Disappointed head coach now wants to see a reaction
Hearts head coach Wouter Vrancken said he was left more disappointed than angry by his team’s 7-1 capitulation against Celtic.
The Belgian lamented individual errors that were seized upon by a rampant Celtic side and urged his players to learn from what happened in the east end of Glasgow.
Hearts are now eight points behind Celtic at the top of the table and now head to Trabzonspor for a daunting Conference League assignment against the Turkish side.
“I've already had a few tough ones. This is sport, but this is not the most pleasant side of it,” Vrancken said. “It's a disappointing result, of course, and a disappointing performance in some ways. It's a pity that it happened now because we were on a good run.
“The game is pretty easy to analyse, actually. I think we started well in possession during the first few minutes, but when you concede a set-piece goal in, I think, the seventh minute, and then you're 2-0 down by around the 15th minute, it's difficult. The mindset and confidence within the group changed, maybe, because what you saw afterwards was us trying to play football. Sometimes it worked, but when I look back at the goals, I think they all came from individual mistakes. We were losing the ball too easily and making mistakes like that. Then it's difficult to win a game overall, especially a top-level game, of course.
“The result is the most disappointing thing, and the players who made individual mistakes know it, of course. The important thing for me now, after what happened, is that we recognise that it has happened and move on.
“After the game, the most important thing for me is to get into their heads and make sure they don't lose confidence in what they're doing. I'd rather have players who are willing to take responsibility and make mistakes, perhaps, while still showing confidence, instead of hiding themselves because that doesn't bring anything to the team.
“Of course, you want to minimise the mistakes, but when they happen, hopefully there are only one or two across the whole game. When you look back at the goals, it was all individual errors.
“We know they're really strong in transition moments, and we focused on that before the game as well. They're the best team when it comes to shots on goal following a transition. When you lose the ball too easily like that, you give them those transition moments and leave yourself exposed, which makes it easy for them.
“The most important thing now is to cope with the result, the disappointment and perhaps the anger you feel within yourself. From the day after tomorrow, we have to focus on Thursday again. This is sport. This is football. I've known this for a long time. It's one emotion after another. It's the same as we discussed after a good game: you cannot carry that emotion into the next match either.
“You also have to show them that, sometimes, games like St Mirren, for example, when everybody is saying such positive things, are not always as good as they seem. It's the same in the other direction. You have to analyse what happened and explain it to the players.”
Hearts now face a test of character to respond and Vrancken will analyse his players’ response. “Especially in the short term, yes,” he said. “Calling it a test might be a bit harsh, but it will be good to see how they cope with it, how they handle the disappointment and how they move on to the next game.
“I'm confident in that. Everybody is different, of course, and deals with things differently in their own head. But I'm confident that we have enough players who can get beyond these emotions.”