A Tactical Preview For The 2025 Portland Hearts of Pine
Clips, quotes, and analysis before Portland Hearts of Pine play their first-ever League One game.
After much anticipation, Portland Hearts of Pine will play their first-ever USL League One game on Saturday when they travel to face FC Naples. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
We got a glimpse at how Hearts will play when they defeated CD Faialense 4-0 in the first round of the 2025 U.S. Open Cup.
While we can’t learn too much from one game, we can certainly examine what we saw.
Let’s take a closer look.
Pressing
Head coach Bobby Murphy has frequently said he wants his team to be aggressive. We saw some of that on Thursday, as there were times when the Hearts looked to transition quickly after winning the ball.
Here is an early chance that could’ve led to a goal if not for a heroic act from the opposing goalkeeper.
Murphy explained after the game, “We want to press, we want to win [the ball] back quickly, we want to go forward quickly.”
He later added, “I think possession is one of the most misleading stats in the game. It doesn’t equate to goals, so we want to be effective in our possession.”
Faialense made things difficult for Portland because they packed the middle and often went long.
Murphy explained, “I think the thing that sort of threw us off is they were content to go big really quickly, so we got caught up high, and then not really recovering back to win the second balls.”
I do want to recognize that there were times when Hearts held possession, moving the ball from side to side. This could’ve been because of the opponent or a tactic used to slow down the game.
Murphy used the second goal as an example of what he wants from his team, saying, “I think it was four or five passes. If you put that in a highlight, you’re like, “Oh, what great soccer.” But it was only four or five passes. So that’s who we want to be, and that’s our identity, and the players I recruited have that personality and those traits.”
Outside Tens
Watching Ollie Wright and Walter Varela move was fun, as they sometimes stayed wide and sometimes drifted centrally.
Varela, who scored the first-ever goal in Hearts’ history, didn’t want to get too specific about what he called “outside tens,” though he did say, “It’s a fun role. [We are] kind of free in the middle, and we do our thing there.”
Wright and Varela are creative players. Wright, the all-time leader in appearances and assists for Huntsville City FC, certainly loves a backheel.
Varela, meanwhile, earned praise from teammate Pat Langlois, who said, “He’s one of those players that you just trust. Give the ball to him and let him do his thing, and he’ll perform.”
Wright and Varela were allowed to move inside because of the support from their outside backs. Nathan Messer, who contributed to three goals, was bold on the left, while Jaden Jones-Riley loved attacking on the right.
Watch here as Wright comes inside to create an opportunity.
Target Forwards
Titus Washington and Azaad Liadi led the line for the Hearts. Liadi found the back of the net twice.
Both players, who are both listed at 6’1", can hold up the ball or get in behind. Perhaps most impressive is that the two forwards worked off each other pretty well despite not knowing each other long.
Hearts’ third goal was created after Washington won a foul. A quick restart led to a shot by Washington, which was saved. Liadi was there to pounce on the rebound.
Washington is coming off a successful 2024 at Seattle University, where he collected eight goals and eight assists in 20 games (17 starts).
Liadi, on a season-long loan from Lexington SC of the USL Championship, began his professional career with FC Tucson before moving to South Georgia Tormento. Here, he scored nine goals in 27 appearances.
He then spent time with Loudoun United, earning a call-up to D.C. United. In 2024, he scored 12 goals in 22 appearances with Huntsville City FC.
“He can sniff out a goal like it’s nothing,” Wright told the Dirigo Union. “Him and Titus are going to be huge for us this year. In Huntsville, [Liadi and I] had great linkup, and we understood each other’s game. The plan is to bring that here. I think we showed glimpses of that [against Faialense ], and I think that’s just going to grow throughout the year.”
Wright noted that Liadi joined the Hearts late, but he’s already adapted well.
He explained, “At Huntsville, he showed that he can score all types of goals, whether it’s headers, left-foot, right-foot, tap-ins, worldies, he can score all types of goals. That’s what you need in a striker, someone who can—in a blink of an eye—come up with some magic.”
Beyond being a strike partner, Liadi should be a good mentor for Washington. The team also has Jake Keegan and Evan Southern as attacking options.
Final Thoughts
The words above are just predictions of how Hearts will play, and they are based on one game. Personnel and tactics will surely shift depending on availability and opponents.
As Wright told the Dirigo Union, “[Murphy] gives us tactics Monday through Friday to focus on, but it’s not always set in stone because such is the game that it can change. So [Murphy] kind of gives us the freedom to say, ‘You know what? We’re all professionals. If something needs to be changed, we can change it on the fly.’”
It was great for Hearts to win their first-ever game in front of a home crowd of over 3,000 fans, but attention now shifts to league play. Hearts will play three league games, plus one Jagermeister Cup game, on the road before coming home to Fitzpatrick Stadium.