first half, barely broke a sweat in the second. All he had to do was easily pluck a number of aimless floated crosses. No matter how many times you look back at the way the team played in possession for large parts of the first half, it gets completely lost amidst such a woeful offering in the second half. Even more so when they went behind. Hearts never looked like equalising. They lost their way far too easily. A concern with Europe on the horizon.

Chances passed up

In the first half, the team could have been ahead on numerous occasions but they just weren't accurate, composed or good enough in front of goal. Yutaro Oda missed the best and biggest chance. He wasn't the only one with Liam Boyce and Kenneth Vargas also guilty of passing up good opportunities. The easy thing to do is look at the man who started on the bench, Lawrence Shankland. Yet, these chances should have been buried no matter the player getting on the end of them. 

A word for Falkirk

John McGlynn's side are a good outfit. They pass the ball well, they have the assuredness of a team that has lost just three times in the last 12 months, they have a clear understanding of what John McGlynn wants from them. The Bairns boss is a hugely admirable figure. He changed his philosophy as a manager after a period at Celtic and his teams regularly play attractive football with skilful, attacking players. Ross MacIver in attack gives them another dimension. He is a handful. Mobile, strong and good in the air. It can't be long before bigger clubs are sniffing about him. The atmosphere and crowd at the Falkirk Stadium showed that this is a club that belongs in the top flight. We might not have to wait too long to see them.

Gordon positive

The Hearts goalkeeper could have been forgiven for a bout of PTSD before the game in Grangemouth as Falkirk introduced Collin Samuel to the crowd. The Trinidadian was the man who netted a hat-trick past Gordon early on in his goalkeeping career in that infamous Scottish Cup clash between the sides at Brockville. However, he may have been the only positive from a dismal afternoon. He denied Gary Oliver early on when the former Jambo turned inside the Hearts box but couldn't lift it over the veteran. Better was to come. Ross MacIver used his pace to get away from Stephen Kingsley and Craig Halkett. It looked like the Bairns forward had opened the scoring but Gordon had got a huge, excellent and important touch to send it wide. In the second half, a stop from MacIver kept Hearts in the tie but even he played a part in the messy second goal concession.