When supporters have the opportunity, they frequently ask management this question at Heart of Midlothian and elsewhere.
Why does defending corners and other defensive set pieces require everyone to return? Fans frequently find it annoying when every outfield player retreats to their own penalty area in an attempt to block an impending attack.
According to the hypothesis, a player or two left more upfield has a better chance of counterattacking from any clearance.
On the other hand, the more players you remove from the box, the more room the attacking side has to exploit.
As expected, both Steven Naismith and Neil Critchley were questioned about it during the Foundation of Hearts’ meet the manager event last season and at the most recent Hearts Standard live event.
Critchley said that he had utilized the setup while he was a young coach at Liverpool. He had to emulate what Jurgen Klopp was doing with the first team there.
As he rose to the position of independent manager, he carried on with success. And it was undoubtedly necessary for the team’s eventual victory over St. Mirren on Monday night’s Scottish Cup fifth round.
“We had to replicate what they did at first-team level at Liverpool,” the head coach of Hearts stated. “The setup is the same as it was at Liverpool for us to win the under-21 level, and I carried that over to Blackpool.”
When it came to set-pieces and expected goals against, we led the league, according to our xG against.
As the top defensive clubs, it was only Derby and us. Because I understand how crucial it is, we want to protect the goal and avoid giving away easy goals at set-pieces, which is why everyone returns.
“During the season, we played almost 60 games at Blackpool, and Derby and I were the best in the league at giving up goals at set pieces.
“That’s a span of several years, not just one season.”
In football, margins are narrow, goals are rare, which is why they are so special, and giving one up cheaply is to be avoided. Critchley believes that having everyone back covers for almost every scenario, and the set-up and process are seen as simple and clear. Hearts have only given up from a corner once since he arrived, and that was by one of his own defenders. “It can cater for if the team plays short, if they load the middle of the goal, if they load the back,” he said, “it can cater for all sorts of opposition, how they want to try and exploit your set-up. That’s what we do.”“I think the set-up that we have caters for all those types. It’s just a set-up. It’s just an organisational setup that I’ve been used to and I’ve seen it bring success.”
What the numbers say
Thus far, the statistics support the safety-first strategy. Based on league games since Critchley took over, Hearts and Rangers are tied for third place in terms of goals given up from set pieces. Dundee United and Celtic are the only teams doing better.
Although they are not as bad as they were the previous season, the squad is still outperforming their xG given up on set pieces and is among the most effective on set plays.
In conclusion, Hearts and Hibernian, their Edinburgh rivals, share third place in terms of shots given up from set pieces. Only Rangers and Celtic have let up fewer goals in that time frame than Critchley’s team, who have allowed 3.24 set-piece shots per 90 minutes.
Looking at corners specifically, as mentioned earlier, Hearts have conceded just once from such a set play during Critchley’s reign so far, Kye Rowles’ own goal in the Boxing Day Edinburgh derby.
Dundee United haven’t conceded any goals from corner and are the only team out-performing Hearts on this metric.
Comparing xG’s corner-awarded goals and Critchley’s corner-awarded shots reveals a similar pattern. They are ranked fourth and third, respectively.
‘Evolving’
However, none of the aforementioned implies that the strategy is final. What works today might be changed later. Similar to the Hearts squad, set-ups at set pieces and similar locations are always “changing.”
“We’re always reviewing to make sure we have this setup correct.” added Critchley.
“What occurs if a group does this? How must we get set up? Because of this, we must constantly evolve.
As it stands, though, Hearts will probably keep packing the box to avoid giving up goals from set pieces.
