Dublin v Kerry All Ireland Final 2019

[imtommygunn]

At best for Kerry I would say it's dubs +5.

[Taylor]

While I would love it to be a tight game and the GAA need a tight game more than ever, no matter how the Dubs supporters try to dress it up they will win by at least 7.

Not much difference between the firepower on each side but the Dublin defence and their bench are far superior.

The worry would be if it is a tight game it will paper over the cracks in the association.

If, as I expect, it is a damp squib with 25mins to go hopefully it will force the GAA to do something about the imbalance that currently exists between the Dubs and the rest of the country (not Dublin's fault by the way)

[Rossfan]

The worry would be if it is a tight game it will paper over the cracks in the association.

If, as I expect, it is a damp squib with 25mins to go hopefully it will force the GAA to do something about the imbalance that currently exists between the Dubs and the rest of the country (not Dublin's fault by the way)

Seeing the 2 to 1 vote against and the disparaging comments to the Donegal motion I won't be expecting them to do anything till its 8 in a row....

[Keyser soze]

Seeing Kerry's attempt at playing a sweeper system against Tyrone in the semi it would be better for them to go man to man as they clearly did not have the foggiest how a sweeper should play.

[Crete Boom]

Kerry need to dominate midfield especially on their own kick outs. I have a feeling they will do okay on Dublin's restarts. If they can dominate mid field then they can either run at the Dubs with O'Brien or get quick direct ball into Clifford. On the face of it you would predict that with enough ball the Kerry forwards will hit say the 2-20 that Michael Murphy put forward as the target to beat the Dubs but the more I think about it I am not so sure.
I think the Dub full back line will hold up okay against Clifford and Geaney and I think the Dublin half back line could dominate the Kerry half forwards which will put more pressure on the Kerry midfield. While Tom O' Sullivan will give Kilkenny his fill I just don't see(outside of mid field domination) how Kerry will handle O' Callaghan, Mannion and Rock or the running of Scully and Howard. Then you have Costello and Connolly to bolster the troops if needed!!!
Hopefully it will be a tight game and Kerry certainly don't lack confidence to go toe to toe with the Dubs but I just think the Dubs find their rhythm early and win by 7 or 8!!

[Maiden1]

For some strange reason I backed Kerry at 9/2 before the start of the championship.  Now that they are Munster champions, topped a tough Super 8s group, come through a difficult semi final I can now back them at 5/1.  Glad I got on when I did 

[Zulu]

While I would love it to be a tight game and the GAA need a tight game more than ever, no matter how the Dubs supporters try to dress it up they will win by at least 7.

Not much difference between the firepower on each side but the Dublin defence and their bench are far superior.

The worry would be if it is a tight game it will paper over the cracks in the association.

If, as I expect, it is a damp squib with 25mins to go hopefully it will force the GAA to do something about the imbalance that currently exists between the Dubs and the rest of the country (not Dublin's fault by the way)

Are they though? I think the Dublin defenders are decent but they've had it easy against the many teams who drop off Dublin. When teams have gone man to man the Dublin defenders don't look markedly better than many others.

You don't make a Kerry senior football team unless you're a good footballer and while many of the Kerry defenders are more half backs than full backs I suspect they're nowhere near as bad as many here are suggesting.

The Dublin bench is better but again, I'm not sure they've a much better bench. A good few of their game changers are older and, I think, less effective now.

[clarshack]

Kerry haven't played Dublin in the championship since 2016, so do they really know how good this current Dublin team are?. They seem to be going in with the same kind of false hope like Tyrone did in the 2017 semi-final or even last year's Final. Honestly I think a lot of the Kerry players are in for a rude awakening on Sunday.

[Taylor]

While I would love it to be a tight game and the GAA need a tight game more than ever, no matter how the Dubs supporters try to dress it up they will win by at least 7.

Not much difference between the firepower on each side but the Dublin defence and their bench are far superior.

The worry would be if it is a tight game it will paper over the cracks in the association.

If, as I expect, it is a damp squib with 25mins to go hopefully it will force the GAA to do something about the imbalance that currently exists between the Dubs and the rest of the country (not Dublin's fault by the way)

Are they though? I think the Dublin defenders are decent but they've had it easy against the many teams who drop off Dublin. When teams have gone man to man the Dublin defenders don't look markedly better than many others.

You don't make a Kerry senior football team unless you're a good footballer and while many of the Kerry defenders are more half backs than full backs I suspect they're nowhere near as bad as many here are suggesting.

The Dublin bench is better but again, I'm not sure they've a much better bench. A good few of their game changers are older and, I think, less effective now.

