Donegal v Down Ulster Semi June 23

[naka]

Sure Armagh fancy themselves as a big team also

[Applesisapples]

There has been an constant theme in Ulster this summer and that is inconsistent refereeing and whilst in none of the games has been the sole reason for the winners victory it has still been a major factor.

[BluestackBoy]

There has been an constant theme in Ulster this summer and that is inconsistent refereeing and whilst in none of the games has been the sole reason for the winners victory it has still been a major factor.

Only in Ulster??

[nrico2006]

The referee awarded Down a lot of soft frees too, they got a lot towards the end taht weren;t in scoring positions but were very, very soft.  One that sticks out was McKernan acting the tube waving the finger at the referee after McLoone had been blown up for over carrying (even though McKernan was pulling his arm the whole time).

[yellowcard]

Good article by Tony McEntee with plenty of 'analysis' in it unlike many media pundits.


Why Donegal won't win the All-Ireland

Monday, June 24, 2013

Jim McGuinness' greatest trick is convincing the world that Donegal are invincible.

By Tony McEntee

Last September by the time Mayo realised otherwise, a compound series of mistakes put the game beyond their control. They had the ability and the know-how but lacked the conviction and belief.

Mickey Harte's Tyrone lacked the ability and conviction to best McGuinness. Indeed the match was over long before the final whistle and provided Donegal with little test. Ironically, Tyrone learned more about themselves from the outcome. Their deficiencies were exposed, allowing Harte the opportunity to turn their season around.

James McCartan is a different animal, supremely confident as a footballer and as an individual. When sharing a room with the great Jack O'Shea on Compromise Rules duty he was asked what was it like to be with a legend: "You'll need to ask Jack," he replied. If only he was able to instil a morsel of that confidence into his players, then they would savour the tasks ahead of them. As events transpired yesterday, Down dominated large sections of the meeting with the All-Ireland champions, played with loads of confidence and came within a few bad decisions of winning it.

The allure of Breffni Park for me was the application of the sweeper.

From open play Mark McHugh sat deep in defence, in front of Benny Coulter, manning the edge of the D where it intersects the 20m line. His task was to sweep secondary possession from direct ball, double-team whatever Down forward received initial possession within the scoring zone, be a spare man for the build-up from defence, link play to the forwards and, most interestingly, pushing up and marking his man for opposition kickouts — though not Donegal's own kickouts. For Down kicksouts, Donegal played 15 v 15. For their own, they looked to utilise the sweeper as an outlet.

McHugh's effect on the game was compromised by Down's methodical and slow build-up play, plus a lack of discipline in the Donegal defence. This was a deliberate Down tactic that worked by frustrating Donegal and nearly won the match for the underdogs but for a lack of composure in front of goal.

Down played with Peter Turley as an orthodox holding centreback, assisted by either Ryan Boyle or more frequently Kevin McKernan as an extra sweeper. Turley's role was much more clearly defined. He, along with Boyle/McKernan spread themselves equidistant across the field covering the centre closest to themselves and the nearest wing for early deliveries. In the second half Turley manned the centre more and focused his energy on shoring up the defence. His tackling was superb and his attacking runs showed many qualities of a leader.

What we should be asking is what are the benefits of a sweeper and why are so many teams now using it?

The benefits are self-evident. Crowding of defence, picking up loose runners, cover for mistakes and support play, to mention a few.

The why is more complicated.

For both Down and Donegal it masks many defensive frailties. Neither team are confident in their ability to go man-to-man in the true sense. Neither team display the confidence in the outfield players to mark the runners nor apply sufficient pressure on the kicker.

In Donegal's case the sweeper allows runners from deep in defence to have disregard for their defensive duties and to recover when returning to their numerical position while McHugh remains in position for his own kickouts, providing additional options for primary possession or secondary break ball. And the final 'why' is to create space for your own forwards to work in. Unfortunately, this reason is not something that either team considered yesterday as both forward units survived on scores from free kicks or long distance efforts in the case of Colm McFadden.

This very point is the reason Down lost and the same reason Donegal simply cannot win this year's All-Ireland.

Colm McFadden was the only man that even looked like scoring from play and he was reduced to points from 40 yards or more. David Walsh was given a man-marking role on Laverty while Leo McLoone was not himself. Patrick McBrearty was well marked and didn't look able to find space or freedom while Michael Murphy roamed in and out when it suited. How do you win against good teams with only one forward?

However, as long as Donegal are winning they remain the team to beat. They do not look fully conditioned yet, some key players are missing and realistically they are working with about 13 players. I don't suspect they will get the chance to go the backdoor route so the invincible tag remains for now. But if they do then so does the cloak.

McGuinness is going to stick to the plan that has taken him thus far, why should he change?

That is his power. The greatest trick he ever pulled was convincing the world he couldn't be beaten. And like that, poof. He's gone.

