Kerry v Mayo NFL D1; Round 1

[moysider]

I hope yesterday puts an end to the AOS in ff position talk anyway. It still is a problem position as -goal aside - Freeman was poor. McLoughlin was poor too until he got his goal too I thought. And yes, Hennelly should know better, surely to God after last year they should have learned about Kerry's midfield.

Was impressed with our defence yesterday. Coen clearly not a corner back though. Apart from the kickouts Hennelly did well. Keane had a very good game. Was my motm as I left the ground even. Caff will have to earn the place back. Up front Conroy was the pick of the forwards. Doc was very impressive too in winning dirty ball. Ronaldson did well too despite not scoring. SOS needs to sort out his footpassing. He isn't able to be the 'main man' in midfield either I'm afraid.

Nice to have 2 points on the board though.

James Horan agrees with you. Reckons he does not get on enough ball for some reason.
Do they persist with him or not? Can he improve his game and how? Can he be coached?

[Farrandeelin]

I don't know, true a lot of the balls were out the corners/overcooked, but at least twice in the first half apart from the goal the ball was there to be won I believe. A confident Freeman would have got one of them at least. Hard to know if it's him or the type of ball in, but last year it irkesd me a fair bit too.

[moysider]

I don't know, true a lot of the balls were out the corners/overcooked, but at least twice in the first half apart from the goal the ball was there to be won I believe. A confident Freeman would have got one of them at least. Hard to know if it's him or the type of ball in, but last year it irkesd me a fair bit too.

Same as. Surely his confidence would be sky high after getting a goal? I don t think its a confidence thing.

For what its worth I think its an intuitive thing. He doesn t seem to be able to change his feet and adjust when a ball is in flight and as a result seems to get caught under the ball or the ball beats him one side or the other. It s maddening because we know what he can do with ball in hand. I m sure it something that could be worked on but maybe not? Maybe he would be better coming onto ball from 11 if Aidan was to be permanently placed at midfield?

[mayoman dan]

Sorry to go off topic a bit here lads but is Regans season over? Does anybody know a  recovery time for the injury he picked up?

[mayoman dan]

I don't know, true a lot of the balls were out the corners/overcooked, but at least twice in the first half apart from the goal the ball was there to be won I believe. A confident Freeman would have got one of them at least. Hard to know if it's him or the type of ball in, but last year it irkesd me a fair bit too.
[/quote

Same as. Surely his confidence would be sky high after getting a goal? I don t think its a confidence thing.

For what its worth I think its an intuitive thing. He doesn t seem to be able to change his feet and adjust when a ball is in flight and as a result seems to get caught under the ball or the ball beats him one side or the other. It s maddening because we know what he can do with ball in hand. I m sure it something that could be worked on but maybe not? Maybe he would be better coming onto ball from 11 if Aidan was to be permanently placed at midfield?

Freeman needs to be coached about controlled aggression.He it too timid when the ball is coming in he is a big fella he needs to use his physique more.

[Nihilist]

Looking at the team that finished the match yesterday Mayo were nearly at full strength for this game. Only obvious absentee was Cillian O'Connor. Kerry on the other hand were nowhere near full strength. Missing were the following

Brian Kelly,  Marc Ó Sé    , Aidan O'Mahony, Killian Young, Shane Enright, Peter Crowley, Anthony Maher, Gooch, Donnachadh Walsh, Darren O'Sullivan, Donaghy and O'Donoghue   

that's 12 first team championship players who could easily slot into that Kerry team. so the 7 point victory should really be taken with a pinch of salt. Also the guys on TG4 remarked how fit Mayo were for this match. I hope they are not over cooked for the Summer ahead.

