Tipp v Mayo AI semi final (still doesnt sound right!!)

[iorras]

Not alone will it be the greatest embarrassment of all time it will be one on the modern shocks if Dublin don't do the 2 in a row.

Good luck to them. I'm dreding the final. Our only hope is that Kerry do some serious injuries to ye.

+1, sadly.

It won't stop ye getting a sugar rush the next three or four weeks. Mid West, the Western and the News with massive souvenir supplements, interviews with ex-players assuring the masses there's no curse and that these lads are from different stock, touring the schools in the county with the local players visiting, Irish TV will probably have a live show from Mitchels clubhouse.

Full turkey time.

but wouldn't ye love to have that problem??

[SLIGONIAN]

What do you expect from O Hara? Well within his right to dislike mayo tbf. 

I think Mayo were unimpressive yesterday, Tipp with a bit more ruthlesslyness could have had 2/3 goals, mayo never kicked on even with 6 pts up, the lack of depth with tipp was key, mayo were always going to finish strong as they emptied the bench on tired tipp legs, tipp overplayed coming out of defence and once mayo slowed them down they turned them over, also mayo smothered midfield before half time were key turning points, look a lot of praise for andy moran for me is unfounded, he got good ball in loads of space with no marking and kicked them over, it wasn't hard imo, he wont get a that space the next day and when he has to fight for his ball he wont score, imo tipp were too loose yday at times,

Mayo may have 1 huge performance in them but in All Ireland Finals they usually go the other way and do they believe they beat Dublin or Kerry (I doubt it), mayo have had a lucky draw so far (look getting tipp a div3 in a AI semi is the stuff dreams are made of), and yesterday they got the breaks, the sending off and fluke goal all favoured them at vital stage, in other years refs have shafted them in semis and those decisions went the other way so they were due a break, they can only hope they get coldrick in the final, 

Fair play to tipp, they showed great courage and no matter the  blows the came back for more, at times the moved the ball brilliantly, I seen them against Sligo in the last rd of the league 0-18 to 3-9, we were far the better team, they were poor, only that draw suited both I feel we would of won easily and they showed massive improvement on that performance, it just shows the league to championship difference.

[Syferus]

Not alone will it be the greatest embarrassment of all time it will be one on the modern shocks if Dublin don't do the 2 in a row.

Good luck to them. I'm dreding the final. Our only hope is that Kerry do some serious injuries to ye.

+1, sadly.

It won't stop ye getting a sugar rush the next three or four weeks. Mid West, the Western and the News with massive souvenir supplements, interviews with ex-players assuring the masses there's no curse and that these lads are from different stock, touring the schools in the county with the local players visiting, Irish TV will probably have a live show from Mitchels clubhouse.

Full turkey time.

but wouldn't ye love to have that problem??

Damn right we would.

[seafoid]

This new model of losing the match at the beginning of the season rather than the end may be genius from Mayo

[Jinxy]

As poor a performance as any this year. The team is regressing and seem to be mentally and physically fatigued. The four weeks until the final will need to turn up some magic tricks or masterful tactics that will compensate.

That would seem to be the case alright.
Definitely looked fitter, stronger and more focused last year.
Remind me again why they got rid of Holmes & Connelly?

Nope,won't remind you of actual reasons,two lads great servants to Mayo. Embarrassing stuff to be honest.

Eamon O Hara was hilarious on radio 1 after the match. The mans disdain for Mayo hold no bounds..

Job done. Didn't expect anything less from Tipp.

Mayo really needed to lay down a marker yesterday, you know for the journalists to have something to write about for the next few weeks. Even they must be getting more writing the same stuff at this stage.

I'm genuinely not trying to stir up a hornet's nest here, it just seems to me that the 2015 Mayo team would make bits of the 2016 Mayo team.
If Holmes & Connelly were dumped because of so-called 'tactical' failings, well I'm sorry but I've seen nothing from Rochford thus far to suggest he's an improvement in that regard.

[AZOffaly]

Jinxy, I think the positioning of Barry Moran as a sweeper was not something Mayo would have traditionally done. It cost them big time against Kieran Donaghy a couple of times. I still felt Quinlivan and Sweeney won nearly every ball played into them, but his presence in there negated the high delivery, and also caused the ball in to be slower. That's a win for Rochford.