[Applesisapples]

There has been an constant theme in Ulster this summer and that is inconsistent refereeing and whilst in none of the games has been the sole reason for the winners victory it has still been a major factor.

Only in Ulster??

I haven't seen other Provincial games.

[PAULD123]

The referee made decisions that gave Doengal opportunities they should not have had. In the first half twice Down were denied blatant frees which (after the player was fouled) resulted in Donegal points. On an other occasion he gave Murphy a phantom free when no foul had occurred. Considering Donegal only scored 6 in the whole half this means 50% of their scores were gifted to them from the referee.

Having said that it, there was plenty of time for Down to score, they gained enough possession and created enough opportunities. We lost because of our own errors in both shot selection and shooting itself. We did not lose directly because of the referee, the largest portion of the reasons for us losing lie with ourselves, but he certainly had an influence in our defeat.

That is all in the past now, the big question is where do we go from here. Sunday was our highest level of fitness and commitment. Can we push on and improve yet further? I see no reason why not, after all there are players to come back and the more the boys practice the new system the better they should get. By Sunday's standard, Down are easily worth a quarter final place. With an improvement we could be a top 4-5 side.

Or was it our peak? I hope not!!

[joemamas]

I have to agree with Tony McEntee column, The same thing crossed my mind on Sunday, That Donegal are built up to be a superpower, while in fact they have a lot of very average footballers. If Murphy or Mcfadden get injured or sent off they are in huge trouble. They are both irreplaceable, (not exactly a revelation).

Line of the day had to be Martin Carney after about six or eight handpasses, " this is the new modern football, let's rejoice. I almost choked on my breakfast."

[Feckitt]

What paper or site is the Tony McEntee article from?

[imtommygunn]

I read his article and thought it was a bit soon to write about their demise.. You have to consider that Donegal were missing their first choice midfielder and then his replacement got injured so you were down to fourth choice.

Karl Lacey was also injured too and not only did that take Karl Lacey out of it but it took Frank McGlynn away from his normal game where he'd be very influential.

Donegal are definitely beatable however I think it's too early to tell whether or not that's this year and there is a myth that they are a bunch of average footballers. They play an excellent system and are no doubt "greater than the sum of their parts" but there are a lof of them boys who are far from average footballers.

[nrico2006]

I don't think Donegal are over-reliant on any one player to be honest.  There is a core of 5 or 6 players they rely on and they so far can seem to survive if missing one or two of them.  I said last year that they had been lucky with injuries and that it was inevitable given their style of play and training methods that they would start losing players through injury.  They were missing Lacey and Gallagher and still one.  But every team has to cope with the loss of players, name a county team that isn't missing 3 or 4 players through injury.  Be interesting to see how Donegal fare in that situation.  I don't think Donegal are loaded with a pile of average footballers, but the players they have are no better individually than say any of the other division 1 teams.  What is setting them apart is their preparation (training, tactics, fitness etc).  They are set-up to be very hard to beat and on top of that they attack in numbers and are clinical.  JMG is key to Donegal obviously, take him away and they wouldn't stay at the top too long.  People like talking about their 'system', and in a way it is so well defined that if a man drops out then another man simply comes in and knows the role they are to play and there doesn't seem to be much disruption. 

If Donegal have their best 15 they will win the All Ireland.  The only other teams in the running are Dublin and Mayo.

[Fuzzman]

I'm not so sure lads
In my biased eyes, if you take McFadden out of that team then you lose one hell of a target man and score getter. I'd love to see his scoring (or even assists) stats for the last 2 seasons. Jimmy has made him into one of the hard to mark forwards ever and he's married to his sister.

[BluestackBoy]

I would agree with a lot of what McEntee has to say but I think he sells Donegal a bit short.
After the semi final last year Colm O'Rourke said that Donegal had "humiliated" Cork in the second half. You don't do that wit a team full of ordinary players. We are early in the championship yet, the weather was awful on Sunday & Donegal were missing some influential players. When/If we hit Croke Park in August will be the time to judge this Donegal team, not before then

[From the Bunker]

Yeah, the big banana skin for Donegal was Tyrone in the first match. There is a fair bit of football to be played until the end of September (if Donegal are there?). And it's all about peaking towards the end of the season. The game on Sunday was a bigger game for Down than Donegal, Down (at the moment) are not looking at an AI title, more so a big scalp to build confidence in the squad. Donegal on the other hand are looking to having players right for August.

On Donegal not needing all their players. McFadden makes them tick. Murphy is the Captain and Poster boy, but without McFadden Donegal would be in serious trouble. How he did not get player of the year last year is beyond me!

[Denn Forever]

What paper or site is the T frpony McEntee article from?

Is it this one from the Examiner?

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/tony-mcentee-why-donegal-wont-win-the-all-ireland-234972.html