Mystery deepens as master plans hatched
Winning an All-Ireland final will take more than good players, a good manager and the will of the gods.
Somewhere in the wilds of Donegal and Kerry, Jim McGuinness and Eamonn Fitzmaurice are hatching a strategy. At this stage neither will want to drastically change from what got them this far, yet change is necessary. Who will stick to the plan? Who will adjust to reflect the opposition strengths or weaknesses? Would you expect either manager to adjust? Is this a sign of respect or weakness?
The elephant in the room for Eamonn Fitzmaurice is whether to start Kieran Donaghy. Rewind your mind back 100 minutes of football and Donaghy was a washed up ‘has been’ superstar of another era. He became predictable, erratic and ratty, moreso Kerry became unidirectional.
A light bulb moment from Fitzmaurice and the reluctance of James Horan to adjust has catapulted Donaghy back to the front pages. But is this a flash in the pan or the ‘Star’ reborn? Donegal’s full back, Neil McGee, will relish the return of Donaghy — he is not Mayo’s Gerard Cafferkey.
But if not Donaghy, then who? Injuries and a mediocre bench have robbed Fitzmaurice of his options. To Jim McGuinness, Donaghy may be an easy conundrum to solve but to Kerry, is he a help or a hindrance?
Let’s assume for a moment that Fitzmaurice is predictable and plays Donaghy on the square, the Donegal plan will be to crowd him out, starve him of possession, frustrate him and clap him off after 45 minutes, tail between his legs.
Now assume that Fitzmaurice has a plan. He may see Neil McGee as the cornerstone of this Donegal defence which without him are fragile and weakened. Donaghy could be the perfect decoy, drag McGee all over the field and leave space for Paul Geaney and James O’Donoghue to flourish. Is he unselfish enough to carry out this role? Could he do what Michael Murphy would do?
Murphy? That’s the next problem for Fitzmaurice.
The obvious option is that Aidan O’Mahony will be assigned the task. Strong and determined, O’Mahony is the only ‘big’ man in the Kerry defence.
This may work in the full-back line, if O’Mahony can break the ball and provide enough pressure on Murphy, but further outfield Murphy’s mobility and footballing brain would surely surpass that which O’Mahony can give. “But Aidan marked Aidan O’Shea” I hear you say?
Michael Murphy is not Aidan O’Shea. He doesn’t look for someone to tackle him. He off-loads to team mates in better positions. He takes scores when half chances arise. He is able to switch effectively between multiple positions on the field. The team, not Michael Murphy, is the most important thing.
One potential fix for Kerry is to deploy Peter Crowley on Murphy. Crowley is strong for his small stature, mobile and determined. He also purposely mistimes his catches from kick-outs to spoil his marker and he has that bit of ‘niggle’ required to disrupt good players.
The problem this creates is who does Aidan O’Mahony mark? Donegal’s most disruptive line, in respect to consistency of players, has been their full-forward line but their weakest line has been their half-back line. Derry scored 0-8 (five frees), Armagh scored 1-6 (one free), and Dublin 0-10 (one free). How do Kerry take an advantage?
Michael Geaney, while left completely free for an entire half against Mayo, made absolutely no impact. Johnny Buckley can score but will he find the required space from no.11, whereas the ever-moving Donnchadh Walsh is usually reliable for a couple of scores.
Is it worth considering at this stage a move to half forward for James O’Donoghue? Leaving Donaghy and Paul Geaney to play in the full-forward line. Before you rubbish it, listen more. Whoever is assigned the task of marking O’Donoghue will reasonably expect to play off the square and shadow O’Donoghue while he makes meandering runs to receive long high balls off Kieran Donaghy. They don’t expect him to be the playmaker and chief architect in their downfall.
The freedom afforded by the previously identified loose marking half-back line will allow James space to get on the ball, be creative and pick off scores almost at will. Geaney and Donaghy are more than capable of leading the full-forward line and James can drift in and out as the space becomes available. This may actually fix more problems than it creates.
Let’s not get precious and start believing that it’s a major coup for Donegal if James O’Donoghue doesn’t start in the full-forward line. This boy is pure class and needs space to exert his influence on the game. Not since Peter Canavan in his prime has a player promised so much. Armagh’s Jamie Clarke didn’t score; Dublin’s Brogans scored four points between them when the game was well through; Monaghan’s Conor McManus scored one point. All played in traditional roles and all were snuffed out. Stop O’Donoghue and you stop Kerry.
Play O’Donoghue off the full forward in the orthodox fashion and say goodbye to another year.
One area where Donegal remain strong is the attacking half back line finding space in behind opposing defences, Anthony Thompson in particular. Ironically this is an area where they can be weak, ie opposing attacking half backs finding space in behind Donegal’s defence.
Armagh had great success at this whereas Dublin failed to capitalise.
The problem for Kerry is that the half-back line are so focused on maintaining their shape that they rarely attack when in possession and never drift into needless forward positions. It is probably fair to say that only Marc Ó Sé, who will most likely remain in the full-back line and Killian Young, who I expect to be on the bench, are the only attack-minded defenders they have.
The concern for Donegal, apart from James O’Donoghue, is how they will react to a team that has a proper and practised defensive structure. Maintain a tight defence and Donegal have serious problems scoring. This is their Achilles heel and may yet reveal itself tomorrow.
Armagh players believed they could match Donegal because they were as fit as them. Serious concerns remain about the fitness levels of some of the Kerry players especially Bryan Sheehan and Declan O’Sullivan should they start. Kerry must score goals to win this match. Solve that problem and they may well do.
Small alterations to designs and posing challenges to the players are what keep great teams improving. Kerry are the team which may make the most changes but this isn’t a sign of respect nor weakness. It is completely irrelevant. You do what is necessary to win.
This game isn’t just about Michael Murphy or James O’Donoghue, though it might prove to be.
