Jack O'Connor: If you think you can play gung-ho football against that type of structure, that’s not living in the real world

Why did there need to be promises made at half-time in order to spark a pulse? Why so passive early on? Why allow Derry to build their house exactly as they wanted?

REAL WORLD: Kerry manager Jack O'Connor during the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship quarter-final match between Kerry and Derry at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile

Energy. Intensity. Aggression. What Kerry failed to unearth and unleash in the opening half they found a smidgen of in the second.

The importance of interval discussions are too often overplayed. Within the Kerry sanctuary at around 4pm, there was an “agreement” that they would aggressively attack proceedings rather than continuing to colour limply around the edges.