Rampant Mayo still have scope for improvement
If James Horan is Philo then Jimmy McGuinness is Tank Murdock, the man that couldn’t be beaten in the same film.
Of course James and Jimmy are but surrogates for their respective teams, Mayo and Donegal.
Mayo representing the perennial hopes of many players who flatter to deceive as potential All-Ireland winners.
Donegal are the Tank Murdock of Gaelic Football, representing themselves as reigning champions looking to gain inspiration for one last hurrah and prove doubters wrong.
In the film Philo (Clint) had Tank on the verge of surrender when he realised that beating Tank wasn’t just about the money. It was about taking over his legendary status as a pugilist and the pressure of expectation that came with such a status. You might remember that Philo took a punch from Tank, lay down and surrendered the contest.
The parallel in the match couldn’t have been more opposite. Mayo were clinical, ruthless and savage in their determination to put an end to the ghosts of last September. The 12 point half-time lead Mayo had built up was a testament to the constant do-not-let-up attitude. Mayo completely suffocated every Donegal player from No 5 to No 12. The power, pace, and ability was unmatched by anything Donegal could produce.
But this wasn’t just raw, uncontrolled, or manic – it was purposeful, intentional, directional, and extremely well-rehearsed.
This year the lack of form of Donegal’s major players has been well documented, so too the lack of a strong bench. When you add in injury, fatigue and possibly discontent amongst players then the recipe is for disaster not the miracle which some expected at Croke Park. That said it is worth asking some questions.
Was it reasonable to think that Karl Lacey could perform in a field as big as Croke Park? Why do they consistently play without a three-quarter line? And why would you leave Donal Vaughan unmarked?
The last point is worth elaboration. Donal Vaughan’s greatest strength is his foraging runs forward. He is exceptional at this. In contrast his greatest weakness is possibly in defending the centre of defence against direct and pacey runs. It was exactly this typical forward run that led to Mayo’s second and third goal. He has a superb fitness to repeatedly go forward and backwards whereas he is not blessed with blistering speed.
Everything went to script for Mayo. The middle sector provided the platform for dominance. The half backs were left unmarked enabling them to keep immense pressure on the breaking ball and the Donegal defence. Finally the forwards barely missed a score when it mattered. Unlike Dublin the previous day, when goal chances presented themselves Mayo were clinical.
However we should not get too carried away. Donegal have not represented themselves with distinction in 2013, they are not the team of 2012 and even at this stage look unlikely to get back to those dizzy heights.
Mayo, although impressive, have still not had a competitive match. This will concern James Horan. They have some areas for improvement. The first is when attacking defenders need to offset the ball to scoring forwards.
A neat example was in the first half when Lee Keegan attacked up the right wing and decided to take on the defender and shoot wide, whereas the very next Mayo attack Aidan O’Shea offloaded the pass to Alan Dillon for a nice score. The second is that the full forward line needs to improve with first time ball retention. This is something that haunts ‘nearly teams’ all over Ireland. Against better opposition failure to retain possession creates a degenerative affect all over the field.
Finally the third improvement is shape in the full forward line. This sounds ridiculous given the scoreline but the three full forwards remain too crowded in front of the attacking goal and the runs are often lateral or diagonal into the corners to gain possession which was kick-passed. In addition they as a unit often run too early and leave vast space in the scoring zone with no intended target man. Finally I would see Alan Freeman as the outright target man positioned mainly at full forward. He is strong, has good hands and can score.
But more importantly he can make his runs early leaving space for Cillian O’Connor and Andy Moran, who will receive better, more dangerous passes while running towards goals.
I believe Horan is not blind to his problem areas and crucially has the talent to adjust these issues. A very different challenge waits in Tyrone. Tyrone are not the team of old but they have a rugged determination which is proving very difficult to break down. Mayo should not be afraid of them but nor should they be complacent.
That opening quote finishes “but when it comes to sharing my feelings with a woman, my stomach turns to royal gelatin”. I certainly hope that this Mayo team have the stomach for success.
