All Ireland senior football final 2012 Donegal v Mayo

[ToWinJustOnce_Mayo4Sam]

Now Now ONeill .... you seem very knowledgeable regarding this Donegal team  .... surely you have some idea as to how Dublin beat them. 

I'll leave it up to you to tell us 

[ONeill]

To pull you out of that hole - I'll explain. Donegal lost that game. Dublin didn't score from play until the 60th minute. Donegal's obsession with defensive tactics lost them the game. At 6-3 ahead in the second half they were home and dried only for first year naivety to play its part. Instead of killing their prey they sat on a lead.

[ToWinJustOnce_Mayo4Sam]

To pull you out of that hole - I'll explain. Donegal lost that game. Dublin didn't score from play until the 60th minute. Donegal's obsession with defensive tactics lost them the game. At 6-3 ahead in the second half they were home and dried only for first year naivety to play its part. Instead of killing their prey they sat on a lead.

O'Neill to pull you out of Donegal hole .... McFadden & Murphy were held in the second half & has nothing else, maybe that's why they didn't win the game !!!

[Captain Obvious]

Anything could happen on the day the the ref could send off a few Donegal players, that type scenario would improve Mayo's chances.

[the Deel Rover]

Can some fcuker from Mayo, just one, have a go and attempt to formulate a small tactical analysis as to how they can approach this and win it?

Who do you think will be your key men? Where are the Donegal weaknesses? What can you do that Kerry and Cork couldn't?

Even someone who isn't from Mayo but gives them a chance. And none of this cute hoorism of giving it a lash. McGuinness shites lashes.

We have no key men . Donegal have no weaknesses . We have a chance of winning an All Ireland Cork , Kerry and Tyrone don't . We have larry reilly in the stand telling james what to do.

[cadence]

Has anyone else seen the big sign erected outside Ballyvary by a company who i won't name??

In big lettering, it welcomes Sam home to Mayo. Do these people ever learn?...Surely that sign was time enough being erected next Sunday evening, if Mayo win, before Monday's homecoming.
I remember a similar sign being erected in the same village in 2006, and it wasn't long coming down afterwards.

As a Rossie living in Mayo, i think the Mayo public are adopting a more sensible, low key approach to this final. No doubt the result of having their hopes dashed so many times in the past. Plenty of flags going up, and banners wishing the team well, but the one i mentioned outside Ballyvary is downright stupid at this stage.

As for the game itself, i have the same feeling that i've had all year....this is Mayo's year. There's something different about them this year. They seem a more focused, steelier outfit..There are many players in it who might not be household names outside the county, but that could change next weekend.
I've been impressed by players like Kevin Keane and Lee Keegan in particular.

However, if they're to bridge that 61 year gap, they'll need to avoid a collapse like most of the second half against Dublin, plus the first half of the Connacht Final, when if memory serves me right, they only scored 3 points...That first half against Sligo wasn't a collapse as such, but saw Mayo very frustrated by the way Sligo swarmed around them.

The ability to beat Dublin without Andy Moran shows how far this Mayo team has come.

I reckon we won't see a classic in the final, and wouldn't be surprised if the game produces no goals. It will be an intense, dogged battle, and i believe that Mayo can win it, and will it on a scoreline of 0-14 to 0-12, because as i said, there's something different about Mayo this year.

Best of luck to them, and let's not hear anyone telling them to win it for Connacht or for the West, because when Mayo lost in 1989, 96, 97, 2004, 06, the rest of Connacht didn't feel the pain of it like Mayo did......Do it for yourselves lads.

dunno. maybe and maybe no... both semis were crackers. i think it will be tight. if it's tight, i can see it being a good quality game, maybe not a scorefest, but won in the trenches. i love these types of games anyway, so if it went that way it would be a cracker to my eyes.

players could be really nervous though and the quality of play suffer. donegal and mayo have been good so far in this regard and i'd kinda expect them to be able to handle the pressure. but maybe the nerves will get the better of one team or both. hard to say how it will pan out if you think about it like this, but form is form, and on form it'll be tight and hard fought, unless mayo can steamroller us like they did to the dubs. which i hope won't happen, and so it'll be a tight one with us winning by one thank you very much! 

