Galway unlikely to abandon defensive strategy
Former Galway footballer Seán Óg de Paor does not expect Kevin Walsh to abandon his favoured defensive approach in tomorrow’s season-defining clash with neighbours Mayo.
The Tribesmen were widely lambasted for their second-half horror-show in last month’s Connacht final, during which they managed just two points, one of which was a placed-ball effort five minutes into injury-time.
Walsh’s charges were bereft of creativity at Pearse Stadium, repeatedly recycling possession along the Roscommon 45-metre line such was the reluctance to commit men forward.
But de Paor cannot foresee his old teammate tweaking or dispensing with the rigid defensive system that he has espoused since taking the reins in September of 2014.
The two-time All-Ireland winning half-back also believes it would send the wrong message to players if Galway manager Walsh, at this point in their journey, decided to alter how they set up.
Following a similarly abject Connacht final display against Roscommon two years ago, Walsh made four changes for their subsequent fourth-round qualifier against Donegal.
Two-time All-Star de Paor expects another reshuffling of the deck tomorrow evening, predicting up to five changes in personnel from the side which came up short three weeks ago.
The Tribesmen are bidding to reach the last eight for the fourth consecutive summer, while opponents Mayo are chasing involvement in the Super 8s for the first time having failed to make the grade 12 months ago.
“I can’t see how Kevin can change their approach an awful lot at this late stage. Fair enough, sometimes the game-plan is probably not easy on the eye, but I think he’ll stick with it,” said de Paor.
“The reason I don’t think you’ll see any dramatic change is because it is so ingrained them. As well as that, if you are a manager and, all of a sudden, you change the game-plan, it is kinda saying, I’ve no confidence in what we were doing. It is a panic move.
Where the team are at now compares favourably to where they were when Kevin took over. The gradual improvements made by this team in recent years have come from using that game-plan.
In terms of entertainment, okay, it might not always be the most attractive, but they have been putting up decent scores, the Connacht final aside. There has been a lot made of the lateral passing as opposed to all-out attack. But sure we spent years at the all-out attack and we were leaking at the back, as a result.
He added: “The pitch in Limerick is big. Pace will be a big factor and so I think he’ll try and introduce a bit of speed into the team. To that end, there are the likes of Kieran Molloy, Cillian McDaid, and Seán Kelly. Corofin’s Martin Farragher, if he plays in tandem with Ian Burke, could be effective, while Eamonn Brannigan is another option. He had a very good year last year up until the match against Dublin.”
The former Galway defender refuted the suggestion the players will be somewhat brittle travelling to Limerick.
“There are guys on this team who’ve won a lot, be it Connacht medals, All-Ireland U21 medals, or All-Ireland club medals. You build a mental strength from those wins. Confidence won’t be an issue.
“Normally, you’d have a feel for how a game might go, but there are too many question marks over both teams; too many question marks over Mayo in terms of their injuries and we don’t really know where Galway are at because we haven’t seen them for three weeks after that poor half an hour of football.”
Former Mayo midfielder Liam McHale has said James Horan’s men will win by 10 points if Galway replicate their second-half Connacht final effort. McHale is confident that should Mayo get over their western rivals, the league champions will, at the very least, reach the last four.
“For the likes of Keith Higgins, Colm Boyle, Andy Moran, Donie Vaughan, and Seamie O’Shea, they’d be frothing at the mouth just to get one more rattle at an All-Ireland semi-final or a final. They will certainly feel if they can get into the Super 8s, they will win two of their three games and get into a semi-final. And then if we can get most lads back healthy, God only knows what will happen. They are a different animal when they get to Croke Park.
“They played quite well against Roscommon but the wide count was ridiculous. In the last two games, they were decent. If they were that little bit more smart and clinical, they could have beaten Armagh by seven or eight points. They are not a million miles away from playing really well.
“Nothing excites a Mayo man more than a knockout championship match against Galway, and vice versa.”
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