Éamonn Fitzmaurice: Kerry must always be on their guard against football’s original shapeshifters
Kerry's Sean O'Shea scores a point despite the efforts of Tyrone goalkeeper Niall Morgan and Ronan McNamee during their League clash last June. Picture: INPHO/James Crombie
I am writing this preview on the presumption that the 21 Tyrone players that see action on Saturday are 100% fit and ready to play. The realities of recovering from Covid are unknown to us and speculating about it is as pointless as two bald men fighting over a comb, as the famous Borges quote goes.
When Tyrone were in their pomp in the noughties playing some great football and winning All-Irelands one of their most effective strategies was their ability to surprise and ambush. In the big games against Kerry in that decade they always had a curveball to throw at us.
In 2003 they shocked us with their intensity, epitomised by the famous turnover they forced in front of the Hogan Stand that signalled the dawn of a new way to play big-time football. In 2005 we prepared and were ready for the same intensity and instead they came to Croke Park and surprised and beat us with the quality of their football. In 2008 Joe McMahon was relocated from wing forward to corner back to account for Tommy Walsh and blunt Kerry. They were the original shapeshifters.
Significantly though, the two semi-finals that they lost in 2015 and 2019 lacked any element of something different. Maybe with the level of analysis carried out by setups and media observers nowadays it is harder to keep something back to shock the opposition. I am curious to see what they bring Saturday evening and if indeed they can bring a left-field element to play.
While they have been denied vital time on the pitch they will have had the opportunity to discuss and polish their gameplan and analyse every Kerry performance and player in microscopic detail. One thing is guaranteed though, they will bring the fight and Kerry will need to be (and I am they sure are) ready for this.
One of Kerry’s most effective weapons throughout this season has been their aggressive press on the opposition kick out. It has given them a serious platform to go and dominate teams. When they went after Cork in the second quarter of the Munster final outscoring them by 1-8 to 0-2 much of the momentum was generated from winning Cork’s long kickouts and keeping them pinned in. Of the 10 kicks that Micheál Martin took Kerry won half of them. They suffocated Cork ensuring that their first quarter gains were usurped.
It is demoralising and energy-sapping for a team that can’t retain their own kickout. The result becomes a foregone conclusion. Similarly against Clare and Tipperary they dominated the opposition kickouts for periods and made it pay on the board.
Implementing this on Saturday will be trickier. Niall Morgan has both the range to go over the press and the accuracy to pick holes. The warm weather means that the ball will travel five to ten yards further in the air which is a further fillip for Morgan. Conn Kilpatrick and Brian Kennedy are decent targets for these long deliveries and flick-ons or marks here can be highly dangerous.
Kerry will have to stretch the press back to their own 45 metre line to account for this. The problem for them is that more pockets will be open to Morgan and if he picks them he can get Tyrone out and deny Kerry the chance to build momentum. Instead of moving the ball and chasing scores they will be in tackle mode and will burn energy going back the field and get sucked out of shape, none of which is ideal.
Morgan was like a duck in thunder in the league game in Killarney in May and will be keen to make up for that. He said as much in his press work this week. Kerry will be aware that they can get to him but also will respect his potential danger. This battle will be pivotal and intriguing.
As with any change of management, particularly when a colossus of the game like Mikey Harte is replaced we all looked on with interest to see what the new axis of Dooher and Logan would bring. From the off there was a clear willingness to kick the ball more and to hit the full forward line earlier. It has been a work in progress.
At times early in the league and even as recently as the league semi-final in Killarney it was quite agricultural. The ball was being kicked from too far back and was too straight. Jason Foley cleaned up in Killarney as he dominated the long deliveries inside.
As Tyrone have moved through the championship they have improved this. Incrementally they have been getting better at getting a link between the lines. Mark Bradley did well in this role for periods of the Ulster final but I felt they were still lacking at times, particularly in the second half when Monaghan came back into it. They will have improved on this again in the meantime which will make them dangerous, less predictable, and more difficult to defend against.
One aspect of Tyrone’s gameplan that has been going from strength to strength all season has been the performances of their multifunctional hybrid players in the middle third. They can not be characterised as half forwards or half backs as they are performing roles associated with both and more. Conor Meyler, Kieran McGeary, Niall Sludden, Michael O’Neill, Tiernan McCann, and Peter Harte are exceptional at this. Frank Burns also fits into this category but will probably be deployed as a sweeper on Saturday.
They can man-mark, attack, score, link, cover, sweep, tackle, and win breaking ball. They have been good at this for a while but the interesting thing this year is that they are exceptional at seamlessly swopping roles with each other during the course of the game. This is confusing for the opposition to deal with and will be worth keeping an eye on.
The big worry from the Kerry perspective is the lack of a test since the championship has begun. They can only beat what is in front of them but these teams did not challenge them enough. Clare shot themselves in the foot by repeatedly giving away the ball with unforced errors, Tipperary set up to defend and once Kerry figured it out their lack of ambition was exposed, and Cork were a shambles by their standards. The lack of physicality from Cork in Killarney was startling, particularly when they got off to a decent start.
Based on these performances Kerry were installed as All-Ireland favourites, even when Dublin were still alive in the championship. Mauricio Pochettino has a great phrase saying that “praise can cause confusion”. I am sure the management have kept things on an even keel and the players are well aware of the pitfalls, but this idle talk can be fatal.
While Kerry were trampling Tier 2 opposition in Munster Tyrone were beating Division 1 teams on their way to the Ulster championship. Yes, Kerry’s training over the last five weeks will have been seriously intense in an effort to replicate championship football but there is nothing like the real thing. Because of this, it may take Kerry some time to settle into the game but once they do I expect them to go up through the gears. Importantly, they also have impact subs and in Tommy Walsh someone that gives them something totally different if needed, as it was in 2019.
When I was managing Kerry we always picked on form. Such a meritocracy was unforgiving but fair in our opinion. It might not have always worked but in general, it served us well. To pick on form you have to trust what your eyes are telling you even if it might not fit preconceived perceptions. This can be challenging particularly when it comes to leaving out players that have delivered big in the past.
This year all season long our eyes were telling us that Dublin were gone. Because of what they have achieved it was hard to be definitive about it though. Similarly, our eyes have been telling us that Kerry are flying. Regardless of the quality of the opposition to this point a huge amount of players are playing at or near the top of their game. If we are to trust our eyes, this form, their athleticism and conditioning, and their ability to get goals (21 so far this season) should see them through to a final in a fortnight.
