plus herrity is a big improvement in goal and murphy looks very good so far
In my view the key for Kilkenny will be how they attack Tipp. If Brian Cody didnât have seven All Irelands under his belt heâd have been rightly slated for their approach in last yearâs final. Bar flaking ball in on top of a beaten Richie Power, their only other scheme was lone ranger runs straight at the middle of the Tipp defence. The biggest problem I think they have is the absence of a half-forward line to compare with Shefflin, Larkin, and Comerford in their pomp. Like Niall McCarthy showed in Munster againt Tipp when he dragged his man all over the pitch, like Clare showed (briefly) in the semi, and like the Dubs showed yesterday, you need to dismantle that shield if you want to exploit them. You need to deliver ball to hand and have midfielders and wing backs bombing through to take passes at speed. If you do that youâll get the chances to beat them. Tommy Walsh seemed to accept the fact that he wasnât going to play much of a part in last yearâs final. And JJ only came up the field once I think and was blocked down. Theyâll need to push a lot harder this year. Iâm not sure what theyâre going to do with their half-forward line though. The same personnel isnât there anymore.
Would they drop OâKeeffe and play Brendan Maher half back?
KK wonât get away with the same level of tackling Dublin did yesterday. If anything yesterday has only affirmed in my mind that Tipp will win the final quite convincingly. They have a problem at half forward however that needs addressing. Noal McGrtah only started to hurl when callinan went off. Can they play together? The one game they dove tailed well was the 09 final but I canât remember any other instances?
As an aside, where is Pat Kerwick? is he banned from Croke Park after his rendition of Galtee Mountain boy over the PA system last year?
Which I mentioned, but i donât know why anybody who looked at Kilkennyâs matches this year would think they have improved overall, especially in defence. Certain players have improved however and their middle four probably is better than last year, and Shefflin and Richie Hogan will be factors that werenât there last year. But they arenât playing with the same fluency. The question is: are Tipp?
The Dubs could legitimately be considered All Ireland contenders for next year. They earned that yesterday. Kicking on is the challenge alright though. Itâs very hard to know if thereâs more in that setup. Daly is heading into his fourth season if he stays and youâd wonder if thereâs much more he can impart. Maybe they have a very strong sense of where they need to improve and if they do they could be alright. Thereâs a danger of the plaudits and the all stars inducing complacency though. Galway in 2007 gave a similarly outstanding performance against Kilkenny in 2007, and like yesterday, a goal from opportunism and luck sank them in the end. Galway were poised to rattle the championship after that but instead went out to Cork after a tame enough performance in the qualifers. If the Dubs can improve across the board they genuinely could win next yearâs All Ireland, but with Limerick and Waterford hard on their heels, and a still young Tipp side ahead of them, theyâll have to find new reserves from somewhere to do it.
Maybe they could find a few more blow ins to parachute into the team?
Pretty odd post - Dublin are better underage right now then Limerick, Waterford and Tipp, and probably have the best underage set up in the country. Even affording for losing a few to football they should have a stronger squad every year from here on out for the foreseeable future. Plus they have the money to replace Daly if he steps aside.
You could say almost all of that about Galway, and people have for the last ten years. Dublin have a good underage setup but a lot of people at Forristal, Arrabawn, and even Minor level coaching would rate Waterford as the top setup in the country. Thatâs beside the point anyway. The point is one good year is no guarantee of anything.
He had awful problems with his car earlier in the year. Didnât start a few times and ended up missing training. Those aul Fiestas are a heap of shit.
Galway are Galway really, a bit of an aberration and most of what they have achieved underage is sullied for obvious reasons. Iâm sure Waterford (and Clare) are very well set up underage but they canât match Dublin for resources and neither have a manager as good as Daly. Anyway, the reality is Dublin very nearly beat the AI champions without at least three starters, and that includes their star player. On top of that Dublin have a pretty strong chance of doing the double in underage hurling, again something beyond everyone that isnât Tipp or KK. Iâd be pretty gobsmacked if they didnât win an AI within five years, although they need to hold on to Daly.
I think the whole Dublin project ultimately needs the All Ireland to confirm its success beyond all doubt. Youâd hope that the effort put into it can then be replicated elsewhere, like Belfast, Derry, Athlone, even in places like Ennis, Portlaoise, Limerick city and Wexford town. The same scale might not be available, but the idea that a county can be transformed into a genuine power after 60 odd years in the wilderness should be used as encouragement to make big changes elsewhere.
Unfortunately Dublin had a great opportunity to make a breakthrough this year and have failed. They got a very handy run to a semi final and that semi was set up for a shock on a once in a decade basis. The reality is that they should have kicked on and won. That chance may not present itself again. Waterford spent a decade almost beating teams in All Ireland semis and by the time they did it was way too late.
Next year Cork and Galway may well have sorted themselves out. Limerick will be better and Waterford will have a new manager. Any of those teams could improve at a faster rate than Dublin and pass them out. Itâs kind of simplistic to assume that just because Dublin got within 4,points of Tipp that they will go on to win the All Ireland
One other thing. If a county was serious about winning the All Ireland there is no way they should let their best player go around on a motorbike
agree with most of that fagan. a lot of lads (myself included) reckoned galway were very close to winning an all ireland based upon quarter final against tipp last year (which they should have won arguably). this year they regressed massively, instead of kicking on. they reached an u21 final last year aswell and were reigning league champions.
Bernard Brogan goes to work on a motorbike as well.
Winning a first national title in generations is not a failure. Holding the AI Champions to 4 points after everyone (bookies inc) gave em no hope is not a failure either. Making a holy show of yourself and your county in front of 14,000 as Galway did is a failure
With your âmaybeâsâ for Limerick, Cork et all, do you not also think that maybe Dublin can improve?
[quote=âsid waddell, post: 593345â]
Bernard Brogan goes to work on a motorbike as well.
[/quote]If thatâs true itâs nuts.
i would like to qualify my agreement with fagan with the fact that i dont think dublin were a failure but made huge progress this year and have definitely arrived at the top table of genuine contenders.
i agree with his sentiment that it may be difficult to âkick onâ so to speak. its very difficult to sustain a high intensity game like they have deployed this year. their ability to progress further is largely dependant on ensuring that their most talented players are not lost to football.
May be they will and maybe they wonât but based on the last 20 years the reality is that a team breaks through and wins the thing the first year like Clare and Wexford. Or they never win it like Waterford and Limerick because the element of surprise or momentum or whatever is gone. Maybe Dublin will be different. But I have my doubts. [quote=âArseboxin, post: 593346â]
Winning a first national title in generations is not a failure. Holding the AI Champions to 4 points after everyone (bookies inc) gave em no hope is not a failure either. Making a holy show of yourself and your county in front of 14,000 as Galway did is a failure
With your âmaybeâsâ for Limerick, Cork et all, do you not also think that maybe Dublin can improve?
[/quote]
The hope for next year is that they do kick on with a full compliment and go man on man and see how we are then. A lot of the tactics this year were forced. Iâd hope Anto will drive on with the talent he has because I believe heâs giving it one more year and thatâll be his lot, whatever happens