Regards Alan Freeman - the only way to see if he has it at FF is to start pumping in balls to him net weekend. That includes 50/50 ones that he has to to win or break (as obviously he can't get perfect ball everytime)

if he can't cope with it then it's pointless persisting with him in the vain hope he will deliver. Better option to try an alternative e.g. Barry Moran

[moysider]

I don't know, true a lot of the balls were out the corners/overcooked, but at least twice in the first half apart from the goal the ball was there to be won I believe. A confident Freeman would have got one of them at least. Hard to know if it's him or the type of ball in, but last year it irkesd me a fair bit too.
[/quote

Same as. Surely his confidence would be sky high after getting a goal? I don t think its a confidence thing.

For what its worth I think its an intuitive thing. He doesn t seem to be able to change his feet and adjust when a ball is in flight and as a result seems to get caught under the ball or the ball beats him one side or the other. It s maddening because we know what he can do with ball in hand. I m sure it something that could be worked on but maybe not? Maybe he would be better coming onto ball from 11 if Aidan was to be permanently placed at midfield?

Freeman needs to be coached about controlled aggression.He it too timid when the ball is coming in he is a big fella he needs to use his physique more.

He well able to compete for ball dropping straight down on him. He has a great leap and good hands then. Aggression does not seem to be a problem then. It s his movement that s an issue imo.

[moysider]

Looking at the team that finished the match yesterday Mayo were nearly at full strength for this game. Only obvious absentee was Cillian O'Connor. Kerry on the other hand were nowhere near full strength. Missing were the following

Brian Kelly,  Marc Ó Sé    , Aidan O'Mahony, Killian Young, Shane Enright, Peter Crowley, Anthony Maher, Gooch, Donnachadh Walsh, Darren O'Sullivan, Donaghy and O'Donoghue   

that's 12 first team championship players who could easily slot into that Kerry team. so the 7 point victory should really be taken with a pinch of salt. Also the guys on TG4 remarked how fit Mayo were for this match. I hope they are not over cooked for the Summer ahead.

Regards Alan Freeman - the only way to see if he has it at FF is to start pumping in balls to him net weekend. That includes 50/50 ones that he has to to win or break (as obviously he can't get perfect ball everytime)

if he can't cope with it then it's pointless persisting with him in the vain hope he will deliver. Better option to try an alternative e.g. Barry Moran

Cunniffe, Boyle, Caff, Dillon, Parsons, Gibbons, Moran, Aido as well as Cillian were all missing. And it s not like the Kerry players above beat us off the face of the Earth last August anyway.

As regards the TG guys; they were very wise after the event alright. They had no problem confidently tipping a Kerry win before the game so of course they had to justify their poor judgement after. As pointed out Kerry radio after, there were young Kerry lads that should have been putting their hands up and no excuse for them. David Moran was well fit for it. Bryan Sheehan wasn t but then again he never looks in top condition.
Some of the newer Mayo lads would have a good pre-season done and proper order. Lads like Keith, Keegan, Boyle are far from firing on all cylinders. I seriously doubt Aido is anywhere near 70 mins at midfield yet.
Big Barry too static for ff imo. His mobility when he played there back in Johnno's time a lot better then.

[mayoman dan]

Looking at the team that finished the match yesterday Mayo were nearly at full strength for this game. Only obvious absentee was Cillian O'Connor. Kerry on the other hand were nowhere near full strength. Missing were the following

Brian Kelly,  Marc Ó Sé    , Aidan O'Mahony, Killian Young, Shane Enright, Peter Crowley, Anthony Maher, Gooch, Donnachadh Walsh, Darren O'Sullivan, Donaghy and O'Donoghue   

that's 12 first team championship players who could easily slot into that Kerry team. so the 7 point victory should really be taken with a pinch of salt. Also the guys on TG4 remarked how fit Mayo were for this match. I hope they are not over cooked for the Summer ahead.

