All Ireland Football semi-final;Mayo v Kerry,Sunday Aug 20

[Ballaghman]

Kerry can win without Donaghy playing well, Mayo have absolutely no chance if Lee Keegan doesn't contribute to the attack.

Agree. However if Keegan is put on Donaghy I assume he will follow him out to midfield or wherever he goes. Thus giving him an opportunity or two to go forward.

If Lee Keegan is put man marking Donaghy, then Stephen Rochford needs his head examined.

If he is marking Donaghy, and Fitzmaurice allows Donaghy come out the field, then Fitzmaurice needs his head examined.

Keegan is always put on the opposition best player i don't think a mid 30 year old Donaghy is Kerrys best, also Donaghy comes out the field a lot nowadays can be seen in midfield and helping out in the full back line.

Paul Geaney and James O'Donoghue are key for Kerry. If those two are held to low scores then Mayo will be getting that long awaited championship win against Kerry.

I understand all that. What I am saying is that Rochford would be mad to sacrifice Keegan to try and keep Donaghy quiet. However if he DOES do that, then Fitzmaurice would be even madder to allow Donaghy do his usual roaming when he gets bored.

If Lee Keegan is put in on Donaghy, I think that is manna from heaven for Kerry, and Fitzmaurice will tell Donaghy to stay in on the edge of the square all day.

However, in reality, I doubt Rochford will make the same mistake he made in the second half of the first day v Rossies, when Keegan followed Smith in there, and took himself out of the game.

Totally agree AZ. I think Keegan would be wasted at FB and it would definitely be a mismatch height wise anyway. If he was on Donaghy there isn't a a chance Fitzmaurice would allow Donaghy to pass the 13. Rochford usually gets his match ups pretty spot on, whatever he comes up with will probably work defensively. The key is that it is not done at the expense of blunting our attack. If we take Doherty out and play an extra defender there will be a huge onus on the backs to get forward and make up for this. The midfielders (sometimes a half forward) will then have to sit and cover for them while they're away from home. That's the balance Horan never quite mastered. Rochford has to or we're toast.

[blast05]

If one player has to go then for me its Diarmuid.
Dropping Doherty would be brain dead imo - he has been outstanding the last few games. You need at least one link man between half back line and FF line .... you can't run everything. Doherty will work like a dog and win every ball that comes his way
Dropping McLoughlin doesn't make sense either if we want to play a hard running game.

[Zulu]

Agree with Blast05, you couldn't drop McLoughlin or Doherty on form IMO.

I feel the Roscommon game should both the strength and weakness of Mayo. They are a formidable team and will put it up to anyone but some of the missed opportunities against Roscommon highlight again why Mayo struggle to beat the best. I hope they win it but they need more of their players to play well than Kerry do. I expect this to be a great game, perhaps the game of the year. Kerry have the more potent forwards but Mayo are better, overall, than Kerry from 1-9, though I think Kerry have the edge at midfield. Looking forward to it anyway.

[blast05]

Agree with Blast05, you couldn't drop McLoughlin or Doherty on form IMO.

I feel the Roscommon game should both the strength and weakness of Mayo. They are a formidable team and will put it up to anyone but some of the missed opportunities against Roscommon highlight again why Mayo struggle to beat the best. I hope they win it but they need more of their players to play well than Kerry do. I expect this to be a great game, perhaps the game of the year. Kerry have the more potent forwards but Mayo are better, overall, than Kerry from 1-9, though I think Kerry have the edge at midfield. Looking forward to it anyway.

Kerry have the more potent forwards .....
- based on their performance against Clare (don't think so)
- Cork (Mayo v Cork showed that Cork have no defensive structure with no protection for their full back line and conceded a huge amount of easy chances to Mayo ... as they did to Kerry. Most impressive forward v Cork between Mayo and Kerry was Cillian O'Connor
- Galway .... don't think so.

So, yes - Kerry have the more potent forwards .... on paper

[Mayo4Sam14]

Agree with Blast05, you couldn't drop McLoughlin or Doherty on form IMO.