Yes, as a defensive group they are much better than Kerry. I doubt anyone other than a Dub trying to talk up the opposition would say otherwise.

Similarly the Dubs bench is much stronger.
OSullivan, Murchan, Costello, McMahon, Connolly & Andrews were the subs that came on in the semi final. Not to mention what was left.
And you dont think they have a much better bench 
Most of those players would start on any other county every day of the week

[Zulu]

Well I'm not a Dub so you doubt wrong I'm afraid. You're entitled to your opinion and you may be right but I don't think the Dublin defenders are much better than Kerry. They are good footballers but I think in one v one situations they struggle as much as anyone and if Kerry go man to man they'll get joy.

Their bench has some big names but Connolly has played hardly any football and others like O'Sullivan and Andrews are not playing to the same level as in previous years. I wouldn't argue Kerry have the better bench but they've plenty of good footballers to come in too - Tommy Walsh, Jack Sherwood, Jack Barry, James O'Donoghue to name a few.

Dublin do have a better bench and probably a better defence but I wouldn't agree it's as clear cut as you're making out.

[imtommygunn]

Dublin very rarely do one on one defense though. They do pull a lot back and break at pace.

[seafoid]

The worry would be if it is a tight game it will paper over the cracks in the association.

If, as I expect, it is a damp squib with 25mins to go hopefully it will force the GAA to do something about the imbalance that currently exists between the Dubs and the rest of the country (not Dublin's fault by the way)

Seeing the 2 to 1 vote against and the disparaging comments to the Donegal motion I won't be expecting them to do anything till its 8 in a row....

Attendances- this is where the GAA is most sensitive

2018 - "Overall, the average attendances figures at the 39 games in the All-Ireland series – which includes the qualifiers, the Super 8s and the All-Ireland semi-final and final – was 13,225.
In 2017 when there were 33 games played in the football series the average attendance was 19,049."

[Zulu]

Dublin very rarely do one on one defense though. They do pull a lot back and break at pace.

True but all teams end up with 14/15 behind the ball at times. I don't think one v one references our traditional concept of that but I think both Dublin and Kerry set up so that each defender has to mind his own house more often than others bar Mayo.

I don't think anyone could make a strong argument for a Kerry win but I think it isn't as clear cut as some are making out. If Kerry are to win it might resemble something like 1982 where they hit the front with a freak goal late in the game. However, they've a lot going for them - brilliantly talented forwards, one great midfielder, a bench and, IMO, better defenders than they get credit for. If you are to beat Dublin you have to be able to take your chances and Kerry are the best equipped in the country to do that.

[imtommygunn]

I don't know if I can agree about defenders. As someone said in another thread Tyrone ended up kicking the ball up into the air for the FF line to win and they won more or less every one that was put into them. They didn't even need to resort to quality ball. Their FB line is really weak for this level.

That said their forwards are impressive. I am not convinced their HF line will count so much against Dublin but would still expect Geaney and Clifford to make a decent impact.

[twohands!!!]

Kerry need to dominate midfield especially on their own kick outs. I have a feeling they will do okay on Dublin's restarts. If they can dominate mid field then they can either run at the Dubs with O'Brien or get quick direct ball into Clifford. On the face of it you would predict that with enough ball the Kerry forwards will hit say the 2-20 that Michael Murphy put forward as the target to beat the Dubs but the more I think about it I am not so sure.
I think the Dub full back line will hold up okay against Clifford and Geaney and I think the Dublin half back line could dominate the Kerry half forwards which will put more pressure on the Kerry midfield. While Tom O' Sullivan will give Kilkenny his fill I just don't see(outside of mid field domination) how Kerry will handle O' Callaghan, Mannion and Rock or the running of Scully and Howard. Then you have Costello and Connolly to bolster the troops if needed!!!
Hopefully it will be a tight game and Kerry certainly don't lack confidence to go toe to toe with the Dubs but I just think the Dubs find their rhythm early and win by 7 or 8!!

Dublin are going to put serious pressure on Ryan in goals and I think he's going to crack.
If you look at the periods where Dublin go to town and get a string of scores against teams, what's noticeable is the pressure they put on the opposition's kickouts.

What really surprised me in the Tyrone game was how little pressure Tyrone seemed to mange to put on Ryan's kickouts - I was expecting them to give him a far harder time. Based on the games I saw in the Super 8, it looked like a blatant weakness.

After goalkeeper I think this Kerry's teams biggest weakness is midfield as opposed to in the backs.
You take Moran out of midfield and the rest of the Kerry midfielders look more like Division 3/Division 4 quality.