10 hours ago
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Motherwell 0 Hearts 0 All the talk about Motherwell under head coach Jens Berthel Askou has centred around what they do with the ball, how they keep it, move it, take it under pressure, play it out from the back. That changed on Saturday. And how.
This was more about what they did without it. How they negated Hearts' most dangerous men, forced the Premiership leaders to end the 90 minutes with an xG of just 0.33 and offered such incontrovertible evidence that they really are becoming a team to be reckoned with.
A proper team. A balanced team. A team that can mix it up, counter-press, defend against periods of pressure, and still manage to blend that discipline and focus with the style of attacking play that has attracted such a positive reaction since Askou arrived in the summer.
It is quite an achievement. The Dane walked through the door and effectively asked his squad to start knocking it about like Barcelona under Pep. These are not the world-class players Guardiola had at his disposal, though. They're Motherwell players. On Motherwell wages.
Some are journeymen, some are young guys looking to make something of themselves, others have maybe been treading water a little.
What's clear about Askou is that he is asking them all to re-evaluate their limitations and their ambitions, to reframe what they think they are capable of within those white lines. And the reaction he is getting is quite fantastic.
Jens Berthel Askou has impressed in his short time as Motherwell manager
hearts' Cammy Devlin challenges Motherwell midfielder Callum Slattery
Hearts boss Derek McInnes urges his team on during the 0-0 draw at Fir Park
Talk to these guys in the team and you can see in their eyes what Askou is making them believe. There's a real buy-in there.
They can see his demands have the very clear capability of making them better players and that means there's a chance, with the right attitude and open-mindedness and bravery, to unlock doors to better careers and better clubs than they maybe envisaged. That's the way he's got them thinking.
Imposing a whole new style of play on a team isn't easy. Ask his old Norwich City colleague Russell Martin as he licks his wounds and tries to get over what happened to him at Rangers.
Getting them to do that whilst still being conscious of staying in shape out of possession and doing all the less-glamorous bits at the same time is harder still. It has taken time. There have been some sore afternoons along the way.
However, the weekend's goalless affair at Fir Park was a real indication of a plan very much beginning to click.
Make no mistake, Hearts remain the story of the season. One win in five has halted their momentum to some degree, but they're still at the head of the table and know that a decent win over Kilmarnock at home on Wednesday can restore sagging confidence and turn next weekend's trip to Celtic Park into a proper ripsnorter of a game.
What's playing out at Fir Park has the potential to be something really special, too, though, in a campaign in Scotland that has thrown up so many subplots, dramas and all-out soap operas already.
One terrific thing about Saturday in this little corner of North Lanarkshire is that it showed what purposefully creating a football team that is attractive to watch and capable of getting results can do to local communities.
Hearts goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow makes a save to deny Motherwell
Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland closes down Motherwell's Emmanuel Longelo
First up, all credit to Hearts fans. They sold-out their stand and their 5000-strong support stayed behind their team throughout, no matter the difficulties they faced in trying to get their gamechangers such as Alexandros Kyziridis, Claudio Braga and Lawrence Shankland into the thick of the action to no avail.
What made it even better is that the rest of the ground was packed-out too. A crowd of 10,939 is the biggest crowd outside of visits from the Old Firm for years. Decades. It's proof that Askou is capturing the imagination of far more people than just those players in his dressing room.
What was lovely was the way the home fans reacted to the team afterwards. Was there disappointment from not getting the three points from a game they enjoyed by far the best of? Perhaps a little.
More evident in the post-match atmosphere, though, was pride in - and excitement over - the way they played. In all manner of regards, from playing passes in tight areas to digging in and charging into tackles, they were courageous and without fear.
It's just a shame midfielder Eli Just lost his composure a little when presented with two golden opportunities in the second period. He put a header straight at Alexander Schwolow from eight yards on 51 minutes and, 12 minutes from time, was denied by the visiting keeper again after a brilliant piece of play that saw him skin Stuart Findlay, surge into the area and fire in a shot.
The Kiwi's display certainly deserved a goal. He was terrific, pulling the strings and creating all kinds of danger. He should walk into New Zealand's squad for the World Cup in the summer and has the ability to attract all kinds of attention when he's there.
A huge part of Askou's job is to develop and strengthen talent with a view to helping Motherwell sell it on for significant profit. Just has all the attributes to kickstart that conveyor belt if he keeps making progress at this rate.
Schwolow also kept out a brilliant 79th-minute Lukas Fadinger effort with the best save of them all - with Hearts' best chance coming 12 minutes earlier when a Shankland header was cleared off the line by Callum Hendry, who had a goal disallowed for offside in the opening 45.
Goalless draws on cold, dark afternoons rarely warm the cockles. This one did in the end, though. It involved two clubs, run by their own punters, doing things properly and most definitely moving in the right direction - which is exactly what the national sport in this country needs.