Regards Alan Freeman - the only way to see if he has it at FF is to start pumping in balls to him net weekend. That includes 50/50 ones that he has to to win or break (as obviously he can't get perfect ball everytime)

if he can't cope with it then it's pointless persisting with him in the vain hope he will deliver. Better option to try an alternative e.g. Barry Moran

Cunniffe, Boyle, Caff, Dillon, Parsons, Gibbons, Moran, Aido as well as Cillian were all missing. And it s not like the Kerry players above beat us off the face of the Earth last August anyway.

As regards the TG guys; they were very wise after the event alright. They had no problem confidently tipping a Kerry win before the game so of course they had to justify their poor judgement after. As pointed out Kerry radio after, there were young Kerry lads that should have been putting their hands up and no excuse for them. David Moran was well fit for it. Bryan Sheehan wasn t but then again he never looks in top condition.
Some of the newer Mayo lads would have a good pre-season done and proper order. Lads like Keith, Keegan, Boyle are far from firing on all cylinders. I seriously doubt Aido is anywhere near 70 mins at midfield yet.
Big Barry too static for ff imo. His mobility when he played there back in Johnno's time a lot better then.

Big Barry is a non runner at ff for me.Could Vaughan do a job here and bring him out the field for spells ala Murphy?

[Nihilist]

Looking at the team that finished the match yesterday Mayo were nearly at full strength for this game. Only obvious absentee was Cillian O'Connor. Kerry on the other hand were nowhere near full strength. Missing were the following

Brian Kelly,  Marc Ó Sé    , Aidan O'Mahony, Killian Young, Shane Enright, Peter Crowley, Anthony Maher, Gooch, Donnachadh Walsh, Darren O'Sullivan, Donaghy and O'Donoghue   

that's 12 first team championship players who could easily slot into that Kerry team. so the 7 point victory should really be taken with a pinch of salt. Also the guys on TG4 remarked how fit Mayo were for this match. I hope they are not over cooked for the Summer ahead.

Regards Alan Freeman - the only way to see if he has it at FF is to start pumping in balls to him net weekend. That includes 50/50 ones that he has to to win or break (as obviously he can't get perfect ball everytime)

if he can't cope with it then it's pointless persisting with him in the vain hope he will deliver. Better option to try an alternative e.g. Barry Moran

Cunniffe, Boyle, Caff, Dillon, Parsons, Gibbons, Moran, Aido as well as Cillian were all missing. And it s not like the Kerry players above beat us off the face of the Earth last August anyway.

As regards the TG guys; they were very wise after the event alright. They had no problem confidently tipping a Kerry win before the game so of course they had to justify their poor judgement after. As pointed out Kerry radio after, there were young Kerry lads that should have been putting their hands up and no excuse for them. David Moran was well fit for it. Bryan Sheehan wasn t but then again he never looks in top condition.
Some of the newer Mayo lads would have a good pre-season done and proper order. Lads like Keith, Keegan, Boyle are far from firing on all cylinders. I seriously doubt Aido is anywhere near 70 mins at midfield yet.
Big Barry too static for ff imo. His mobility when he played there back in Johnno's time a lot better then.

Ok Cunniffe wasn't there but O'Shea and Boyle came on in that match. You can point to Dillon and Andy Moran but you can't be relying on those 2 forever. Ger Cafferkey may have been injured but in all fairness Kevin  Keane wasn't really tested properly. When Tommy Walsh went inside everyone expected a few high ones to arrive in but they didn't arrive and at no stage did we see a high ball put in.

Furthermore Mayo got the goals at crucial times. Up to then Kerry looked very much in that game.

My point is that if you have a defence with Marc O'Sé, O'Mahony, Crowley and maybe Killian Young there as well it would have been much tighter. And I'm pretty sure that the Mayo FB line would have more to worry about if they had to mark the likes of O'Donoghue and Donaghy not to mention Cooper slotting into centre-half fw looking for precision passes or Donnachadh Walsh working his socks off to win dirty ball.

But Ftzmaurice is keeping his powder dry for higher priorities later on this season.

