Mayo can win if they attack Cluxton’s kick-outs
Mayo have not employed a sweeper system all season. However there is plenty of speculation in the county that Keith Higgins may be asked to play between the Mayo half-back line and full-back line, for the early part of the game at least.
The rationale is to avoid a possible repeat of the early goals dose they swallowed in 2004, 2006 and last year against Donegal. From a tactical point of view though, if they do this they will be handing possession and the early initiative to Dublin. Yes they would have seven defenders, but when they turn the ball over they will have just five forwards taking on six Dublin backs.
That would be foolhardy.
Cluxton would pick out the free man with ease and that would allow them to build from the back at speed. Visualise Jack McCaffrey and James McCarthy bombing up the wing and you could see how the Dublin crowd would get well into the game.
If I was the Mayo management team I would not adopt it, particularly when there are doubts over Cillian O’Connor’s ability to put his shoulder on the line as he tackles advancing Dublin defenders.
Better, in my view, to go man-on-man up front and be extremely vigilant and tight on all Dublin’s restarts. If they attack Cluxton’s restarts they can force him to hit percentage kick-outs down on top of Aidan O’Shea, whose power in the air is likely to give them more ball.
Psychologically, it is hugely important that Mayo see big O’Shea winning kick-outs and ploughing through the middle. If he can win ball off Dublin kick-outs, rather than his own, it would be all the better.
Kerry have pushed up on Cluxton in the past and it has proven to be a very effective strategy. Notwithstanding the fact Dublin defeated Kerry in 2011, Jack O’Connor’s men were in charge of that game.
We have seen in the past, even in their recent semi-final win, that if Cluxton’s kick-out can be put under severe pressure and broken down it has a major knock-on affect all over the Dublin team.
Remember where the Kerry penalty came from?
Attack them on his kick-out and defend high up. And if Horan’s men win that battle, they are on the way to winning the war.
One tactic that has also been hugely important for Mayo is the attacking focus of their half-back line. Vaughan has hit 2-2, Keegan 0-6 and Boyle 0-3 so far in the championship so Jim Gavin’s half-forward line needs to be very alert to that trio breaking at speed and supporting their attack.
They must force them to run back towards their own goal and especially at Vaughan who is suspect on the back foot. Kilkenny is the ideal man for that role and Dublin will try to get him into the game, forcing Vaughan to mark him, not the other way around.
Mayo are a vastly improved team in every way over the past three years. They have a very good chance of doing the business tomorrow and if they can break Dublin’s foundation stone — Cluxton’s kickouts — they can win.
However, as Kerry found out in the semi-final, that is easier said than done. The one time you don’t stop it is the time they hurt you.
