Mayoâs talent pool looks to be fairly shallow, theyâve really brought very little in since 2011 - Diarmuid OâConnor, Harrison and Durcan is really about it are the only real players to impact on the starting side since 2011 that werenât there before.
You look at a lot of the players who would have played a decent wedge of the league games and early Championship and are now nowhere to be seen - Boland, Conor OâShea, Kirby, Regan etc are being cast aside when there are a lot of players really struggling for legs which says a lot about the managerâs faith in their ability.
Kirby is the omission which annoys me most, Rochford bringing Dillon on ahead of him against Cork mustâve been a real blow for him. I think heâd be good enough to come on in big games, but its an unknown because he hasnât got a chance. Regan isnât up to the level required unfortunately.
Rochfordâs use of the squad is becoming a major concern. His persistence with Cafferkey is killing the team defensively. His inability to see that starting Loftus and then bringing on Moran when the opposition are fatigued would be better than the other way around is concerning.
Kieran Shannon wrote an article recently suggesting Mayo play Moran for the first half, rest him and then bring him back on after about 60 minutes in a similar way to how Tyrone used Peter Canavan in the 2003 and 2005 All-Ireland finals.
Itâs not the worst suggestion Iâve heard. Youâre restricting yourself to a squad of 20 rather than 21 by doing that, but if Rochford doesnât trust his squad it hardly makes much difference in that regard.
Moran is a talismanic figure for Mayo. They need him to start but they probably need him to finish as well, and this is the only way you can do that.
Well that was disappointing to say the least. Didnât expect us to win, but expected more than giving up midway through the second half. Canât blame Kevin Walsh for all the missed goal chances and bad wides, but there is a serious lack of belief in the side, and that has to be laid at the door of the manager. Think itâs time he moved on, some progress has been made but donât think Galway can go much further with the current setup. We are still tactically naive, and some of the substitutions today were baffling.
Rochford really doesnât trust Mayo forwards. Even though Varley and Conroy were windy forwards, Horan would still pick guys like that as they were capable of popping up with 2-3 points a game.
Rochford doesnât. There seems to only really be three players who are trusted to kick scores from play - OâConnor, Moran and Keegan. The problem lies in one is very limited and struggles to win his own ball, the other is touching 34 and the final one is a wing back.
Couldnât say we are in any way better than when we played them three years ago. We won a piss poor division 2, just donât have the players at the minute. Desperately need a full and corner back.
I was half asleep watching it as wasnât long home from a wedding, but seemed all the missed goal chances knocked the wind out of their sails. The U21 FB will be there next year, over here for the summer, but agree FB line is a priority. Conroy v disappointing today as was Flynn.
Changing things up can have a massive effect. As the Japanese say âtry the oppositeâ.
Think the hassle tgere has effected them all. Are managemebt afraid to make big calls.
I mean i would consider Parsons for Seamie Se after yesterday. He was at nothing. AOS again getting a hard time for being industrious is bizarre. He was not super, but he was everywhere trying to win the ball back.
I would thriw him FF and Keegan centre forward for a while the next day, make Rosscommon think a bit.
Roscommon blew their chance yesterday. Mayo wont beaten the next day. If they do beat Roscommon though will they have anything left in the tank for the semi final. They have to be running close to empty now.