[From the Bunker]

Anything could happen on the day the the ref could send off a few Donegal players, that type scenario would improve Mayo's chances.

So, your tried and tested masterplan is to hold McFadden & Murphy in the 2nd half. Aye, that should be about enough to win it.

Sounds good to me! 

[criostlinn]

Can some fcuker from Mayo, just one, have a go and attempt to formulate a small tactical analysis as to how they can approach this and win it?

Who do you think will be your key men? Where are the Donegal weaknesses? What can you do that Kerry and Cork couldn't?

Even someone who isn't from Mayo but gives them a chance. And none of this cute hoorism of giving it a lash. McGuinness shites lashes.

Here Ill have go.

Mayo are fitter, mentally and physically tougher and have better footballers all over the field. If you deny any of those advantages for Mayo then ye are smoking something optimistic up there. I know there'll be 'disrespect' posted in response but it's not. Just my opinion which may be totally inaccurate in 8 days. I'll hold my hands up. I just have never witnessed a side as well drilled as a unit as this Mayo side. The Tyrone 05 side was much more talented individually but I think they'd have floundered on the Horan rock. They reduce sides to a mumbling mess by the 50 minute mark. There is a lot of hyperbole around them too and Horan will be loving it but they're a fine team.

See loads of cliched unsubstantiated nonsense. But this seems to go down as tactical analysis in your book

[ONeill]

So that's a no then. Not one poster can give some form of reasoning. Some shower

[bucko]

Sounds like you're getting frustrated O'Neill......

[Farrandeelin]

A mate of mine from Donegal sees lots of similarities in the way both county's style of play. If that's true then we have to have a bit of a chance.

[ToWinJustOnce_Mayo4Sam]

O Neill your in la la land  ....
your "reasoning" was utter tripe ....

For example ... you would take all the Donegal backs ahead of Mayo ... All thirteen of them 

[Zulu]

So that's a no then. Not one poster can give some form of reasoning. Some shower

I think your own analysis lacked a bit of reasoning too. While I think Donegal will win I can certainly see reasons for hope in Mayo. For a start, Mayo are more than capable of matching Donegal in the middle third and most of the Mayo players here match up favourably with their Donegal counterparts. If Mayo can compete here then they have a great chance of winning. Secondly, they have a very good free taker in O'Connor so they are capable of staying in touch if they force frees from Donegal. Thirdly, while Donegal are very well organised, have some great players and are tough to beat due to their 'set up' they are not a markedly better set footballers than Mayo and Mayo will be organised too so I see this match as being up for grabs. Finally, an average Tyrone team ran them close which shows they can be beaten and Mayo will have had a lot of time to analyse what works against Donegal.

The only area I feel Mayo fall down on is their firepower, other than that they are a match for any team in the country, so if they bring their shooting boots they can definitely win. While some might say they've posted big scores I think it's been against poor opposition bar Dublin and the intensity of the Donegal defending will expose all but the best forwards and Mayo's aren't in the top bracket IMO. This is why I favour Donegal but I wouldn't rule out Mayo at all.

[From the Bunker]

So that's a no then. Not one poster can give some form of reasoning. Some shower

What do you want us to give you? A detailed look at where the game will be lost and won? No matter what we say you will belittle us. We see ourselves as having a chance! We're not up our hole. No one here is saying we're the best ever. Remember Donegal like us are coming from a similar base and both of us should be treated with equal respect.

[seafoid]

So that's a no then. Not one poster can give some form of reasoning. Some shower

Donegal tend to fade in the last 10 minutes.
The expectation of the Donegal fans will lead to too much pressure on the players.
Mayo have better forwards.
The pundits have got the last 4 matches in a row wrong.