John Small: Dublin's best team can beat anyone's best team on a given day
SMALL TALK: Pictured is former Dublin Minor Footballer, John Small, at the finals preview of the 2026 Electric Ireland GAA All-Ireland Minor Championships. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan.
Former Dublin defender John Small has backed the 2023 champions to beat any team that's left in the All-Ireland race.
But the seven-time All-Ireland winner, who retired last October and knocked back an invitation over winter from new manager Ger Brennan to return, does have a couple of concerns.
Firstly, he feels they must turn up and 'perform' against Galway in Sunday's All-Ireland quarter-final, something they've failed to do on several occasions this year, winning just six of their 13 League and Championship games.
The former defender also argued strongly that Dublin's 'best 15' is as good as what's around - yet they probably won't have their best team for Sunday's Croke Park showdown.
Captain Con O'Callaghan (hamstring) and Nathan Doran (Achilles) suffered fresh setbacks in last weekend's morale boosting win over Donegal while Killian McGinnis (ACL) won't be back this season and Eoin Murchan hasn't featured in over two months.
Lastly, Small is concerned about the impact of playing 90 minutes of football just last Sunday, compared to Galway's comfortable passage to the last eight, secured by their Round 2A win a week earlier.
"If you want to compare the current Dublin team to our team, who won so much, that's unfair, you can't compare any team that's ever played to us," said Small, part of Dublin's historic six-in-a-row group.
"So that isn't fair. But this team is a really, really good team in its own right. And they can beat anybody. They've just beaten one of the favourites to win the All-Ireland. I know the quality that's in the dressing-room. And I keep saying it, Dublin's best team can beat anyone's best team on a given day, 100 percent.
"They've so much quality in terms of what's there defensively, at midfield and offensively. There's huge, huge quality. I know it's there. And I'd back them to beat anyone, once they perform."
Fatigue is a concern for Small though.
"I think the only thing that might catch them a little bit is that they've played 90 minutes and now have to go week on week," said the Ballymun man. "That's three weeks in a row. Galway have had a two-week break, which is an advantage, definitely."
Former half-back Small predicted that Theo Clancy may drop into the full-back line to cover the loss of Doran.
In attack, he identified Seán Bugler as a likely replacement for King Con, or rookie Seán Guiden, who scored 0-4 as a sub against Donegal.
Guiden, son of 1990s Dublin player Niall Guiden, is one of eight who have made Championship debuts this season. Only two of them, Charlie McMorrow and Tim Deering, have actually played in a Leinster minor winning team and Josh Bannon is the only one to have experienced a Leinster U-20 final win.
"I think Dublin underage hasn't been managed the way it should be, to be honest, if you're looking at it in a holistic way," said Small. "From the talent that we've had previously to the amount of players coming through now, it's not where it needs to be.
"The reasons for that, there's a lot of them. But it's definitely something Dublin need to be looking at because the fellas that are coming through are good but we're not getting enough of them coming through."
Small is still adamant that the present group of players are capable of capturing an All-Ireland.
"All those young players in that dressing-room, if they went on to do something special this year, the belief that would give, the confidence, even how it would help underage structures in the county, it would be massive."
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