Kerry 1975-1986 or Kerry 2000-2009 - which had more talent?

[Sidney]

This is not a debate about which team won more All-Irelands - it's a debate about which had more talented players.

For me it's the 2000-2009 team.

The 1975-1986 team came up against few real challenges, because the set-up in nearly every county was a joke. Only Dublin, Offaly and Cork provided any challenge to Kerry during this period.

The Kerry team of 2000-2009 faced far stiffer opposition. The Tyrone, Armagh, Meath and Galway teams of the era were better than anything the 1975-1986 faced, in my view, bar maybe the Dublin 1976-77 team, and Tyrone of the 2000s were definitely better than that Dublin team.

The general level of competition in Gaelic football in the 2000s amongst the non-All-Ireland challenging counties was also well ahead of what the 1975-86 team faced.

Compare the two teams on a head to head basis.
The 2000-2009 team had
Maurice Fitzgerald
Colm Cooper
Seamus Moynihan
Darragh O'Se
Tomas O'Se
Marc O'Se
Tom O'Sullivan
Michael Francis Russell
Johnny Crowley
Tommy Walsh
Eoin Brosnan
Liam Hassett
Darran O'Sullivan
Paul Galvin
Declan O'Sullivan
Michael McCarthy

In my view almost all of those players are at least as good as, and in the majority of cases, better, than their equivalents on the 1975-86 team.

So in my view, the 2000-2009 team may have less medals, but had more talent.

[From the Bunker]

Seen both. 75-86 are the best ever. Probably always will be!

No more to be said!

[ONeill]

Jacko, Pat, Paidi, Sheehy, Power, Nelligan, Moran, Bomber -

75-86. Kerry 00-09 lost big games.

[From the Bunker]

Jacko, Pat, Paidi, Sheehy, Power, Nelligan, Moran, Bomber -

75-86. Kerry 00-09 lost big games.

and could only beat Connacht and Munster teams in finals!

[Sidney]

If I was picking a composite team from both eras I'd go with:

Charlie Neligan

Marc O'Se - John O'Keeffe - Tom O'Sullivan

Tomas O'Se - Seamus Moynihan - Paidi O'Se

Darragh O'Se - Jack O-Shea

Paul Galvin - Declan O'Sullivan - Pat Spillane

Mikey Sheehy - Maurice FItzgerald - Colm Cooper

9 2000-2009
6 1975-1986

Difficult to leave out John Egan especially but he's up against ridiculous competition in the full forward line.

[ONeill]

http://www.sundayworld.com/sport/gaa/greatest-kerry-team-ever

[Sidney]

http://www.sundayworld.com/sport/gaa/greatest-kerry-team-ever

No way was Ogie Moran a better footballer than Declan O'Sullivan.

McCarthy v O'Keeffe is a very arguable call. McCarthy probably better on pure football ability.

[ONeill]

http://www.sundayworld.com/sport/gaa/greatest-kerry-team-ever

No way was Ogie Moran a better footballer than Declan O'Sullivan.

McCarthy v O'Keeffe is a very arguable call. McCarthy probably better on pure football ability.

Declan O'Sullivan calved against Derrytresk.

The 00s Kerry had a soft centre.

[Ciarrai_thuaidh]

http://www.sundayworld.com/sport/gaa/greatest-kerry-team-ever

No way was Ogie Moran a better footballer than Declan O'Sullivan.

McCarthy v O'Keeffe is a very arguable call. McCarthy probably better on pure football ability.

Declan O'Sullivan calved against Derrytresk.

The 00s Kerry had a soft centre.

Soft centre my hole. The 2008 final was a disastrous last 10 mins (call it a choke if you want to get creative), but apart from that..6 finals in a row, won 4 of them, back to back titles, etc etc.

[Syferus]

http://www.sundayworld.com/sport/gaa/greatest-kerry-team-ever

No way was Ogie Moran a better footballer than Declan O'Sullivan.

McCarthy v O'Keeffe is a very arguable call. McCarthy probably better on pure football ability.

Declan O'Sullivan calved against Derrytresk.

The 00s Kerry had a soft centre.

Soft centre my hole. The 2008 final was a disastrous last 10 mins (call it a choke if you want to get creative), but apart from that..6 finals in a row, won 4 of them, back to back titles, etc etc.

Any AI final win against Mayo is always going to be tainted, though.

[Ciarrai_thuaidh]

It's a bit hard to compare teams from different eras when the game was so different, but having seen both teams I would say it would be hard to top the raw talent of the 75-86 team. One thing about a lot of them that's forgotten sometimes is their versatitlity. Sean Walsh played AI finals at 14, 8, 3. Paudie Lynch at 11, 9, 7 and 4. Ger Power at 7,10. Paidí at 5, 2, 8.
All the talk of blanket defences and all that being a relatively new thing overlooks the fact that Pat Spillane regularly popped up in his own back line and carried ball from there.
In fairness, the 2000-2009 team don't get the credit they deserve sometimes. It's been a privilege to watch the likes of Moynihan, Mike Mc, The O'Sé's, Tom Sullivan, MFR, Gooch, Galvin Klein..top class players all of them.

[Ciarrai_thuaidh]

http://www.sundayworld.com/sport/gaa/greatest-kerry-team-ever

No way was Ogie Moran a better footballer than Declan O'Sullivan.

McCarthy v O'Keeffe is a very arguable call. McCarthy probably better on pure football ability.

Declan O'Sullivan calved against Derrytresk.

The 00s Kerry had a soft centre.

Soft centre my hole. The 2008 final was a disastrous last 10 mins (call it a choke if you want to get creative), but apart from that..6 finals in a row, won 4 of them, back to back titles, etc etc.

Any AI final win against Mayo is always going to be tainted, though.

Seriously, stop stalking me..it's worrying at this stage..Is Donegal's win in 2012 tainted then?

[BennyHarp]

The 1975 -1986 team were able to beat Tyrone in a big game.

[larryin89]

I always felt 08 was the one that got away for Kerry and it would of put to bed a lot of arguments ala who was the team of the decade debate . Kerry were the best team in Ireland in 08 but just had this unexplainable problem with beaing Tyrone. Sadly this will be the reasoning why that team is not held in as high regard of the previous Kerry golden era.

[INDIANA]

The 1975 -1986 team were able to beat Tyrone in a big game.

86 tyrone team wouldn't keep the ball kicked out against 2003-2008 Tyrone team