Mayo v Donegal all ireland quarter final Sunday Aug 4 4.00pm

[Lar Naparka]

Probably true CB and as prewtna said it might be no harm not having an established marquee forward, though I think Dublin and Kerry have as good a spread of scorers as Mayo. Good teams do what Mayo are doing but Mayo forwards haven't been in a pressure situation yet this. I mean Donie Vaughan has scored two goals with the opposition goal keeper behind him and O'Connor gathered the ball on the edge of the square unmarked for a few of his, so while the stats are impressive the opposition defending requires analysis.

Fair enough, Zulu, you have referred to Mayo's lack of goal-scoring several times in the past and I accept there is merit in what you say. James Horan has been aware of this for a long time past and has been doing his best to work his way around this.
Last year, it seems Mayo forwards were instructed to shoot for points from a distance instead of trying to work the ball in closer to goal.
It didn't deliver the goods in the end but it was as good a ploy as any.
This year he seems to have abandoned this approach and Mayo are no longer goal-shy.
Surely thirteen goals from four games is an impressive return by any standards?
Okay, the opposition in all of the games didn't amount to much but was this by pure coincidence or did Mayo have a hand in their downfall, one by one?
I'd suggest that it was a combination of both that brought Mayo to the stage they are at now.
Galway were annihilated in Salthill but when they picked themselves up, they went on to give a creditable account of themselves in the qualifiers. After their pasting from Mayo, Roscommon had to face Tyrone, another of the so-called Top Six.
They gave as good as they got until the closing stages.
London could have pulled off the shock of the century if their lack of match fitness hadn't cost them dearly in their game against Cavan. Okay none of them are really good sides but did they all get flattened by Mayo because of their own deficiencies or did the overall excellence of Mayo's play have a part in each game?
And what of Donegal?
After all, they beat Tyrone, put up a good show against Monaghan and survived a tough encounter with Laois. They aren't a patch on what they were last year but still, the four goals and a few near-misses can't all be put down to sloppy defending.
Certainly, the opposition defence requires analysis but Mayo didn't get to where they are now by default alone.

[ck]

Word in Donegal is that Jimmy may be considering stepping down. I've heard him come out with some excuses this week like injuries and hunger. What about Celtic Jimmy?

[ballinaman]

I heard he was a very young family and twins on the way. It would be understandable if he was to step down in fairness.

[Syferus]

Word in Donegal is that Jimmy may be considering stepping down. I've heard him come out with some excuses this week like injuries and hunger. What about Celtic Jimmy?

Jesus CK, if Jimmy and Moyna ever teamed up we'd have to get you sectioned.

[rodney trotter]

Word in Donegal is that Jimmy may be considering stepping down. I've heard him come out with some excuses this week like injuries and hunger. What about Celtic Jimmy?

Jesus CK, if Jimmy and Moyna ever teamed up we'd have to get you sectioned.

+1 ..

[ck]

Word in Donegal is that Jimmy may be considering stepping down. I've heard him come out with some excuses this week like injuries and hunger. What about Celtic Jimmy?

Jesus CK, if Jimmy and Moyna ever teamed up we'd have to get you sectioned.

Ha ha, now that would be a evil duo. I'm actually a strong admirer of Jimmy, just didnt like his antics over the last few weeks. With 3 kids under 5 and twins on the way I've no idea how he does it. Anyone any idea? Must have a different kinda wife than I do and all I manage is the club minors! 
If he steps down good luck to him, you could see Donegal returning to the doldrums very quickly without him

[Zulu]

Probably true CB and as prewtna said it might be no harm not having an established marquee forward, though I think Dublin and Kerry have as good a spread of scorers as Mayo. Good teams do what Mayo are doing but Mayo forwards haven't been in a pressure situation yet this. I mean Donie Vaughan has scored two goals with the opposition goal keeper behind him and O'Connor gathered the ball on the edge of the square unmarked for a few of his, so while the stats are impressive the opposition defending requires analysis.

Fair enough, Zulu, you have referred to Mayo's lack of goal-scoring several times in the past and I accept there is merit in what you say. James Horan has been aware of this for a long time past and has been doing his best to work his way around this.
Last year, it seems Mayo forwards were instructed to shoot for points from a distance instead of trying to work the ball in closer to goal.
It didn't deliver the goods in the end but it was as good a ploy as any.
This year he seems to have abandoned this approach and Mayo are no longer goal-shy.
Surely thirteen goals from four games is an impressive return by any standards?
Okay, the opposition in all of the games didn't amount to much but was this by pure coincidence or did Mayo have a hand in their downfall, one by one?
I'd suggest that it was a combination of both that brought Mayo to the stage they are at now.
Galway were annihilated in Salthill but when they picked themselves up, they went on to give a creditable account of themselves in the qualifiers. After their pasting from Mayo, Roscommon had to face Tyrone, another of the so-called Top Six.
They gave as good as they got until the closing stages.
London could have pulled off the shock of the century if their lack of match fitness hadn't cost them dearly in their game against Cavan. Okay none of them are really good sides but did they all get flattened by Mayo because of their own deficiencies or did the overall excellence of Mayo's play have a part in each game?
And what of Donegal?
After all, they beat Tyrone, put up a good show against Monaghan and survived a tough encounter with Laois. They aren't a patch on what they were last year but still, the four goals and a few near-misses can't all be put down to sloppy defending.
Certainly, the opposition defence requires analysis but Mayo didn't get to where they are now by default alone.

