Scottish Premiership Update - Hearts & the Importance of Set Pieces
Kai Watson 
Hearts made a bold move ahead of the new Scottish Premiership season, appointing Ross Grant as the club's first-ever Set Play Coach.
With three of their five goals so far coming from dead-ball situations, his early influence is evident, showcasing just how decisive well-drilled set-pieces can be in modern football.
With two wins from two games, betting sites are beginning to take note of Hearts, with the Edinburgh side as low as 12/1 to win the title this season.
Here at Free Bets, Kai Watson takes a look at the impact that Grant has had on the Gorgie team.
On June 19th, Hearts announced that they had appointed Ross Grant as the clubs first ever ‘Set Play Coach’. Set-Pieces are incredibly important in modern day football, they present chances when clubs aren’t even threatening in open-play. They allow teams to soak up pressure and play for corners and free-kicks as their best chance to get opportunities.
Clubs on the front foot also use them incredibly effectively right now though, as has been seen through the amount of goals both Arsenal and Aston Villa score from them. Last season they were second and third in the goals from set-pieces table with fourteen each, just one behind Crystal Palace who sat at the top.
If you can get set-pieces right they are an incredibly impactful tool when it comes to the amount of goals teams can score the outcome of matches. How does this relate to Hearts though and is a ‘Set Play Coach’ really necessary?
Just based off of the two Scottish Premiership games so far, I would say yes, because set-pieces have led to Hearts having maximum points and Stuart Findlay being the top goalscorer in the league! Now, it’s not as simple as just setting out positions and areas for players to attack, there’s a lot of intricacies when it comes to planning out set-pieces.
Where does the taker aim the ball? How many players do you send up? Do you overload a certain area? Do the players start in an offside position? Does it vary every single set-piece or at certain times of the game?
It’s a complicated process but Ross Grant seems to have done a great job at maximising what Hearts can do from set plays. In the first game of the season against Aberdeen, they were 1-0 up with the away side having a few chances.
Then Hearts got a free-kick on their right side. Harry Milne stepped up to take it and whipped a wicked ball towards the back post where Shankland, Findlay and Halkett were all positioned. The Aberdeen defenders struggled to deal with the pressure Halkett was putting on and the ball was flicked back onto Findlay’s head for an easy finish at the back post which finished the game off.
Then in yesterday's game Hearts found themselves 2-1 down against Dundee United until the 57th minute when they won a corner. Harry Milne took the outswinger into the middle of the box, Braga and Steinwinder ran to the front post which caused panic in the United defence which allowed Findlay the space to step back and power an excellent header into the corner.
Then, in injury time, Alexandros Kyziridis drilled in a low inswinging corner from the same side the first goal came from.Findlay was being marked by two Dundee United players whilst Kingsley was left unmarked. Kingsley moved in behind the space that Findlay occupied which caused confusion with the defenders and allowed Findlay to get the run on Iovu to power home a diving header across the goal and score the winner for Hearts.
All of these movements and positions are deliberate and worked upon for hours on end and it’s been worth it for Derek McInnes’ side thus far. The delivery for set-pieces is key and I bet most Hearts fans thought they would miss James Penrice in that aspect but Harry Milne’s crossing is consistently of the highest quality.
Hearts have scored five goals in their two opening games with three coming from set-pieces, if they can continue this trend, it will win them a lot of points this season. You’ve got to hand it to the club for finding and hiring Ross Grant who’s doing an excellent job so far.
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