Maigh Eo v Corcaigh, 1600, 3ú Lúnasa, Páirc an Crocaigh

[Never beat the deeler]

God Moy, I don't know about that. Mayo don't really 'hold on' too well. I'd prefer to be pulling away in the last 15 rather than watching a lead be reeled in. "Wouldn't we all" says you, but this Mayo squad are good enough to be looking to pull away rather than hang on.

Are we? I m talking about against the likes of Donegal, Dublin and Kerry in particular. Hopefully we get by Cork but not as bullish about that as some. I don t believe we have the forwards numbers  but maybe we can do it another way.

Donegal are back to 2012 level. If they re ahead down the stretch they don t give it up. No amount of Andys and Dillons being introduced would change that. We had 55mins to chase a game against them in 2012 and couldn t make any inroads. You beat Donegal from in front.

Dublin can only be beaten by a frontrunner as well imo. They will counteract any impact from Andy and Dillon with impact forwards of their own - at a time when they could be in command because their starting forwards would be much better than ours. We just held on in 2012 semi but that was an avoidable collapse. If Donegal can close out a 3 point game surely at this stage we can close out an 11/12 point game. Not that I expect we will have that luxury again against the likes of Dubs but ye know what I mean.

A good imitation of it, yeah, but if would take a herculean effort if they are to ever play ye this year and honestly ye'll be delighted if you make the final and find it's not Dublin there waiting for you. Mayo's attack and midfield have basically been what they've been for the last two seasons. What is worrying is the defence.

For a team that looked so veracious and was pressing and forcing turnovers high up the field last year they've looked decidedly shakey this season and there hasn't even been many injuries to blame (one of Barrett and Cunniffe were injured or unavailable pretty much all season but each are similarly talented players and only one of them was going to start with Higgins back in the corner anyways). Cork would be a good time to roll back the clock because even beating Kerry may be impossible if the concession rate remains as high as it has been.

I heard Adam Gallagher is injured, not that he was going to feature.

I think we need to start well and lead from the front. Any time Cork build up a head of steam we need to be able to respond with a few scores to quieten them.

One of the areas I expect us to challenge is when Cork are bringing the ball out from the back. Pressure here can result in turnovers or else poor ball going in to their forwards.
I think Cork have realised this and that is why they are trying to ensure the ref pulls up any sort of challenge on their defenders - Ronan McCarthy has even named KMc and COC!

[moysider]

God Moy, I don't know about that. Mayo don't really 'hold on' too well. I'd prefer to be pulling away in the last 15 rather than watching a lead be reeled in. "Wouldn't we all" says you, but this Mayo squad are good enough to be looking to pull away rather than hang on.

Are we? I m talking about against the likes of Donegal, Dublin and Kerry in particular. Hopefully we get by Cork but not as bullish about that as some. I don t believe we have the forwards numbers  but maybe we can do it another way.

Donegal are back to 2012 level. If they re ahead down the stretch they don t give it up. No amount of Andys and Dillons being introduced would change that. We had 55mins to chase a game against them in 2012 and couldn t make any inroads. You beat Donegal from in front.

Dublin can only be beaten by a frontrunner as well imo. They will counteract any impact from Andy and Dillon with impact forwards of their own - at a time when they could be in command because their starting forwards would be much better than ours. We just held on in 2012 semi but that was an avoidable collapse. If Donegal can close out a 3 point game surely at this stage we can close out an 11/12 point game. Not that I expect we will have that luxury again against the likes of Dubs but ye know what I mean.

A good imitation of it, yeah, but if would take a herculean effort if they are to ever play ye this year and honestly ye'll be delighted if you make the final and find it's not Dublin there waiting for you. Mayo's attack and midfield have basically been what they've been for the last two seasons. What is worrying is the defence.

For a team that looked so veracious and was pressing and forcing turnovers high up the field last year they've looked decidedly shakey this season and there hasn't even been many injuries to blame (one of Barrett and Cunniffe were injured or unavailable pretty much all season but each are similarly talented players and only one of them was going to start with Higgins back in the corner anyways). Cork would be a good time to roll back the clock because even beating Kerry may be impossible if the concession rate remains as high as it has been.

I heard Adam Gallagher is injured, not that he was going to feature.

I think we need to start well and lead from the front. Any time Cork build up a head of steam we need to be able to respond with a few scores to quieten them.

