Galway v Tipp AI Football Qualifier 26/07/2014 Tullamore

[galwayman]

So after the Connacht final defeat yesterday - how do ye think we will fare against Tipp?
They seem to be flying high and should have beaten Cork. Beating Laois away is no easy task either (as we found out in the league).

I think one of the biggest issues with the current Galway team is that there doesn't seem to be a clear pattern of play for the team.It's hard to discern the type of game we are trying to play.
As others mentioned on the Connacht final thread there seemed at times to be a half baked attempt at getting men behind the ball which didn't look at all convincing.
At other times there was acres of space in front of what is a very weak full back line.

The full back line is my biggest worry about this team. We just don't seem to have any quality corner backs in the squad.
This surely means that we have to try and compensate for this by putting a proper defensive structure in place that protects the full back line. This would be less necessary if we had the likes of a Keith Higgins or a Marc O Se but we simply do not possess this calibre of player in that sector.
We were well beaten around midfield yesterday but again we seemed to not have any plan in place for kick outs aside from lamping the ball out the middle and hoping for the best. This beggars belief in senior intercounty football in this day and age.
Tactically we are shown to be inept and naive time and time again and our management team don't seem to be learning any lessons.
We are no world beaters but we have the makings of a good side and some very good players.
I honestly do believe that if the backroom setup in place in Mayo for example were in charge of the Galway team we would be doing infinitely better than we are.

This is a very tough game to call.

[joemamas]

For what its worth, just spoke with somebody who was at the game, he felt that Galway's tactics were non existant, and that they did not learn a whole lot in a year.
Galway center back stayed in front of full back and left A O Se out in the middle on his own. He also said that he could not understand how corner backs were so slow, especially one Alan Dillon was on.
I hope they manage to beat Tipp but have my doubts.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Hopefully Joss Moore will be back for it. Was Galway's best corner-back during the league but has been injured since. Had he not been ruled out at the last minute yesterday I think Mulholland would have at least tried him on O'Connor. He didn't seem to trust Tierney at all as he never made that switch. Either that or he was asleep on the sideline.

Think Duane has been a loss as well even though he's off the panel due to his own disciplinary issues.

[Duine Eile]

When you think of all the players sitting at home the mind boggles: Gary Sice, Eoin Concannon, Johnny Duane, Tomas Fahy, Micheal Boyle. The full back line is a shambles, Donal O'Neill had a nightmare yesterday but who do you replace him with? I think the likes of Armstrong and Kavanagh will have to start the next day.

[joemamas]

forgot about the two that were dropped. I am sure they would have made some difference.

[Duine Eile]

forgot about the two that were dropped. I am sure they would have made some difference.

Johnny Duane would definitely have been a better option in the corner than Tierney or O'Neill. They'll hardly be brought back in at this stage though.

[Syferus]

Huge game for Galway. A loss will totally take off any shine there is on this season. Feed Shane Walsh the ball. Lots and lots of ball.

[An Fhairche Abu]

Tipp should have bate us last year in the qualifiers, they are an improving team and will very tough to defeat, they will be confident of making Croke Park. That said Galway can win this if we turn up and play well, very hard game to call either way.

At least there is a decent 13 day break this year until the farcical 6 day turnaround that has been there in previous years.

[yellam48]

Galway very disappointing against Mayo,I hope they have a better plan in the game with Tipp. or the result will be the same.
Lord if I have to listen any more to Martin Carney ,he must feel that Ger Canning stops talking he must start.Give the viewers some credit,we are not blind.He just drones on and on and on......

[DJGaliv]

forgot about the two that were dropped. I am sure they would have made some difference.

Johnny Duane would definitely have been a better option in the corner than Tierney or O'Neill. They'll hardly be brought back in at this stage though.

You're usually quite good DE, but this is the old Andy Reid/Stephen Ireland - if they aren't there they start to become world beaters rubbish. This is the Johnny Duane who played last year as we were destroyed by Mayo. I fully stand by AM for why those two lads were thrown off the panel, and if we wanted to get anywhere as a county then our supporters should back this professionalism and respect for the county jersey that is being instilled.

[DJGaliv]

Looking ahead to the next day I'd like to see O'Brien get a run. I felt Walsh for all is class is not going to offer us much on breaking ball and tackling back in the half forward line and would be better suited inside.

