Robbie Neilson admits Hearts ’ mentality wasn’t right in the first half of of their 5-1 defeat to Fiorentina.
The Jambos were close to giving their 4,000 strong travelling support the dream start in Florence. Stephen Humphreys hit the inside of the post after 30 seconds following good early pressing, and the hope was that the hosts looked to be there for the taking against Robbie Neilson ’s men.
La Viola dispelled that delusion soon after. Luka Jovic headed them into an early lead and they had the points wrapped up by half-time. A debatable free-kick was awarded against Barrie McKay, but there was no doubt over the quality of Cristiano Biraghi’s ability as he whipped the ball into the top corner beyond Craig Gordon. Nicolas Gonzalez added a third and Antonin Barak rubbed salt in the wounds with a fourth before the break. Humphrys was rewarded for his display with a goal soon after the break. But Gonzalez added his second and Fiorentina’s fifth towards the game despite a much improved second half showing from Hearts.
That gave Neilson encouragement. But the Tynecastle boss didn't think his players showed the belief required as they chased shadows for the opening 45 minutes.
”I don’t think it was the shape,” he said. “It was more the mentality. We said at half-time, that when you play at this level, yes it’s technical a lot of the time and it’s tactical, but it’s also mental as well.
“You have to believe you can go and make contact and win the ball. When you get close to people, you’ve got to put them under pressure. I felt second half we did that much, much more.
‘We can take encouragement from that. We’ve said that over the whole campaign that this is a learning curve. We need to try and play consistently at this level. Today was probably the hardest game we’ve had against a top team in the group. The first half showed that if you don’t get close to people, make contact and be aggressive and get regains, then we won’t.
“But the second half showed that we can. Hopefully we can take that forward in the remaining games to come.”
Harts are four points behind Fiorentina with two matches remaining in Europa Conference League Group A. The Jambos host RFS at Tynecastle in two weeks time with La Viola welcoming Istanbul Basaksehir. They must win that to stand any chance of finishing second, which will be a big ask even if they do.
But the Tynecastle boss can't give up hope until it's mathematically impossible. He told BT Sport: “We’ve got to believe that. We’ve got Riga at home in a fortnight and then we go to Istanbul. It’s a home game and I’d like us to try and take all three points, which would set it up for the last game of the group stage. We’ve got to keep believing that.
“We had an absolutely unbelievable fanbase here tonight. 4000 of them, even at four nil, were absolutely singing their hearts out. It really pushed the players on and they deserved to see that energy, So although we’re really disappointed with the first half, I’m proud of the players second half. They showed that belief. It's a learning curve and hopefully they can take that forward into the next games.”
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