[Hound]

I'm genuinely not trying to stir up a hornet's nest here, it just seems to me that the 2015 Mayo team would make bits of the 2016 Mayo team.
If Holmes & Connelly were dumped because of so-called 'tactical' failings, well I'm sorry but I've seen nothing from Rochford thus far to suggest he's an improvement in that regard.

Rochford's use of Barry Moran yesterday was a copy of a Holmes & Connelly strategy, which I thought interesting! But nothing wrong with that, if its the right strategy for a particular game.

He seems a "horses for courses" type, and changes tactics (although nothing drastic) from game to game.

It will be interesting to see what he comes up with for the final, and whether poor Keane gets handed the 3 jersey again only to sit on the bench!

[AZOffaly]

I'm genuinely not trying to stir up a hornet's nest here, it just seems to me that the 2015 Mayo team would make bits of the 2016 Mayo team.
If Holmes & Connelly were dumped because of so-called 'tactical' failings, well I'm sorry but I've seen nothing from Rochford thus far to suggest he's an improvement in that regard.

Rochford's use of Barry Moran yesterday was a copy of a Holmes & Connelly strategy, which I thought interesting! But nothing wrong with that, if its the right strategy for a particular game.

He seems a "horses for courses" type, and changes tactics (although nothing drastic) from game to game.

It will be interesting to see what he comes up with for the final, and whether poor Keane gets handed the 3 jersey again only to sit on the bench!

Good point. I forgot about that. It was effective yesterday to a point.

I also haven't seen Aidan O'Shea on the edge of the square waving at balls flying over his head, so maybe that's another improvement.

[Jinxy]

Jinxy, I think the positioning of Barry Moran as a sweeper was not something Mayo would have traditionally done. It cost them big time against Kieran Donaghy a couple of times. I still felt Quinlivan and Sweeney won nearly every ball played into them, but his presence in there negated the high delivery, and also caused the ball in to be slower. That's a win for Rochford.

Maybe, but to my mind, if you are going to use Moran as a sweeper, you have to start Parsons at midfield.
More fundamentally though, part of me thinks if you are re-jigging your defence to deal specifically with the attacking threat a division 3 team poses, you're in trouble.
Having served my time as a full-back, I firmly believe it is the one line of the field which you tamper with at your peril.
Mayo have one specialist full-back available and that is Kevin Keane.
Starting Barry Moran back there is basically a vote of no-confidence in him.
What do you do for the final, particularly if it's Dublin?
Moran isn't mobile enough to do a proper sweeping job against them but the Dublin FF line are well capable of winning one-on-one high balls.
Start with Keane and revert to a more mobile option for sweeper?
If that's the way Rochford goes, I can see Dublin raining ball in for the first 10-15 minutes.
If Keane is low on confidence and the Dubs smell blood in the water, that could be that.

[Hound]

I'm genuinely not trying to stir up a hornet's nest here, it just seems to me that the 2015 Mayo team would make bits of the 2016 Mayo team.
If Holmes & Connelly were dumped because of so-called 'tactical' failings, well I'm sorry but I've seen nothing from Rochford thus far to suggest he's an improvement in that regard.

Rochford's use of Barry Moran yesterday was a copy of a Holmes & Connelly strategy, which I thought interesting! But nothing wrong with that, if its the right strategy for a particular game.

He seems a "horses for courses" type, and changes tactics (although nothing drastic) from game to game.

It will be interesting to see what he comes up with for the final, and whether poor Keane gets handed the 3 jersey again only to sit on the bench!

Good point. I forgot about that. It was effective yesterday to a point.

I also haven't seen Aidan O'Shea on the edge of the square waving at balls flying over his head, so maybe that's another improvement.

Aidan far less greedy than previous years too. He's looking to lay off first, whereas in previous years it was always head down and charge first.

[AZOffaly]

Horses for courses. Part of a good tactician is to be able to react to things he sees, either in an attempt to exploit a weakness in the opposition, or to shore up a flaw in your own set up if the opponent does something unexpected.

So I'd expect him to set up with the most appropriate personnel and formation to cater for what he expects the opposition to do. And if it pans out that way, well and good. If they do something unexpected, then you have to switch it up.

The preparation for this is of course vital, you can't be making it up on the fly, but I'm sure they'll work on several different variations of their defensive scheme. A scheme which they have been working on for the entire year already.

It also helps to have versatile players, and Barry Moran, Aidan O'Shea,  Lee Keegan, Kevin McLoughlin and Keith Higgins have proved they are serviceable in a variety of roles, even if their favourite and more effective one is not suitable for specific game/circumstances.

