This time, Mayo need Aidan to sweep
Not now, not ever. Mayo underline the fact.
Undoubtedly they are the most resilient and most consistent side ever to emerge from the county. In fact they may be one of the most resilient groups ever to play gaelic football at an elite level. But is that enough?
If these are truly a once-in- a-generation group of players, they have to land the big one.
There’s been special players in Kerry who wouldn’t even be mentioned in a pub conversation if they didn’t win an All-Ireland.
If anyone believes that to be a harsh assessment, stand in the corner of the pub and watch these lads gather for a pint together, or a reunion, in ten years’ time. The conversations will be full and friendly, but the chats will culminate in the same cul-de- sac. How did we not get over the line in 2012. In 2014. In 2016. And what about 2017?
Is tomorrow to be the one where all the little bits of detail fall for Mayo for a change. No own goals. No iffy referee decisions. Whether Mayo are a better side than the one beaten a year ago is less relevant in one respect than whether they believe themselves that they are.
Before Joe McQuillan sets the final in motion, Mayo has two crucial believables to hang onto.
They’ve seen off Kerry, if not emphatically then as convincingly as they needed to.
Secondly, Dublin – for all their artillery – struggle, like everyone else, to put Mayo away.
That’s important. On these pages before, I have alluded to a Mayo weakness with regard to the concession of goals – i.e they do it early and often. That can’t happen tomorrow.
Coaches regularly ask their players to play matches in five and ten-minute segments.
Mayo must get to 50 minutes tomorrow with Dublin in their crosshairs. 0-9 to 0-7 if needs be. Pose questions of Dublin they haven’t been asked in a while. Dublin got a right good test off Kerry last year in the semi-final, they haven’t had that in 2017.
I’ve seen it mentioned this week that the best way to take the sting out of the Dubs is to savage them with everything you’ve got early. Throw the hammer, the kitchen sink, the lot, at them.
And if Mayo are playing into the Hill in the first half, all the better.
That would be a monstrous error. If the last few seasons has taught us anything, it’s that going toe to toe with Dublin lands you a bloody nose.
To cite the League final last April as a counterpoint is to ignore where Dublin were in their 2017 cycle on that afternoon against Kerry.
Jim Gavin will never admit this, but I think they got their periodisation wrong last season. Coming out of the drawn All-Ireland final last year was I wondered if Dublin had peaked a little early, for the semi-final against Kerry, and were they a tired team come the final replay against Mayo. They would never admit that, but there were rumblings.
In my opinion, they trained this year with that in the back of their minds – hence losing the league final. Dublin were leaving that 30% for this time of the year.
So how do Mayo set up to keep Dublin’s ravenous attack at arm’s length? Play Aidan O’Shea as an out-and-out defender again? Hardly. Dublin isolate and expose an opposition targets better than anyone at present, and the prospect of Aidan chasing Paddy Andrews out under the Hogan Stand and freeing up the middle for runners is too frightening a prospect to contemplate for Stephen Rochford.
But it might not be a million miles from what happens. Mayo may elect to play O’Shea as a sweeper.
In the middle third, either at centre-field or on the 40, Dublin will look to run and expose him. And they will. In the semi-final replay win over Kerry, even when not directly involved, O’Shea was like a quarterback, sitting in the pocket, settling everyone down.
Like ‘I am minding the house and we will not concede goals’. And did they?
Don’t concede goals and you win big games.
Where does he fit in the straight match-ups? If you are Stephen Rochford, do you want to give Dublin the opportunity to hammer the hammer?
Better, surely, to give him that role of a defensive protector. Where do we get the most out of Aidan O’Shea? By stopping Dublin’s scoring momentum, strangling the game. He doesn’t even have to play that well if he gives everyone else around him that bit of confidence in themselves to do their jobs. It might also give the Boyles and the Keegans the licence to drive on.
It won’t work for them to put Aidan in at full-forward. It hasn’t worked in the past, it’s too predictable and besides, why would you want to land all that traffic in on top of Andy Moran, given how much he is revelling in the space across the inside line at present. Do Mayo need O’Shea in the full-forward line when they scored 2-16 the last day?
Besides, I still fret about Mayo’s capacity for smothering quality opposition. I’d want the insurance of O’Shea protecting my full-back line. Mayo have been excellent in the last three games, but a Kerry team not going well scored 17 points in the replay and could have had two goals. Mayo played really well too in the drawn semi and conceded 2-14. What is this Dublin team capable of putting up? Twenty scores?
Confounding expectations is virtually a given now for Mayo. At some point every summer they run up against opposition that is traditionally superior to them, so tomorrow is no different in that regard. But I am struggling to see how and where they come up with the amount of scores they’ll need. There are several reasons Dublin present such a formidable test, the primary one being they will examine every aspect of your game.
Relentlessly. And for sure, their defence is way better than Kerry were in the semi-final.
Dublin get huge credit for what they do going forward, but at the other end of the pitch they are outstanding both in personnel and shape. They’ve learned so much from 2014 and Donegal. When the opposition heads towards Dublin territory, watch how they funnel into shape and formation, filling all the holes. Nobody is thinking ‘that’s not my job’. James McCarthy is right there for footballer of the year. Brian Fenton and himself are indicative of just how well-balanced Dublin are everywhere on the pitch.
The thought of Mayo putting Lee Keegan to midfield on McCarthy will have been discussed. Maybe get Keith Higgins out to do a marking job on Con O’Callaghan, and start Paddy Durcan instead of Seamus O’Shea. In Harrison, Higgins, Boyle and Keegan, Mayo have the tools to go man on man, but Dublin’s running power and the second wave of talent that comes off the bench makes it difficult to hatch a plan that carries Mayo through to the 80th minute. With the best will in the world, Mayo’s bench is not in the same ballpark as Dublin’s and that is a grave concern. When the starters hand over the baton to those replacing them, they’ll need to hand a good situation to them.
Therefore, Diarmuid O’Connor, if he starts, needs a big afternoon, as will his brother, Cillian, from open play. It goes back to the opening point. Resilience and consistency is one thing. But they’re not the same as quality.
Could Dublin be caught cold by a manic Mayo? Given they’ve not been tested this summer, of course, but it’s a long shot. The only way Dublin lose the All-Ireland is if they go shelling up front like it’s every man for himself, everyone looking to be a hero, playing for All-Stars. And I’ve seen nothing in the slightest to indicate that will happen.
Great teams don’t go on forever. I’m someone who believes in cycles. This period of Dublin dominance will come to an end, but it’s not done yet.
