Why Lawrence Shankland’s Hearts Form Has Dipped & How Neil Critchley Can Fix It – Tactical Analysis

On the opening day of the 2024/25 Scottish Premiership season, Hearts were still basking in the praise that had followed them from their excellent 2023/24 campaign.

The Edinburgh club finished third, qualifying once again for Europe and impressed with strong performances against Scotland’s traditional top two, Rangers and Celtic. 

One man who had been tipped for a big summer move was Hearts captain and star centre-forward Lawrence Shankland.

Shankland contributed extensively to the Jambos excellent campaign, with his strikes accounting for 44% of their total league goals.

Shankland earned many accolades at the end of last season.

He was voted Scottish PFA player of the year, and his red-hot form earned him a place in Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad for Euro 2024.

Rangers and English clubs were rumoured to be on the hunt for the Glasgow-born striker. 

Three months later, Hearts and Shankland find themselves in a very different place.

Currently lying in 11th with only nine points, Hearts sacked their manager, Steven Naismith, in September after losing eight matches in a row.

Hearts brought in Neil Critchley to right the ship however many point to Shankland’s poor start as a critical reason why Hearts have been well below their best. 

This begs the question, why has Shankland failed to perform this term?

This analysis aims to discover why Shankland has failed to reach the heights of last season and what he must do to start finding the net regularly again. 

Lawrence Shanklands Player Performance

Shankland’s numbers from last season prove why he deserved the praise and accolades he received throughout the season.

In 37 league games, he scored 24 goals, which averages 0.6 goals per 90.

In comparison, this season, he has only scored 1 goal in 12 league appearances, averaging a goal every 0.08 games. 

Lawrence Shankland Radar Map

From the radar chart above, it’s clear that Shankland is underperforming in nearly every attacking metric when you compare his percentile ranks from this season to the previous.

He is exceeding touches in the opposition’s penalty area compared with last season, yet the only other area that he’s close to matching from last campaign is the number of shots he’s taking.