Lastly Barry Moran was a great FF for Castlebar all season in club and obviously Pat Holmes knows his strong and weak points in that area. An alternative to Freeman must be found as the guy is too inconsistent and you can't enter the championship again this year pinning all your hopes on him.   

[moysider]

Everybody knows that Kerry will be in the melting pot again in August when things get serious. They may even lose again next weekend and make the league semis because they ll begin to fire again after a few rounds. I expect Kerry to be better this year than last actually, but it s not like they killed us last August. And Marc and O Mahoney are a year older too. But for what it's worth I d have them AI favourites

If - and it s a big if - we meet again this year it ll be for more than 2 league points which is what Sunday was about.

[Lar Naparka]

Alan Freeman is easily the most enigmatic player I've seen in a green and red jersey.  Okay, maybe Jinking Joe could  sulk and go off the boil from time to time. But I never saw Corcoran sitting on his arse, waving his arms and complaining to every one within an ass's oar of him when he got a dunt that knocked him over.
In fairness to Freeman, he seems to have left tat stage of his development behind him but for a big, hefty lump of a lad, he is easily knocked off his game.
I thought when he scored his goal yesterday that he was going to reproduce the form he displayed against Down two seasons ago or against Sligo in his début in 2010  but he just drifted out of the game once more as he's done so many times before. The goal was a superb score and yet it was the last touch of genuine class he displayed before he was taken off.
I was more sad than mad when he was called to the line. I dunno what lies in store for him in time to come but one thing is certain; James Horan can't be totally blamed for Alan's regular dip in form.
Apart from that and the puke jerseys, I think Noel and Pateen have plenty to feel happy about.
I know it's still only winter etc. etc. But no mistake about it,  Kerry weren't there to make up numbers. I thought it was a hard-fought game but but Kerry were the dirtier of the two – no doubt about that. 
At least, nobody was being humped around the field like what happened when we met the sheepstealers!

[moysider]

Alan Freeman is easily the most enigmatic player I've seen in a green and red jersey.  Okay, maybe Jinking Joe could  sulk and go off the boil from time to time. But I never saw Corcoran sitting on his arse, waving his arms and complaining to every one within an ass's oar of him when he got a dunt that knocked him over.
In fairness to Freeman, he seems to have left tat stage of his development behind him but for a big, hefty lump of a lad, he is easily knocked off his game.
I thought when he scored his goal yesterday that he was going to reproduce the form he displayed against Down two seasons ago or against Sligo in his début in 2010  but he just drifted out of the game once more as he's done so many times before. The goal was a superb score and yet it was the last touch of genuine class he displayed before he was taken off.
I was more sad than mad when he was called to the line. I dunno what lies in store for him in time to come but one thing is certain; James Horan can't be totally blamed for Alan's regular dip in form.
Apart from that and the puke jerseys, I think Noel and Pateen have plenty to feel happy about.
I know it's still only winter etc. etc. But no mistake about it,  Kerry weren't there to make up numbers. I thought it was a hard-fought game but but Kerry were the dirtier of the two – no doubt about that. 
At least, nobody was being humped around the field like what happened when we met the sheepstealers!

So how does a guy that's easily knocked off his game get a ball out wide, bustle by tackles and score a goal like that? Seriously does not add up. A lad can t play at that level if they don t have an aggressive streak.

[moysider]

Sorry to go off topic a bit here lads but is Regans season over? Does anybody know a  recovery time for the injury he picked up?

With respect dan that's like asking 'how long is a piece of string?'
Standard answer is 8/10 weeks which would be ok if you played all your football on x-box. As regards the level of intensity and contact he would need to be at it's a season injury, but I hope I m wrong.
Most Mayo punters apparently have never seen him play so not like he ll be missed or anything.

[larryin89]

Too conscious of the belt that's coming in , you can't ditch that , it's just part of who you are . Maurice Sheridan compensated for this weakness through his free kick taking , freeman  has quality too but  as I said.