All Ireland Football semi-final;Mayo v Kerry,Sunday Aug 20

[mup]

Who would be a Mayo supporter? They were 5/6 points the better team yesterday and still nearly managed to lost it.

If Mayo do win the replay I'd still expect them to lose the high-lights on the Sunday Game.

[larryin89]

Shane Nally excellent during the league, canon of a left peg off the bench vs Roscommon.

Coen/Drake are not shooters when the pressure is on, contrast Coens attempt to Barry John Keane down the other end. Very frustrating substitutions.

100%.

Its so frustrating this ridiculous line hes taken with the subs , its all about not going for it , safety is why weve had all these draws.

Loftus should be.on the pitch way earlier everytime and.tbh I wouldnt mind.see him.starting.

Nally should be on before coen and.drake unless we are 8 points or so.up.Kirby also

[ballinaman]

Shane Nally excellent during the league, canon of a left peg off the bench vs Roscommon.

Coen/Drake are not shooters when the pressure is on, contrast Coens attempt to Barry John Keane down the other end. Very frustrating substitutions.

It's bad when you're lusting after Barry John Keane. Against every big team but Mayo he's the game-loser-in-chief for Kerry.

Nally's nothing special, at least not yet. Even Drake scored against us that day so him scoring then is hardly worth noting. Ye don't have much of a bench no matter who comes on, it's as simple as that.

I'd back Loftus in the pocket over all day long is what I'm saying. I know Coen was on for SOS so it's not like.


Another thing, Coen/Parsons miscommunication on which midfielder to tag on a Kerry kick out cost us....allowed a uncontested mark and Kerry a handy score from that possession.

[AZOffaly]

It's a bit of a curate's egg, the O'Shea - Donaghy thing. Mayo were obviously petrified of the high diagonal ball, with Geaney and O'Donoghue living off the scraps. From that perspective Aidan O'Shea could be said to have done what he was supposed to do, in that Kerry just didn't bother playing that ball at all with him in there, and the one ballooned ball was won by O'Shea.

However, Donaghy was instrumental in a lot of Kerry moves, and if you were to ask simply who got the better of the battle, it was Donaghy. We all know he's not the most graceful or the quickest, but he showed he can peel off his man, and make decent runs. O'Shea just didn't know what to do with him. And Donaghy scored a point, set up at least 1-2 or 1-3, and generally seemed to be pulling the strings for Kerry.

So it boils down to this if you are Stephen Rochford.

Do you commit to the same plan knowing that a) You are your own man, who has been in great form, out of the game as an attacking threat in order to negate the high ball to Donaghy, b) Knowing that O'Shea can't 'mark' him as a traditional full back and c) Knowing now that Kerry expect it, and did reasonably well against it even when they didn't expect it, or know for sure?

[Syferus]

Shane Nally excellent during the league, canon of a left peg off the bench vs Roscommon.

Coen/Drake are not shooters when the pressure is on, contrast Coens attempt to Barry John Keane down the other end. Very frustrating substitutions.

It's bad when you're lusting after Barry John Keane. Against every big team but Mayo he's the game-loser-in-chief for Kerry.

Nally's nothing special, at least not yet. Even Drake scored against us that day so him scoring then is hardly worth noting. Ye don't have much of a bench no matter who comes on, it's as simple as that.

I'd back Loftus in the pocket over all day long is what I'm saying. I know Coen was on for SOS so it's not like.


Another thing, Coen/Parsons miscommunication on which midfielder to tag on a Kerry kick out cost us....allowed a uncontested mark and Kerry a handy score from that possession.

I forgot about Loftus, though he probably should be starting and someone like Doherty or Diarmuid O'Connor should be on the bench. Durcan is a funny case too. Probably a starter most days but Rochford prefers Barrett because he's more disciplined defending.

[vallankumous]

It's a bit of a curate's egg, the O'Shea - Donaghy thing. Mayo were obviously petrified of the high diagonal ball, with Geaney and O'Donoghue living off the scraps. From that perspective Aidan O'Shea could be said to have done what he was supposed to do, in that Kerry just didn't bother playing that ball at all with him in there, and the one ballooned ball was won by O'Shea.

However, Donaghy was instrumental in a lot of Kerry moves, and if you were to ask simply who got the better of the battle, it was Donaghy. We all know he's not the most graceful or the quickest, but he showed he can peel off his man, and make decent runs. O'Shea just didn't know what to do with him. And Donaghy scored a point, set up at least 1-2 or 1-3, and generally seemed to be pulling the strings for Kerry.

So it boils down to this if you are Stephen Rochford.

Do you commit to the same plan knowing that a) You are your own man, who has been in great form, out of the game as an attacking threat in order to negate the high ball to Donaghy, b) Knowing that O'Shea can't 'mark' him as a traditional full back and c) Knowing now that Kerry expect it, and did reasonably well against it even when they didn't expect it, or know for sure?

He has to stick with it. It's impossible to know if it worked or not. Only a series of games could tell you that.
Putting O'Shea in for the specific reason to mark Donaghey shows lack of faith in Mayo defenders. It's too late now, that has happened.
Changing it back is an admission of tactical failure and will do nothing to restore that lost faith. All Kerry need to do is have their many pundits talk and write about this all week. How Rotchford lost the tactical battle and how he should fix it. Really go to town talking about it. if they can instill a lack of faith in Rotchford's tactical decisions (right or wrong) it will give Kerry and advantage.

[Syferus]

It's a bit of a curate's egg, the O'Shea - Donaghy thing. Mayo were obviously petrified of the high diagonal ball, with Geaney and O'Donoghue living off the scraps. From that perspective Aidan O'Shea could be said to have done what he was supposed to do, in that Kerry just didn't bother playing that ball at all with him in there, and the one ballooned ball was won by O'Shea.

