Quote from: galwayman on Today at 09:49:10 PMI love Gaelic football - I have since I can remember.
I'm in my forties now and this is the first year ever that I just can't get excited about the championship whatsoever.
The format has completely fucked it up. I honestly believe the only way forward is to get rid of the provincial championships. It won't happen because the Ulster championship is so strong & competitive. The elephant in the room is that the other three are a complete and utter pile of horse shit.
When a team would be better off losing a provincial semi final (if they were to go on and lose the final) so that they could potentially get a pot two opponent of Louth, Clare or Sligo it says it all.
Dublin & Kerry can sleepwalk into a top seed spot in a group.
It's a completely uneven playing field.
It has to change so that teams of a similar standard are playing against each other and teams such as Dublin & Kerry can't just proceed through to the business end in first gear every year.
I get that they are quality teams and would do well anyway but there's no real peril for them at the moment unlike any of the Ulster teams for example.
Even ourselves last year - once we beat Roscommon we had a handy game against Sligo to get into pot one.
A lot of the games now don't mean a huge pile.
It's killing the football championship
Quote from: RedHand88 on Today at 10:17:27 PMOn the basis that Armagh have huge support.Quote from: galwayman on Today at 07:29:07 PMQuote from: seafoid on Today at 07:23:05 PMThe stadium is never going to be filled unless it's an AI final or at a stretch Dublin against either Mayo or Armagh in a semi final.Quote from: armaghniac on Today at 06:46:32 PMIts a bit one sided. The home draw for the semi final significant.the Dubs can't fill croke Park this time of the year after 14 in a row. Who is responsible for this?
Lucky in the GAA that we don't have home semi finals where blue teams can fill the stadium with their supporters and overawe the opposition.
When has it ever been any different?
Croke Park has rarely ever sold out for anything but an All Ireland final. This isn't a new phenomenon.
Eh??
Quote from: galwayman on Today at 07:29:07 PMQuote from: seafoid on Today at 07:23:05 PMThe stadium is never going to be filled unless it's an AI final or at a stretch Dublin against either Mayo or Armagh in a semi final.Quote from: armaghniac on Today at 06:46:32 PMIts a bit one sided. The home draw for the semi final significant.the Dubs can't fill croke Park this time of the year after 14 in a row. Who is responsible for this?
Lucky in the GAA that we don't have home semi finals where blue teams can fill the stadium with their supporters and overawe the opposition.
When has it ever been any different?
Croke Park has rarely ever sold out for anything but an All Ireland final. This isn't a new phenomenon.
Quote from: johnnycool on April 30, 2024, 08:14:05 AMQuote from: seafoid on April 29, 2024, 08:24:23 PMQuote from: imtommygunn on April 29, 2024, 06:51:13 PMThe comparison would be Dublin not Derry...Agree re Dublin. What McGuinness did was completely nullify Derry's tactics. Beating Limerick will require something special that is similar.
Cork will need to beat limerick now which if limerick have qualified is I suppose a possibility.
McGuinness didn't beat Derry by trying to be better at what Derry excel at, he looked at their strengths and used that against them, the high press on the Donegal kick out, their keeper just booted it beyond the press and they'd runners hitting that space beyond the press once the big men flicked the ball into it.
Smart enough, but for Derry to persist in the "process" which had been worked out spoke of a team overcoached.
To beat Limerick you avoid the intensity and congested areas, have the scorers 70 metres from goals working the ball in pods to get the long range shots off and you'll need a very high percentage of scores going over for it to work.
If that doesn't pull out their deep lying half forwards then nothing will.
Then once they come out chasing the game you need to hit the spaces they leave behind
Limerick rode their luck against Clare. The goal that gave them momentum was from a mishit free aside from the square ball shouts and a bit of poor goal keeping, but Clare couldn't respond like they did against Cork.
Clare do have the physique to compete against Limerick, but they've questions to answer about their mental fortitude in Munster finals and AI semi-finals where they've probably been the better teams but lapses in concentration have been their undoing.
Galway didn't show much in Salthill to suggest they've improved this year, but Leinster doesn't heat up for another few weeks.
Tipp, Cork and Waterford need to be smarter if they want to challenge Limerick or the bottom line is they just aren't good enough no matter how you cut it.
Quote from: johnnycool on April 30, 2024, 08:14:05 AMQuote from: seafoid on April 29, 2024, 08:24:23 PMQuote from: imtommygunn on April 29, 2024, 06:51:13 PMThe comparison would be Dublin not Derry...Agree re Dublin. What McGuinness did was completely nullify Derry's tactics. Beating Limerick will require something special that is similar.
Cork will need to beat limerick now which if limerick have qualified is I suppose a possibility.
McGuinness didn't beat Derry by trying to be better at what Derry excel at, he looked at their strengths and used that against them, the high press on the Donegal kick out, their keeper just booted it beyond the press and they'd runners hitting that space beyond the press once the big men flicked the ball into it.
Smart enough, but for Derry to persist in the "process" which had been worked out spoke of a team overcoached.
To beat Limerick you avoid the intensity and congested areas, have the scorers 70 metres from goals working the ball in pods to get the long range shots off and you'll need a very high percentage of scores going over for it to work.
If that doesn't pull out their deep lying half forwards then nothing will.
Then once they come out chasing the game you need to hit the spaces they leave behind
Limerick rode their luck against Clare. The goal that gave them momentum was from a mishit free aside from the square ball shouts and a bit of poor goal keeping, but Clare couldn't respond like they did against Cork.
Clare do have the physique to compete against Limerick, but they've questions to answer about their mental fortitude in Munster finals and AI semi-finals where they've probably been the better teams but lapses in concentration have been their undoing.
Galway didn't show much in Salthill to suggest they've improved this year, but Leinster doesn't heat up for another few weeks.
Tipp, Cork and Waterford need to be smarter if they want to challenge Limerick or the bottom line is they just aren't good enough no matter how you cut it.
Quote from: johnnycool on April 30, 2024, 08:14:05 AMGreat stuff. The psychology has to be spot on as well.Quote from: seafoid on April 29, 2024, 08:24:23 PMQuote from: imtommygunn on April 29, 2024, 06:51:13 PMThe comparison would be Dublin not Derry...Agree re Dublin. What McGuinness did was completely nullify Derry's tactics. Beating Limerick will require something special that is similar.
Cork will need to beat limerick now which if limerick have qualified is I suppose a possibility.
McGuinness didn't beat Derry by trying to be better at what Derry excel at, he looked at their strengths and used that against them, the high press on the Donegal kick out, their keeper just booted it beyond the press and they'd runners hitting that space beyond the press once the big men flicked the ball into it.
Smart enough, but for Derry to persist in the "process" which had been worked out spoke of a team overcoached.
To beat Limerick you avoid the intensity and congested areas, have the scorers 70 metres from goals working the ball in pods to get the long range shots off and you'll need a very high percentage of scores going over for it to work.
If that doesn't pull out their deep lying half forwards then nothing will.
Then once they come out chasing the game you need to hit the spaces they leave behind
Limerick rode their luck against Clare. The goal that gave them momentum was from a mishit free aside from the square ball shouts and a bit of poor goal keeping, but Clare couldn't respond like they did against Cork.
Clare do have the physique to compete against Limerick, but they've questions to answer about their mental fortitude in Munster finals and AI semi-finals where they've probably been the better teams but lapses in concentration have been their undoing.
Galway didn't show much in Salthill to suggest they've improved this year, but Leinster doesn't heat up for another few weeks.
Tipp, Cork and Waterford need to be smarter if they want to challenge Limerick or the bottom line is they just aren't good enough no matter how you cut it.