Lar I hope my comments are not being interpreted as not giving Mayo credit for what they've done so far. I think I have acknowledged that they do what good teams do and beat poor ones easily. Every score in every game is probably a mixture of defensive frailties and attacking quality but the poorer the defending the less forwards have to do to look good. Anyone who's played football will have had days when they and their teammates looked like world beaters or bone useless as a result of their opposition.

If you look at both of COC's goals in the second half there was a mixture of luck, good attacking and poor defending. Having watched the game again there is no doubt Donegal were a mile off the pace so I'd just be a bit cautious of where Mayo are in reality. They are undoubtedly one of the best teams in Ireland and nobody will beat them easily but I thought Andy Moran wasn't moving freely against Donegal and would be concerned about him in a more intense game. Freeman was only ok for my money and Feeney won't curl them over from the sideline so I'd be a bit anxious that recent score lines flatter Mayo somewhat.

I suppose I view games from a coaches point of view so I may look for the weaknesses rather than acknowledge the many things that are working. But I am hugely impressed by Mayo and would love to see you win it. I'm only giving my opinion as part of a natter on the game, it'll make no difference to Mayo and hopefully I'm like an overprotective mother who's worrying too much!!

[iorras]

Massive performance from Mayo.
I think they can ease off a bit for Tyrone and then build themselves back up for the Dubs.
Hard to maintain that intensity.

Nah, you cant do that. If your game plan is built on intensity then you have to do it every time you go out, cant turn it on and off, and to even suggest doing so would be an insult to Tyrone who will win if they dont get the respect they deserve. Mayo have been playing with that intensity all year, with exceptions being part of the London game and the last 15 minutes of the game V Donegal. Its only 70 minutes, they have had plenty of rest between games and are capable of keeping that intensity up for two more games.

I've had a read of this whole thread, and have to say there was some awful rubbish being spoken, course I'm looking at it with the benefit of hindsight, and I didnt predict a Mayo hammering of Donegal either but logic would dictate that they would win, given their form

People need to get over the stereotype of Mayo that they have in their heads and analyse and comment on this particular team. We have always had good footballers but I dont believe we have had as many who have been coached to their full potential, or who have been put together in such a professional environment as we have now.
All you can hope for from a management team is that they firstly get the best talent available to them in the county onto a county panel and secondly set them up to give them the best possible chance of winning, and I'm not just talking about tactics, but also fitness, S&C, training intervals (periodisation), mind set, off field setup, man management and team cohesiveness. Donegal did it last year to a tee and fair play to them.

This version of Mayo started 3 years ago under James Horan, he came to the table with logic. For too many years, Mayo have had the talented footballers but none of what I have mentioned above. We had a hit and hope attitude that by some miracle we'd fall over the line. You dont win the all ireland with a handful of talented footballers and hope. You have to set out a plan that makes the most sense, build on it and overcome any issues you fall into.
James Horan had been there done that, in terms of losing all irelands. He said that the reason we lost some games we should have won, was that we fell into bad habits when the pressure came on, we didnt have the all round skill sets to get ourselves out of trouble. He maintains that IC footballers shouldnt have a "weak side", they should be able to hand pass, kick pass, score, tackle equally from either side, and 3 years ago set about working on skills. His theory being that you cant get anything right without the baseline of having the skills. Sounds obvious but not that many are doing it. Thankfull its now filtering down to all Mayo underage squads, skill work.
So, while they are still working on that, this team now are in their 3rd year of building that foundation, they have shown progress every year, a semi final, a final and now hopefully another final with an actual win. I think thats why Mayo people are showing such confidence, well those that know a bit about football anyway, can see that there is a logic to a statement about considering this team all ireland contenders, unlike in the past when we got to finals and didnt really know how the f*ck we got there (2006, 2004) being prime examples. A handful of good footballers and a hit and hope strategy. Not this team. A Galway man once said to me, and he was right, that Galway people know when they have a good team, and wont follow a bad one, for years Mayo people blindly followed whatever was out there, without really knowing if it was good or not. I think that is finally changing now and at the very least we know that this team will be very competitive. Again logic shows that statistically we have scorers coming from all sorts of places so its difficult to stop that. Over the past 3 years, with the exception of last years all ireland final, we at least break even in midfield. Tyrone dont have as many scorers, so all things being equal and no significant injuries to key Mayo personnel (either O'Shea, Andy Moran, Alan Dillon, Kev McLoughlin, Keith Higgins, Cillian O'Connor, Colm Boyle or Rob Hennelly (as hes the only goalie left logic would dictate that Mayo will get over the line. The fact that list is so long tells it own story.Final is a different story, it will probably be Dublin and they are still in their first year of development under Jim Gavin. Yes, there are a number of those lads with medals in their arse pocket, something Mayo cant say, but this is being built for for 3 years, so again, with the same caveats, Mayo could win that too.

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

Sunday Game highlights of all the games is on RTE player with access now open to those of us in Britain.

[sans pessimism]

'' I think the confidence of most Mayo fans is in the team and the setup rather than a bullish arrogance that we will brush Donegal or any of the teams left aside with ease'' Crete boom

Thats exactly it, Mayo supporters are proud of this set up . Down through the years although we have had decent teams and some outstanding individuals we now have decent individuals and an outstanding team, they will never throw in the towel and i would near put my life on it that no team is capable of embarrassing us by beating us out the gate.

I'm the first to admit as a supporter i'm an emotional wreck and down the years i've  tossed the flag to one side and stormed out of croker like a spoilt brat (younger days in fairness) but even if we happen to lose on Sunday there is a steelieness about this team that makes ya proud.

obviously you're ' younger days' are back judging by  your post AI comments-Why dont you and your buddies from that football stronghold of yours take over from the 'bull thick Ballintubber buck'.Gobshites are a dime a dozen