However, Donaghy was instrumental in a lot of Kerry moves, and if you were to ask simply who got the better of the battle, it was Donaghy. We all know he's not the most graceful or the quickest, but he showed he can peel off his man, and make decent runs. O'Shea just didn't know what to do with him. And Donaghy scored a point, set up at least 1-2 or 1-3, and generally seemed to be pulling the strings for Kerry.

So it boils down to this if you are Stephen Rochford.

Do you commit to the same plan knowing that a) You are your own man, who has been in great form, out of the game as an attacking threat in order to negate the high ball to Donaghy, b) Knowing that O'Shea can't 'mark' him as a traditional full back and c) Knowing now that Kerry expect it, and did reasonably well against it even when they didn't expect it, or know for sure?

He has to stick with it. It's impossible to know if it worked or not. Only a series of games could tell you that.
Putting O'Shea in for the specific reason to mark Donaghey shows lack of faith in Mayo defenders. It's too late now, that has happened.
Changing it back is an admission of tactical failure and will do nothing to restore that lost faith. All Kerry need to do is have their many pundits talk and write about this all week. How Rotchford lost the tactical battle and how he should fix it. Really go to town talking about it. if they can instill a lack of faith in Rotchford's tactical decisions (right or wrong) it will give Kerry and advantage.

No, it's not.

Most people who have watched AOS regularly could have told you exactly what was going to transpire if you played him as a full back.

[vallankumous]

Not, it's not.

Most people who have watched AOS regularly could have told you exactly what was going to transpire if you played him as a full back.

What did transpire?

[AZOffaly]

val, if that was Joe Bloggs versus John Doe, you'd say the full forward comfortably got the better of the full back.

And given that the full back has been an instrumental player for the team in an attacking sense this year, you'd have to question if it's worth it.

[vallankumous]

val, if that was Joe Bloggs versus John Doe, you'd say the full forward comfortably got the better of the full back.

And given that the full back has been an instrumental player for the team in an attacking sense this year, you'd have to question if it's worth it.

True. I think Kerry responded well with the tactical change. Rotchford could do nothing about kerry's response to the change. I think Mayo play with fear. With 20 mins to go they should have pulled AoS back out to at least make us believe they wanted to go win it. Instead the fear of losing dominated the decision making.

[blast05]

Rambling thoughts .....

Leeroy was burning oil in that game. With about 10 minutes to go, Kerry had a kickout and Paul Murphy was 50 yards away from Leeroy. Keeper was rushing out with the ball intent on kicking the ball to Murphy. Leeroy knew what was about to happen and was trying to close the ground ...... but his top pace at the stage was only half-pace. That infection has affecetd him more than we realise i suspect. Hopefully, yesterday was the pipe cleaner he needed.

Boyler .... re-watching the game last night, there was a section at ~20 minutes when Mayo dispossessed Kerry and Boyler was standing with his 2 hands behind his behind - bollixed. The man goes at a million miles an hour and doesn't pace himself at all. The Duracell bunny wouldn't have been able to keep going at his pace. People may mock the idea of him being subbed based on stats and metrics being taken from him in real time but we have to trust it. Incidentally, while Aidan got the abuse for Kerrys first goal, wasn't it Boylers man that actually scored it ?

Clarke .... i said it after the Dublin league game this year that we won't with the All-Ireland with him (his restarts) but we won't win it without him either (his shot stopping and presence being the best in the history of the game with nobody waiting in the wings even close to that standard). I think finally people may be coming to understand the logic of playing Hennelly in the replay last year .... with the problem being as we know that Hennelly failed to perform to his normal standards.

Jason Doherty .... what an unsung hero of this team. He was simply superb yesterday. He showed for ball after ball and won every one of them. Not one single handling error - an incredible stat. When a team don't play a sweeper against us, then he is the man that makes the full forward line tick. He had a bigger impact and contribution on the game that Donaghy did for Kerry.

How will Kerry protect their full back line the next day ? While all the Sunday Game pundits highlighted that Kerry packed the middle third to counter the Mayo running game (a success for them albeit exposing their full back line) and that they need to employ a sweeper  or some more support for their FB line for the replay .... the obvious side effect of that change for them is that it plays back into the hands of Mayos power-running game. Will be intriguing

[rosnarun]

i have never rd some much shite on one tiopic in all my life . kerry went into yesterdays game hot favorite and end ed up lucky to get a draw so whats the discussion .
All the things that mayo did wrong .
does no one have a bit of perspective on this . Kerry have have every bit as much  more soul searching to do this week as mayo . 
ii mayo had won yesterday would fitmaurice have been in trouble , of course not but even with a draw i feel a lot of mayo fans would not object to Rochford getting the boot midweek (reductio ad absurdum of course)

[maigheo]

very good post Blast and your points about Jason Doc are excellent .Very under rated player who always contributes.Keegan did not look himself yesterday but still had about 4 shots on goal and was fouled for Cillians only free.

[vallankumous]

i have never rd some much shite on one tiopic in all my life . kerry went into yesterdays game hot favorite and end ed up lucky to get a draw so whats the discussion .
All the things that mayo did wrong .
does no one have a bit of perspective on this . Kerry have have every bit as much  more soul searching to do this week as mayo . 
ii mayo had won yesterday would fitmaurice have been in trouble , of course not but even with a draw i feel a lot of mayo fans would not object to Rochford getting the boot midweek (reductio ad absurdum of course)

The stacked kerry media decide the debate.

[maigheo]

Very unfair headline in the Sindo this morning about lions being led by donkeys.Article written by Eamonn Sweeny who usually is good but this is way below the belt.