RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 3 sourcesClaudio Braga admits Hearts are finding it difficult to adapt amid a huge summer of change.
New head coach Wouter Vrancken's reign has begun with Champions League elimination as Hearts were thumped 6-0 by Sturm Graz in the second qualifying round.
The Belgian is striving to implement a new style of play, while key players Lawrence Shankland and Cammy Devlin have followed boss Derek McInnes in moving to Rangers after last season's agonising title near miss.
"I feel like it's early, of course," said Portuguese forward Braga.
"It's a lot of change, a lot of new players, a completely different style of play from what it was last year.
"It's hard to deal with all that in a short period of time. We are paid to do this, so we should be able to do it. I think in most parts of the game, we did it.
"That's the message of the coach. It's individual mistakes from our part that we need to not make.
"I feel like for the most part of the game we showed that we can be ready to play good football, exciting football. We just need to create the goals and not make mistakes at the back."
Braga feels Hearts were ruthlessly "punished" for their mistakes by Sturm Graz.
After suffering a 4-0 defeat in the first leg, Vrancken's men lost 2-0 at home on Tuesday night to drop into the Europa League qualifiers, where they will face Benfica or St Gallen.
"It was a different game when you know you lose 4-0 in the first half," Braga said.
"At the same time, we need to take our chances a little bit better. I think we were stronger for the most part of the game and created more and defended well but when we make mistakes against this team, we just get punished. That's what happened.
"Of course, you dream about playing in the Champions League. Even though it was play-offs, it's still Champions League.
"I think it can be a little bit early even though we can't give excuses.
"I think if you see the games, it's not because we play worse than them, it's because we committed a lot more mistakes than them. You pay for the mistakes against these kind of teams."
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