Moore will hopefully come back in along with Armstrong. O'Neill, Tierney, Varley, Hoare, Comer, Cummins and Kavanagh are all under threat for the Tipp game.

[Ciarrai_thuaidh]

Going to be a very interesting game. Tipp improving all the time and are in a good frame of mind aswell I would think. They have a good age profile in that team with several guys who have proven themselves in Sigerson or Minor teams in recent years so it's no surprise the graph is moving upwards.
Galway continue to be miles off where I thought they'd be given the u21 successes. The collapse of midfield in Connacht final was particularly concerning. Can anybody tell me why Martin wasn't playing btw? Looked to be a quality inside forward any time I've seen him.
I'd be veering towards backing Tipp if anything for this one given the state of both camps. Could be a very tight game though.

[Syferus]

Going to be a very interesting game. Tipp improving all the time and are in a good frame of mind aswell I would think. They have a good age profile in that team with several guys who have proven themselves in Sigerson or Minor teams in recent years so it's no surprise the graph is moving upwards.
Galway continue to be miles off where I thought they'd be given the u21 successes. The collapse of midfield in Connacht final was particularly concerning. Can anybody tell me why Martin wasn't playing btw? Looked to be a quality inside forward any time I've seen him.
I'd be veering towards backing Tipp if anything for this one given the state of both camps. Could be a very tight game though.

You only had to look at the builds of FOC and Flynn and see why losing the midfield battle wasn't a surprise. Good footballers but not able for bears just yet. Still did ok in a match where Mayo had their way in most sectors. An improvement on last year was all that was expected in the middle and Galway got that.

[Maroon Manc]

Going to be a very interesting game. Tipp improving all the time and are in a good frame of mind aswell I would think. They have a good age profile in that team with several guys who have proven themselves in Sigerson or Minor teams in recent years so it's no surprise the graph is moving upwards.
Galway continue to be miles off where I thought they'd be given the u21 successes. The collapse of midfield in Connacht final was particularly concerning. Can anybody tell me why Martin wasn't playing btw? Looked to be a quality inside forward any time I've seen him.
I'd be veering towards backing Tipp if anything for this one given the state of both camps. Could be a very tight game though.

I'm not a fan of Martin, don't think he's that accurate and lacks the pace of someone like Cummins. I'd rather we stick with Cummins for the Tipp game.

We have a manger who is way out of his depth like no other county. I feel sorry for the players who have to play under a manager who doesn't really know whats he's doing. I'm not claiming we should be winning All Irelands with this team but we'd a good bunch of young players here who will develop providing they play under the right man. We still managed to kick 16 scores against one of the best 3 teams in the country and it should have been a lot more.

The midfield wouldn't concern me, their up against some of the best and most experienced opponents in the country. Their only young and no doubt they will be more physically developed next year.

Concerns for me are the amount of goal chances we concede, far too many. How many time did we dispossess Mayo yet they won it straight back, very frustrating. Nothing was done to stop the threat of O'Connor, he was outstanding but he was given so much space that he probably doesn't find in a club game. These are issues created by the lack of a decent manager, its his 3rd year in charge and were not really further on as a team , individually were in a far better place for moving forward.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Going to be a very interesting game. Tipp improving all the time and are in a good frame of mind aswell I would think. They have a good age profile in that team with several guys who have proven themselves in Sigerson or Minor teams in recent years so it's no surprise the graph is moving upwards.
Galway continue to be miles off where I thought they'd be given the u21 successes. The collapse of midfield in Connacht final was particularly concerning. Can anybody tell me why Martin wasn't playing btw? Looked to be a quality inside forward any time I've seen him.
I'd be veering towards backing Tipp if anything for this one given the state of both camps. Could be a very tight game though.

You only had to look at the builds of FOC and Flynn and see why losing the midfield battle wasn't a surprise. Good footballers but not able for bears just yet. Still did ok in a match where Mayo had their way in most sectors. An improvement on last year was all that was expected in the middle and Galway got that.

They were also outnumbered around the middle as O'Shea was out there for kickouts while O'Donnell never moved from centre-back to follow him. I wouldn't blame them too much as it was really the breaking ball that killed Galway. Neither side caught much clean possession. They do need to bulk up though. At the moment they have height but not enough meat on the bones. Sure I think they are both still 21. O'Curraoin might have turned 22 recently maybe. Still a lot of development to do physically.