Hearts team news as Neil Critchley speaks on Heidenheim, Bayern Munich and making Tynecastle 'horrible'
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Neil Critchley outlined the kind of atmosphere Hearts intend to generate when German Bundesliga club Heidenheim visit Tynecastle Park on Thursday. Eager to oversee a third successive victory in the UEFA Conference League, the head coach wants to harness the home crowd, create hostility and unsettle the latest European opponents to play in Gorgie.
Thursday's match will be the third of six for both clubs in the new-look league phase of the Conference League. After winning their first two encounters, the teams know victory this week would guarantee a place in February's play-off knockout rounds. The stakes, therefore, are high, and Critchley is eager for Hearts to seize the initiative after beating Omonoia Nicosia last month in his first European match in charge.
"We want this to be a hostile, intimidating atmosphere where no one wants to come here and play. Horrible," he stressed. "So, Tynie will be on fire on Thursday night and I hope it's not a nice experience for our opponents. It will be a different test compared to Omonoia Nicoisa because it's a different type of team. I don't want to say too much because then I'm going to be giving away things that we might be trying to capitalise on, but there's clear differences between Omonoia and Heidenheim in how they play the game, how they approach the game.
"That's not to say good or bad, right or wrong, there are just differences. Heidenheim are a German team, they're different to Omonoia. As I said, we want to be us, we're at home, we want to be consistent in how we play the game, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how our players play in the atmosphere that our supporters create for us."
Critchley expects Frank Schmidt's side to be more physical than Omonoia with greater pace and power. "Yes, I would say so. Playing in the German league, you know how physically demanding that league is, so we're going to have to compete very well in duels and make sure we match their aggression and intensity.The German teams are well renowned for counter-attacking at pace, so we're going to have to be good on the ball. If we're going to lose the ball, then make sure we're losing it in certain areas of the pitch. If you lose it in certain [other] areas of the pitch, then they're very dangerous.
"Like I say, we're going to have to be really good with the ball, we're going to have to be mindful of their threats, but we're in a good moment. We showed a lot of character and response at St Johnstone on Saturday after the Kilmarnock game. We've taken a step forward as a group together, that was vitally important, and hopefully again we've got an opportunity now to take another step forward."
Hearts beat St Johnstone 2-1 in Perth after losing by the same score against Kilmarnock last midweek. They remain 11th in the 12-team Scottish Premiership, whilst Heidenheim sit 12th in the 18-team Bundesliga. "We're ready to go," said Critchley. "We've had a couple of days after the St Johnstone game, that was a busy period of games, so we're refreshed. We're clear on what we need to do and we're looking forward to a good game. It's a big challenge but one that, being at home, we're really looking forward to.
"When you're meeting certain teams from certain parts of Europe and the footballing world - German teams, Bundesliga teams - it does create that little bit more anticipation in the type of game you might be playing - watching them play and seeing how good they are. We know we're in for a big test, but if we can play a game that we want to play, then we know it'll be a really good game and it'll be a really good match for them."
The prospect of securing European football after Christmas for Hearts is a rarity. Not since 1989, when they faced Bayern Munich in the old UEFA Cup quarter-finals, have Tynecastle fans enjoyed such a privilege. Another three points would be sufficient to take their club into that play-off round for the last-16 of the Conference League.
"I'm very proud to be the head coach of Hearts, but I've been coaching a number of years," said Critchley. "Like I said when I came here, I know that I've got belief in my ability as a coach, but you need good people around you and good support. We've made a good start initially, but we've got so much to do.
"Managing in Europe is something very special; something I don't take for granted. But again, like I say, the pride I will have will be in the players and how they perform on the pitch. They should always be an extension of myself and the club. So far, we've made a reasonably decent start together."
Schmidt has been Heidenheim coach since 2007, a remarkable 17-year tenure since the club were amateurs in the fifth tier of German football. Critchley admitted he admires the longevity of his counterpart. "Something that I think all coaches and managers would want is time," he remarked. "The head coach at Heidenheim has obviously had that, and rightly so, because if you look at their journey, it's quite remarkable really, where they've come from and where they are now. It's been unbelievable. I was only mentioning this morning that I watched a documentary, it must have been about 10 years ago now, and I'm pretty sure Frank Schmidt was on that.
"It was following four managers that were in the background and Heidenheim were one of the teams. He was on this documentary that I watched, which was really enjoyable because it showed you what the journey of the club was, where they were and where they were trying to get to. To be meeting 10 years later, it shows you that football is a small world and what a fantastic job he's done.
"He's had time, but he's been successful. What a great season they had last season as well, first year in the Bundesliga. I know they'll be wanting to retain their status this season, and they're in Europe. It's been incredible really. Recently, I think it's just one win in six. You'd say they're not in a great moment, but when you watch them play again, I just see the capabilities of the players on the pitch.
"We know that they have certain traits. If you look at their goals conceded this season, it's not many. They don't concede many goals. They're very hard to break down, very hard to play against, quite man-for-man orientated in the way that they press. Very dangerous on the counter-attack, as German teams are, very efficient. Their mentality is very good, otherwise they wouldn't have been as successful as they are.
"We know exactly who we're facing, what we're going to need to do. If you want to win games of football at this level, you have to be good with the ball, you have to be good without the ball. It's as simple as that. You have to be good in all aspects, set-pieces, everything. If you don't get the details right, then you get beat."
Focusing on his own side, Critchley revealed that Hearts have no fresh injury concerns following their weekend win at St Johnstone. They will again be without Calem Nieuwenhof, Yutaro Oda and Gerald Taylor. "No, no-one's due back. There's been no issues from the weekend," stated the head coach. Everyone trained today. Yutaro was back on the pitch a little bit yesterday, so was Calem, but very early stages, so they're not going to be ready for this game. There have been no issues or no injuries from the weekend, so we're fine and we're good to go."
Asked about a return date for Oda and Nieuwenhof, both missing with hamstring issues, Critchley was non-committal. "I think Callum's going to be a little bit longer just because of the length of time he's been out, so he's going to need a longer period of time with training. Yutaro, obviously, because it was only just prior to me arriving, I think, so he's had less time. So we'd expect Yutaro to come back sooner. When that's going to be, we don't know. He went back onto the pitch yesterday so he's still going to be a couple of weeks away."
As expected, the recently-appointed head coach has been made aware that Bayern's 1-0 defeat at Tynecastle 35 years ago remains one of the old stadium's most famous nights. "One particular win against Bayern Munich? Yes, people have mentioned a Bayern Munich game to me before," he smiled. "Iain Ferguson, is it? It's going on so I'm aware. Hopefully someone can score a similar type of goal for us on Thursday night and be remembered for a very, very long time. I watched it on Youtube. Not bad, was it?"