I feel the Roscommon game should both the strength and weakness of Mayo. They are a formidable team and will put it up to anyone but some of the missed opportunities against Roscommon highlight again why Mayo struggle to beat the best. I hope they win it but they need more of their players to play well than Kerry do. I expect this to be a great game, perhaps the game of the year. Kerry have the more potent forwards but Mayo are better, overall, than Kerry from 1-9, though I think Kerry have the edge at midfield. Looking forward to it anyway.

Kerry have the more potent forwards .....
- based on their performance against Clare (don't think so)
- Cork (Mayo v Cork showed that Cork have no defensive structure with no protection for their full back line and conceded a huge amount of easy chances to Mayo ... as they did to Kerry. Most impressive forward v Cork between Mayo and Kerry was Cillian O'Connor
- Galway .... don't think so.

So, yes - Kerry have the more potent forwards .... on paper

Take past seasons into account

[Zulu]

Agree with Blast05, you couldn't drop McLoughlin or Doherty on form IMO.

I feel the Roscommon game should both the strength and weakness of Mayo. They are a formidable team and will put it up to anyone but some of the missed opportunities against Roscommon highlight again why Mayo struggle to beat the best. I hope they win it but they need more of their players to play well than Kerry do. I expect this to be a great game, perhaps the game of the year. Kerry have the more potent forwards but Mayo are better, overall, than Kerry from 1-9, though I think Kerry have the edge at midfield. Looking forward to it anyway.

Kerry have the more potent forwards .....
- based on their performance against Clare (don't think so)
- Cork (Mayo v Cork showed that Cork have no defensive structure with no protection for their full back line and conceded a huge amount of easy chances to Mayo ... as they did to Kerry. Most impressive forward v Cork between Mayo and Kerry was Cillian O'Connor
- Galway .... don't think so.

So, yes - Kerry have the more potent forwards .... on paper

In reality, IMO. Geaney is the best forward on the pitch.

[Syferus]

Agree with Blast05, you couldn't drop McLoughlin or Doherty on form IMO.

I feel the Roscommon game should both the strength and weakness of Mayo. They are a formidable team and will put it up to anyone but some of the missed opportunities against Roscommon highlight again why Mayo struggle to beat the best. I hope they win it but they need more of their players to play well than Kerry do. I expect this to be a great game, perhaps the game of the year. Kerry have the more potent forwards but Mayo are better, overall, than Kerry from 1-9, though I think Kerry have the edge at midfield. Looking forward to it anyway.

Kerry have the more potent forwards .....
- based on their performance against Clare (don't think so)
- Cork (Mayo v Cork showed that Cork have no defensive structure with no protection for their full back line and conceded a huge amount of easy chances to Mayo ... as they did to Kerry. Most impressive forward v Cork between Mayo and Kerry was Cillian O'Connor
- Galway .... don't think so.

So, yes - Kerry have the more potent forwards .... on paper

In reality, IMO. Geaney is the best forward on the pitch.

The best forward on the field is Lee Keegan.

[Zulu]

You can make a case for best footballer alright but not forward.

[RedHand88]

Master pundit David Brady at it again! Why didn't I think of this plan?!?

http://humansofthegaa.com/david-bradys-masterplan-for-mayo-to-deal-with-donaghy-suggests-he-might-want-to-lay-off-the-mushrooms/

[trileacman]

Brady is a pure clim when it comes to punditry.

[Zulu]

The worst pundit bar none and that's saying something with the likes of Bernard Flynn and Pat Spillane bounding about bellowing utter nonsense.

[Cllr Willie Power]

The worst pundit bar none and that's saying something with the likes of Bernard Flynn and Pat Spillane bounding about bellowing utter nonsense.

You've obviously never heard Charlie Redmond in action then.... Never ceases to make an absolute fool of himself every time he opens his mouth!

P.S. Just to clear, I'm not a fan of Brady.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Brady's a first class clampit -- Armagh were going to beat Tyrone because they embraced each other after their win over  Tipp FFS!

[Aaron Boone]

Aftermath of Atlantic hurricane due to hit us on Sunday.

[larryin89]

I used to enjoy the build up to these big games, not anymore its such a load of dishonest bollixolgy.