One of the areas I expect us to challenge is when Cork are bringing the ball out from the back. Pressure here can result in turnovers or else poor ball going in to their forwards.
I think Cork have realised this and that is why they are trying to ensure the ref pulls up any sort of challenge on their defenders - Ronan McCarthy has even named KMc and COC!

Not surprising really. This is the land of Frank Murphy, who stamped his feet and bullied for Cork for ever and always got his way. Well, almost always. Cork have nothing to lose by marking O Reilly s card and I wouldn t be surprised if it get s a result. The thing is though they ll have more to deal with than McLoughlin and Cillian. Doc's tackling and workrate v Galway was on a par with the other 2. Andy and Dillon will win back ball as well which is another reason they have to start.

[Captain Obvious]

Mayo were surprising off colour in defence in the Connacht final. Galway could have scored 3-20 and Cork will have a chance of winning this game if Mayo defend like that again.

[From the Bunker]

Media have clung to talking about Cork all week. Mayo almost completely ignored. Horan must be pleased with this. Cork boys have fed in through the media (like Donegal at this stage last year) that Mayo are Dirty. This I feel will back fire on them. Because of tradition, this is a tricky fixture. Bar the win three years a go we have a terrible record against the Rebels. And tradition is a hard thing to beat.

[seafoid]

Media have clung to talking about Cork all week. Mayo almost completely ignored. Horan must be pleased with this. Cork boys have fed in through the media (like Donegal at this stage last year) that Mayo are Dirty. This I feel will back fire on them. Because of tradition, this is a tricky fixture. Bar the win three years a go we have a terrible record against the Rebels. And tradition is a hard thing to beat.

Arra go away out of that. Aren't ye well able to beat Galway ? Cork should be  well feasible.

[highorlow]

Mayo were surprising off colour in defence in the Connacht final. Galway could have scored 3-20

That's all speculative. A penalty save is not good defending then? That Galway shot against the crossbar was the only space the attacker had to get the shot away as the Mayo defence were all over him, unlike Lee Keegan's chance which was a clearer miss. The same could be said for ourselves by your analysis, we could have got another 2-5 I'd say.

[Msgr. Horan]

Good housekeeping can address defensive issues. Mayo have some of the best defenders about, even among the forwards. Kevin Mac is probably the best corner back in the Mayo panel. Cillian O Connor's first defensive work rate is brilliant - cue the langers whinging about him in particular. The reason we ve been shaky Sy is our lack of respect for possession in a lot of our games. The amount of 'unnecessary' turnovers v Galway approached 30 and largely explained Galway s respectably score on the day.When we should have been killing them we coughed up soft ball and our backs were exposed several times by silliness in possession. I m hoping that will be reduced by 70% the next day and we will be in business. But if that turnover rate continues we haven t much future. I expect that will have been sorted though. That s the easy bit. I don t get your concern about the defence. It was our forward limitations that did for us last 2 years. As well as tactically being raw on the big day as well.

Can it though? I worry that when you see a pattern develop in a team its almost there for the season. Its not like premiership soccer where for example with so many games and the players working every day on something you can see a bad habit be rectified. We were alot looser in the league this year conceding 133 points when it other years it was 90 and 89 respectively. Having said that the "For" column was up significantly for us as well, as it was for everyone else reflecting the "black card effect" I presume. We scored 148 (14 goals! What forwards?) so maybe this "looseness" was brought about by a change in tackling by the black card. I dunno.
We turned over alot of ball v the Rossies also, although in a different manner, it was more about aimless kicking which was clearly a tactic, and it didnt work. We spent alot of time v Galway either hitting daft passes or getting caught in possession. Christ, listen to me, I'm starting to sound like we lost those two matches. Must go have a lie down.
One thing is gas though, this craic that Mayo don't have forwards that the media keep going on about is an irrelevant statement. If any of them took the time to go look up some stats, outside of the Dubs Mayo are one of the highest scoring teams and in particular in the last three quarter finals where we have just laid wreck (Cork, Down and Donegal). In fact we've arguably peaked at quarter final stage those 3 years which is statistically another reason to back Mayo, for this game anyway.

[joemamas]

Mayo were surprising off colour in defence in the Connacht final. Galway could have scored 3-20

That's all speculative. A penalty save is not good defending then? That Galway shot against the crossbar was the only space the attacker had to get the shot away as the Mayo defence were all over him, unlike Lee Keegan's chance which was a clearer miss. The same could be said for ourselves by your analysis, we could have got another 2-5 I'd say.