I'd give him the benefit of the doubt so far, but if he plays Barry Moran at full back/sweeper, and Kerry or Dublin are destroying them with low balls and fast movement, I'd expect him to react and change that up.

[GaillimhIarthair]

Jinxy, I think the positioning of Barry Moran as a sweeper was not something Mayo would have traditionally done. It cost them big time against Kieran Donaghy a couple of times. I still felt Quinlivan and Sweeney won nearly every ball played into them, but his presence in there negated the high delivery, and also caused the ball in to be slower. That's a win for Rochford.

Maybe, but to my mind, if you are going to use Moran as a sweeper, you have to start Parsons at midfield.
More fundamentally though, part of me thinks if you are re-jigging your defence to deal specifically with the attacking threat a division 3 team poses, you're in trouble.
Having served my time as a full-back, I firmly believe it is the one line of the field which you tamper with at your peril.
Mayo have one specialist full-back available and that is Kevin Keane.
Starting Barry Moran back there is basically a vote of no-confidence in him.
What do you do for the final, particularly if it's Dublin?
Moran isn't mobile enough to do a proper sweeping job against them but the Dublin FF line are well capable of winning one-on-one high balls.
Start with Keane and revert to a more mobile option for sweeper?
If that's the way Rochford goes, I can see Dublin raining ball in for the first 10-15 minutes.
If Keane is low on confidence and the Dubs smell blood in the water, that could be that.

Keane is strong and a very good fielder of the ball but he lacks pace and unless he has enough cover in front of him, it would be an area that the Dubs (especially) or Kerry would target for sure.  Its a position that will take up a lot of Rochfords thoughts for the next few weeks for sure.

[Jinxy]

I'm genuinely not trying to stir up a hornet's nest here, it just seems to me that the 2015 Mayo team would make bits of the 2016 Mayo team.
If Holmes & Connelly were dumped because of so-called 'tactical' failings, well I'm sorry but I've seen nothing from Rochford thus far to suggest he's an improvement in that regard.

Rochford's use of Barry Moran yesterday was a copy of a Holmes & Connelly strategy, which I thought interesting! But nothing wrong with that, if its the right strategy for a particular game.

He seems a "horses for courses" type, and changes tactics (although nothing drastic) from game to game.

It will be interesting to see what he comes up with for the final, and whether poor Keane gets handed the 3 jersey again only to sit on the bench!

Good point. I forgot about that. It was effective yesterday to a point.

I also haven't seen Aidan O'Shea on the edge of the square waving at balls flying over his head, so maybe that's another improvement.

Aidan far less greedy than previous years too. He's looking to lay off first, whereas in previous years it was always head down and charge first.

He still does way too much of that for my money.
In the first half yesterday he had a man clean through inside him coming towards the 21 but he couldn't resist the urge to barrel into the defender straight ahead of him.
He needs to understand that if he gives it BEFORE he comes into contact with a defender he can keep going and contribute further as the play progresses.
Too often he takes contact, gets stood up, goes backwards/sideways and then lays it off.
Now people would argue that he's sucking in 2/3 defenders while this is going on, but the momentum of the attack is lost.
Dublin/Kerry will expect him to take defenders on and he won't have the same physical dominance over them that he has with the lesser lights.

[Chimley]

I have been thinking about the way Mayo looked very flat yesterday and didn't hear the pundits mention the tough run of fixtures that Mayo have been involved in recently. Mayo have played a game in Croke park for three out of the past four weekends and that has to take a toll. It has been a very hard few weeks and now they can prepare with a bit of breathing space for the final.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Mayo have kinda stuttered their way into the final this year. Playing in fits and starts. I know a lot of people say it's a great way to reach a final as you dampen down hype and expectation but anyone who thinks that obviously has never been to Mayo in the build up to an All-Ireland final. I've seen some people suggest they are somehow hiding their light under a bushel but probably more likely is that this is the team they are now. Still capable of serious bursts of power but unable to sustain it. For the final it depends if you feel they have one big performance in them this year as nothing they've produced this Summer so far would be nearly good enough IMO. I'd be a bit worried that a 33 year old Andy Moran is currently their best forward. As good as he's been in the last couple games is he going to produce that against Kerry or especially Dublin? I'd have my doubts to be honest. That said they are in the final so that always gives you a chance in a two horse race.