If I was Pat Gilroy...

KERRY are the masters of synergy. Aside from the fact they are an extremely athletic and talented bunch of players, the sum of their parts has always been greater than the individuals. They are the most studied team in the country.

They have missed only three finals since 1999 and yet very few teams have ever figured out why this is, or even rarer, how to diffuse it.

PICK OPTION B: When facing Kerry, most teams become pre-occupied with how to defend against them. It is a big tactical decision and how you defend often dictates how you attack. Most teams play Kerry in 1 of 2 ways.

Option A is the clichéd “crowded defence”. Wing forwards and midfielders play deep to help out defence. You may keep the score down, relatively speaking, but you run the risk of inviting them on to you and not having a link between defence and attack when you break.

Option B is to Push Up. Put Kerry under such pressure all over the field (especially when they hit their own 45m line) that they cannot get quality ball into their full forward line. If you can even turn over ball around the middle, all the better, you’re in with a shout. Playing such a high line will of course leave you open to goals should they break through but at least it gives you a fighting chance.

The majority of teams in the past have picked Option A. This is the standard default option. At first glance, it makes sense to try to nullify their massive forward threat but there is no circumstance in which you can beat Kerry by playing this way. When faced with a bottle neck, no Kerry player will go into contact, trying to bust their way through a glut of defenders. Kerry will recycle the ball back one to a support player and then flash it across to the other side of the field. The ball will cross the field far faster than 10 defenders will be able to swing across and Kerry will find a gap somewhere along the way. This simple but deadly effective game plan exploits the width of Croke Park to its fullest.

Where Kerry have been caught is when teams of ability push up on them man-on-man and mix it out the field. You have to follow your man, even when they retreat to their own goal side of the play to collect handy ball (see Armagh 2002, Tyrone 2005, 2008). The supply line is choked. What is worrying for this Dublin team is that while they may have the players to match Kerry, just about, they appear to be very much an Option A team.

TARGET THE Ó SÉ’S: TOMÁS and Marc Ó Sé are Kerry’s go to guys. When they are under pressure coming out of defence, it is invariably the Gaeltacht brothers who they look to, to make the right decisions or to break the line. Whoever ends up marking these guys has to keep them busy and drag them all over the field. They have to work them to exhaustion when Dublin are in possession and stay inside their jersey when Kerry have the ball. Kerry target/isolate opposition big game players. In the 2009 All-Ireland Final, Tadgh Kennelly was tasked with running Cork’s best player Graham Canty as hard as he could along an empty half forward line for as long as he could. Kennelly duly obliged and was withdrawn with about 15 minutes to go. They had looked at the Tyrone Cork semi-final and realised just how important he was to Cork’s gameplan. If Dublin can do something similar to the Ó Se’s, it will deprive Kerry of their most important springboard.

EXPLOIT KERRY’S MAN FOR MAN DEFENCE: If Kerry have a weak link, then it is their defenders. They are not as good as they were 2005-2009. These defenders will go man for man. More importantly, group tackling and mass defence is not part of Kerry’s make up. If Dublin can isolate Bernard and Alan Brogan, an opportunity may present itself. If the other four forwards can stay wide, sacrifice their own game and give the Brogan brothers a chance one on one, then they may find scores easier to come by than expected.

PUT BEST DEFENDER ON DECLAN O’SULLIVAN: At the other end of the field, Pat Gilroy has to dictate his own defensive match ups. Declan O’Sullivan’s ability to switch between the half forward and full forward lines marks him out as an extremely difficult proposition to legislate for. He appears to have license to switch positions and at different times, he can bring his marker into an area of the field where he would not necessarily be comfortable. How comfortable would Ger Brennan be at corner back? Should you switch a different defender onto him every time he moves position however, you are playing the game on Kerry’s terms. Cork suffered in this way in this year’s Munster Final. O’Sullivan can be beaten though, and get dragged too far up the field too often. If you have the man to stick tight on him and attack at all opportunities he should stay on him for the 70 minutes.

SURVIVE THE FIRST HALF: In their first All Ireland final, Pat Gilroy needs to get his players to play the game and not the occasion. The bigger the game, the simpler it gets. Kerry in their umpteenth final will not be affected by the occasion. If they get into their stride, they will not be caught. But if they have not shaken a team off with 15 minutes to go, they can start to panic. Should Dublin make it to the 55th minute and still be in contention, then form and tactics will go out the window.