Mayo could have conceded a lot more V Galway, I was very disappointed with some of the tackling or non tackling, The effort Paul Conroy had for a goal at the beginning of second half, is the one that sticks in my mind, Donal Vaughan was next to him, and never laid a hand on him, I know rules have changed but, that lack of physicality will not cut in from here on in.

[Zulu]

You'd have to fancy Mayo for this one, they are a settled, powerful team and genuine all Ireland contenders. However, I think some folks are writing Cork off a bit too easily. On the morning of the Munster final Cork were many people's first choice to challenge Dublin and they were at least as highly rated as Kerry by most observers. A few hours later the narrative is Kerry are All Ireland contenders and Cork are very poor, neither is accurate IMO.

Cork are defensively weak but the midfield and forwards have the ability to compete with the very best. As a result Cork will certainly bring O'Driscoll back as a sweeper though I'm not sure they can afford two against Mayo as their half back line are a bigger attacking threat than their half forward line. If I was to put money on this it would certainly go on Mayo but Cork have better footballers than they've shown in the championship so far. I wouldn't write them off.

[Syferus]

You'd have to fancy Mayo for this one, they are a settled, powerful team and genuine all Ireland contenders. However, I think some folks are writing Cork off a bit too easily. On the morning of the Munster final Cork were many people's first choice to challenge Dublin and they were at least as highly rated as Kerry by most observers. A few hours later the narrative is Kerry are All Ireland contenders and Cork are very poor, neither is accurate IMO.

Cork are defensively weak but the midfield and forwards have the ability to compete with the very best. As a result Cork will certainly bring O'Driscoll back as a sweeper though I'm not sure they can afford two against Mayo as their half back line are a bigger attacking threat than their half forward line. If I was to put money on this it would certainly go on Mayo but Cork have better footballers than they've shown in the championship so far. I wouldn't write them off.

An off-colour dual-player in Aidan Walsh and an U21 that only made his first championship start on Saturday? You'd fear for them against any combination of the O'Sheas/Gibbons/Moran.

[joemamas]

You'd have to fancy Mayo for this one, they are a settled, powerful team and genuine all Ireland contenders. However, I think some folks are writing Cork off a bit too easily. On the morning of the Munster final Cork were many people's first choice to challenge Dublin and they were at least as highly rated as Kerry by most observers. A few hours later the narrative is Kerry are All Ireland contenders and Cork are very poor, neither is accurate IMO.

Cork are defensively weak but the midfield and forwards have the ability to compete with the very best. As a result Cork will certainly bring O'Driscoll back as a sweeper though I'm not sure they can afford two against Mayo as their half back line are a bigger attacking threat than their half forward line. If I was to put money on this it would certainly go on Mayo but Cork have better footballers than they've shown in the championship so far. I wouldn't write them off.

Good analysis, Cork will play with a sweeper, and Mayo's selection will be key, not sure Cork can solve all their problems that were apparent in Munster final debacle. I also believe that a few of the Cark guys are a little over rated to say the least.

[Zulu]

Joe, they probably do have a few lads that are overrated, insofar as they haven't really delivered consistently but they still have it their locker. For example, if Aidan Walsh played outstandingly on Sunday and Cork beat Mayo, he could be useless in the semi final whereas you wouldn't have any doubt a Dara McAuley would produce, at a minimum, a decent performance both days.

Sy, Cork have Aidan Walsh, Fintan Goold, Ian Maguire and Sean Dineen so they have have options and but Walsh and Goold have the ability to compete with anyone. The two O'Driscolls and Mark Collins, Cahalane (potentially) give them lads who can battle for breaking ball.

Like I said, I expect a Mayo win and they will produce a performance on Sunday, Cork could be useless but if Cork bring a performance too they have footballers who can compete with the best.

[mayoman dan]

Surely Freeman will start for Mayo he had a great game against Cork in the league.

[Maroon Manc]

Its hard to make a case for Cork, I've seen Corks good record against Mayo mentioned but this has no bearing on this Mayo team.

Its hard for Cork who've quite clearly changed their tactical approach only in the last few weeks to beat a team who are bidding for their 4th semi final in a row with the same group of players.

Hurley can't play as bad as he has the last 2 games and with Colm O'Neill & Kerrigan the three of them are capable of scoring 10 points from play between them. I still can't understand why Mark Collins didn't start against Kerry, they clearly missed him.

I expect Mayo to win by 4-5 points.

[Syferus]

Surely Freeman will start for Mayo he had a great game against Cork in the league.

Lookit, all about on the day. If Freeman doesn't look at Horan funny on the bus to Croker he has a shot.