Striking deficiencies are not new this season but with each passing game they become more of a concern. Hearts have lost three of the last four league outings and would arguably have prised something from both Falkirk and Kilmarnock but for the pauci
ty of their attacking. On Saturday they looked bereft of creativity both up front and in certain areas of midfield, rendering them unable to break Kilmarnock's resolute defence despite dominating the second half.
Larry Kingston equalised Mehdi Taouil's exemplary free-kick prior to the interval and Craig Bryson stroked a classy late winner beyond Marian Kello. Bryson's goal was the sucker-punch Jefferies had counted on, a reaction to his own team's shortcomings against Inverness the previous week. Hearts' significant ball possession counted for nothing in terms of points and, consequently, the notion that goals win games will be moving sharply to the forefront of Laszlo's mind.
The Hungarian must shoulder a portion of the blame for his side's recent downturn, although not all. His 4-4-1-1 formation doesn't lend itself to many options in the final third, however certain individuals are no longer justifying their inclusion. A change of tact is essential ahead of the visit to Easter Road. Jamie Mole, whose mistake led to the opening goal, is overdue to be taken out of the firing line for at least a few weeks. Perhaps it's time to see if Ruben Palazuelos' vision and passing ability can be used to initiate attacks from midfield alongside the energetic Michael Stewart. For all Christos Karipidis' reliability, he will always be a defensive thinker and remains primarily a centre-back playing in midfield.
In attack, Mike Tullberg looked usefully industrious on Saturday on his home debut. Either Christian Nade or the hitherto unused teenager, Gary Glen, would be a more useful partner for the Dane than the ineffective Audrius Ksanavcius, but that is reliant upon Laszlo employing a 4-4-2 formation.
The views of the respective managers differed slightly at the weekend, but both recognised that Hearts' badly missed a creative force.
"Maybe a draw was the correct result but we lost the game. It's important to guide this young team in the right direction," said Laszlo. "Before I came here I thought it would not be easy but on Saturday I didn't think we would lose. After we went 1-0 down I had a feeling the team was confident and would come back. They did, with a nice goal, but I am disappointed because in the second half there was only one shot on target. I am a little angry about some situations.
"We are conceding goals from free-kicks and I must think about this. On Saturday, one free-kick and one goal. Against Dundee United, two free-kicks and two goals. If you lose two games directly, the second being at home, everybody is disappointed. I don't like to criticise nobody, it's important to keep this young team together and bring confidence.
"I am disappointed because in the first four or five games the team did what I wanted. Since the Dundee United game the team is beginning to go back to the past and play football that for me is not the best. They fight and run and put balls up front, they don't play football and this is what happened in the first half. We put balls up front and the midifield was out of the game. The second half was more stable because we spoke in the dressing room about this. We came back but it was the same against Dundee United because we did not create chances. Larry Kingston had two big chances but we didn't score.
"Before the end there was no understanding between Michael Stewart and a defender, the ball was in the middle and we got punished. Congratulations to the opponents, they used their chances very coolly."
Jefferies said: "I though Hearts scored against the run of play. They didn't look like scoring, but what they did do was give themselves a lift and for ten or 15 minutes we had to withstand it. We competed and defended well as a team. In the second half, we knew we could get at them and get a winner. If you told me we could come to Tynecastle and the goalkeeper will only have one save to make, which he did at 1-1 from Kingston, I'd have taken that."
On Bryson's winner, he added: "That reminded me of what Colin Cameron used to do for me at Hearts, coming into the box late and showing composure to finish. It was a terrific finish.
"Third place was the carrot for us and we go into the international break after a good result. It's up to the players when they cross the line and I think a few of them got the message that their places might have been in doubt if they continue. Inverness was the only bad result we've had this season and the boys knew they had to improve."
Now the onus is on Laszlo to reinvigorate Hearts before their trip across the city on Sunday week. "You can have speculation about whether this is a good result for us to show we can come back against Hibs. Maybe winning would give more confidence," he said. "I am angry about the way we are losing, we are giving opponents too many chances from our mistakes. We have the ball, make short passes and immediately an opponent is in between us. We don't have 100 per cent concentration and I am angry and disappointed.
"I cannot go out and buy stability. The team must work in training. These were my first words in the dressing room after the game. We made mistakes and the players must learn. If Larry Kingston scores in the second half it's 2-1 or 3-1 for us. But he was through on the goalkeeper and failed.
"I saw the supporters were behind the team in the last five minutes. They know this is a young team and needs supporting."
He is right in that sense, but perhaps Hearts' biggest test won't arrive until January when Laszlo is sure to petition Vladimir Romanov for funds for a goalscorer and/or a creative midfielder.
Captain Christophe Berra was the most assured player amongst home ranks and pointed out that others around him aren't quite giving enough. "The manager does try and install good football in us but it didn't happen in the first half," he said. "Maybe some players think we can just turn up here and win but we've got to earn the right to win at Tynecastle now.
"We have to hold our hands up at the first goal. That's two weeks in a row a guy has put free-kicks right in the top bin and the keeper's got no chance. Leading up to the goal we could have done better. We gave a silly free-kick away.
"In the second half our keeper only had one save to make. I don't think we deserved to lose the game but there would be no better way to get back winning than a victory at Easter Road. We'll work on the positives and the things we can do to hurt Hibs.
Hearts: Kello, Thomson, Zaliukas, Berra, Wallace, Kingston, Karipidis, Stewart, Mikoliunas (Makela 88), Mole (Ksanavicius 55), Tullberg (Nade 63). Subs: Balogh, Palazuelos, Aguiar, Rapnik.
Killie: Combe, Lilley, Ford, Wright, Hamill, Invincibile, Bryson, Pascali, Taouil (Skelton 87), Sammon (Simmonds 70), Fernandez. Subs: Rascle, Murray, Gibson, Flannigan, Cox.
The full article contains 1324 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
