Squeezed middle provides headaches for Kerry

Extra.ie​

16-05-2025

Time was that Kerry used to fear emerging from Munster untested. Their near-absolute control of the provincial championship — they have won 14 of 16 titles since 2010 — caused anxiety about entering the All-Ireland series without their team being properly stressed.
The dilemma is of a different order this summer. Their match with Roscommon in Fitzgerald Stadium tomorrow afternoon is the first of the group stages, and it is also likely to be the first step in a trouble-free stroll for Kerry.
Indeed their wildly exciting Munster semi-final win over Cork, only secured after the Rebels' attempts to score a two-pointer and force the game to penalties failed, could be the most challenging match they play before the quarter-finals. Kerry manager Jack O'Connor. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
That's not to lightly discount the presence of Cork in Kerry's group; the teams meet in round two in Páirc uí Chaoimh, before a match with Meath at a neutral venue.
But it's unlikely that Jack O'Connor's team will allow a re-match with their neighbours to turn into a cliffhanger, just as it's clear that Kerry have the most benign draw of the four most viable contenders for the Sam Maguire.
While Galway and Dublin go into battle later tomorrow in the first action of a Group of Death that also includes Armagh and Derry, and Donegal must negotiate the challenges posed by Tyrone, Mayo and Cavan, Kerry keep company with three counties that spent the spring in Division 2. Kerry's modest scoring rate from outside the 40-metre arc does not live up to the county's tradition. Pic: INPHO/Bryan Keane
They shouldn't be long detained with that schedule, and a place in the quarter-finals already looks assured.
This, though, will cause those familiar anxieties to stir again around preparedness.
O'Connor will take some solace from the gut-check his team survived in that scintillating match against Cork, albeit that they ended up in that situation in the first place is another worry.
It was notable that while Cork players lay devastated at the final whistle that night, many of the Kerry men didn't seem to know how to react. Cork players lay devastated at the final whistle. Pic: INPHO/Bryan Keane
There were few outbreaks of pure joy, or even expressions of satisfaction. Instead, players looked exhausted, emptied by the effort it took to put away an opponent few thought would keep it kicked out to them.
Their extra-time performance was unerring, and a good illustration of what separates tier-one teams from the rest. Kerry took on four shots in that period and scored with all of them.
Cork kicked nine wides in the same time, having lost the extra man advantage they enjoyed following the dismissal of Paudie Clifford in normal time.
Surviving his departure was another consolation for Kerry, given how central he has become in orchestrating their play. No player will supersede his brother in importance, but David is reliant on what happens out the field, and much of the good work there goes through Paudie. David Clifford is reliant on what goes on out the field. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
David Clifford finished the game with nine points, including a two-pointer — Kerry's first in four matches.
They managed two more in the Munster final saunter against Clare, one from Clifford again, and another from a free by Seán O'Shea.
However, Kerry's very modest scoring rate from outside the 40-metre arc goes against what the casual football watcher might expect, given the county's tradition.
It also helps pinpoint the area of the team where Kerry look lightest: the middle third. The emergence of Joe O'Connor this year has been a major boon. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Midfield has been a long-standing problem, but the emergence of Joe O'Connor this year has been a major boon. He was partnered by Barry Dan O'Sullivan against Cork and Clare, and Kingdom manager O'Connor went out of his way after the Munster final to praise O'Sullivan.
Getting Diarmuid O'Connor fit would strengthen their options greatly, there, though. He injured a shoulder in the Allianz League win against Armagh in mid-March, and the initial expectation was that he would miss the Munster campaign.
By that timeline, he should be returning to fitness soon, but news is being tightly controlled, and given their benevolent draw, it would be no surprise if he is used sparingly over the next three weeks, or perhaps not at all. His return would bring experience to the middle third, but it's the absence of scoring power from that range that leaves Kerry short of the likes of Armagh and Galway.
Seán O'Shea is capable of long-range scoring, as are both Cliffords, but presuming David remains inside, the scoring threat from distance is best utilised by attackers coming on to the ball from deeper. Seán O'Shea is capable of long-range scoring. Pic: INPHO/Laszlo Geczo
Galway have been masterful exponents of this so far this year, Armagh are adept at it, too and Meath used two-pointers to blow Dublin away in the first half of the Leinster semi-final.
Kerry have an excellent goalkeeper in Shane Ryan, and a very experienced defence where Graham O'Sullivan, Jason Foley, Tom O'Sullivan, Gavin White and Brian Ó Beaglaoích bring experience and quality.
It's bridging defence and attack that is posing a persistent challenge, and in the era of the two-pointer, the tap and go and the return of high fielding, the demands on players between the two 45s are varied and unrelenting.
While Galway, Armagh and Donegal have the resources to address that, Kerry's ability to do so is less certain.
O'Connor should have the leeway to continue working on this while also making unchecked progress to the last eight, and the residual class in the team still allowed them to make short work of Clare without Ryan, O'Sullivan and O'Connor through injury, while Paudie Clifford was suspended.
Kerry are much too good for the best of the rest, but their season will be decided by how they cope with the leading teams, and the solutions their veteran manager finds to their issues around the squeezed middle.