ANALYSIS: Derry need to look at their inability to adapt game-plan

There are many small idiosyncrasies that exist in the world of the GAA and one was evident in Croke Park yesterday where Dublin and Derry entered a national final with more of a focus on learning than winning.

Am I saying that winning is not important? Not at all! It is still a fundamental goal when playing sport and you should always prepare to win but with Championship on the horizon both Jim Gavin and Brain McIver would have taken a performance to build on.

Much is made of the amount of time inter-county teams train and prepare; countless hours go into field sessions, gym sessions, and tactical sessions.

Coaches and players commit this time to improve themselves as individuals and ultimately as a team. Teams that have coaches and players who can adapt to multiple game plans are usually the ones who are left standing at the end of the season.

Both sides had played eight games to reach this stage and had arrived with nearly identical scoring records, Dublin had scored 11-119 (152) Derry 13-116 (155), Dublin had conceded 10-107(137) Derry 10-106 (136) so on paper this was going to be a close, evenly fought game.

After the opening quarter it was obvious the game being played on the pitch was very different to how it read on paper pre-match.

It is often said you learn more in defeat than victory, Derry had beaten Dublin comprehensively back in March and it was clear that the champions had taken more lessons from that game as they took a stranglehold from the throw in. We are now accustomed to this Dublin team’s man on man marking style and their full-back line, Rory O’Carroll and Philly McMahon in particular, like to mark a few yards in front of their opponent. Perhaps after seeing Brian Hurley from Cork having some success in the semi-final winning numerous possessions from long direct ball, Derry opened with a similar tactic.

This led to a well worked Cailean O’Boyle goal but little else apart from that. It took the Ulster outfit 27 minutes before they registered their first point and at that stage the game was over as a contest.

Derry’s inability to adapt their game-plan and attempt to stem the Dublin momentum will be an area that they need to review in detail. While management can make some adjustments during the game and work a larger review at half time the Derry players need to take ownership and be in a position to make these tactical calls on the filed. It was interesting to hear Brian McIver admit they knew they would learn a lot and how they were ‘overawed’.

Dublin showed an ability to dominate a team in numerous ways. Eoghan O’Gara and Bernard Brogan gave them a presence in the full-forward line for a number of well-directed long balls, unlike the Derry high ball tactic these were passes favouring the forward and when they gained possession they had runners of either shoulder. On occasion when the long direct ball wasn’t on, Dublin showed the versatility to go to a running game with the likes of Jonny Cooper, James McCarthy, Michael Dara Macauley and Diarmuid Connolly all moving the ball through the hand at pace. To be able to interchange between systems with such ease requires huge preparation work and high levels of football intelligence to realise when the calls to change need to be made.

Not only can the Dublin system be flexible, they also have a number of players capable of filling multiple roles at an extremely high level.

Jonny Cooper was named to start at corner back but picked up Derry danger man, centre forward Mark Lynch at centre back. Lynch had his quietest game of the season as he struggled to shake Cooper who had time to break forward to score in the first half.

Paul Flynn was having a customary polished performance at wing forward. He had contributed three points before being moved to midfield for the final 25 minutes, where he seemed to go up a gear and give Dublin an even stronger platform around the middle third.

Jim Gavin and his management team will be delighted with their team delivering such a dominant display but there are still a number of areas they will look to improve.

Derry managed to create a number of goal opportunities and while this is a side effect of Dublin’s open style of play it can lead them to being vulnerable at the back.

The wide count is another area which will be studied in detail in the days ahead, Dublin have now retained their league title, their biggest challenge in preparations for retaining Sam Maguire over the coming weeks might be showing an ability to learn and improve themselves while winning matches so comfortably. They have set the bar and continue to raise it. Now we wait and see if anyone out there can join them at that level.