Conor McManus: Dublin prey on defensive set-ups

McManus needs no reminding how the All-Ireland champions dismantled his own Monaghan side with a patient display in their All-Ireland quarter-final.

Dublin’s emphatic victory over Tyrone in the semi-final convinced him further that being defensive is not the way forward against them.

“I don’t believe you can beat Dublin playing a defensive system because they’re so comfortable in that environment. If you go out and play man-to-man and play them toe-to-toe, who knows where it’s going to take you? You’re not going to beat them doing anything else.

“You ask any footballer in any county, in any province, particularly the top 10 in the country, ‘is he a better footballer than you?’ and if he says no to you, I don’t think he has much business being there. I don’t think too many of them will. If players can really apply themselves to that and go at it, there’s a lot to be said for it.”

The Clontibret man accepts Monaghan didn’t help their cause either against Dublin. “Unfortunately, it was the way we played. We wouldn’t have been happy with the way we performed. Tactically, we probably didn’t do what we should have, maybe squeezed Dublin further up the field. We invited them on too much. If you invite Dublin on you’re in for a long 70, 75 minutes.

“Mayo showed us all how to play Dublin. They probably deserved to get something out of that game. It just wasn’t to be for them. I’d imagine the approach of a lot of teams next year would be away from the defensive mindset. Not totally but a bit more so. A lot of talk that football opening up a bit more than it had been. If so, well and good.”

That’s not to say McManus believes that an offensive approach suits the Ulster championship: “Ulster football has tended to be a bit more defensive than other provinces. In order to be competitive in Ulster football, you have to adopt a defensive approach. Then when you come out of Ulster, the thing opens up a wee bit. There’s going to be a wee bit of cat and mouse about how you approach things.

“I don’t think the defensive thing is going to disappear. I’m not naïve enough to pretend that things are just going to move away from all defensive styles, but I imagine there will be some sort of a shift towards a more attacking mindset and trying to keep more men up the field.”