Éamonn Fitzmaurice: Donegal's greatest strength can be their biggest weakness

Irish Examiner

a day ago

THERE'S been some amount written and spoken about the All-Ireland football final - and we haven't reached Sunday yet!
A common thread running through many discussions, sometimes from people who have never played or managed in one much less won it, that All-Ireland final day is different. It absolutely is, but many of the principles that apply to winning any match also apply on the biggest day.
The team that works hardest, makes the best decisions in possession and has the greatest number of players playing to their potential will generally win. That final one can be the hardest one to achieve, because of the enormity of the occasion. It is every player's dream to play in an All-Ireland final and sometimes that can result in them freezing. Victims of this paralysis often speak afterwards of how the game simply passed them by. Having the experience of having played in them previously counts. Ultimately it is a game of football to be won, by constantly doing the simple things well. Kerry have an advantage here.
Emphasising this very point, Jack O'Connor spoke this week about the importance of being able to think on their feet, for both players and management during an All-Ireland final. So much thought, visualisation and preparation goes into this game that it can be taken for granted that every angle is covered. It rarely is.
There is always some curveball to think through. Some are controllable, more aren't. Think back to last Sunday's All-Ireland hurling final. Uniquely, the pre-game formalities went on for longer than scheduled. At one stage Pat Ryan could be seen glancing anxiously at his watch wondering about this delay. An unnecessary annoyance. The parade, a significant part of the occasion, was considerably shortened as a result. All of this, while not ideal, was not a controllable. Management have to trust the players to navigate through those twists. Many of them probably didn't even notice.
What was a controllable was how the Cork management and players reacted to Liam Cahill's surprise move of playing with a sweeper. This is one of the many things they will wrestle with for the winter. Speaking of the parade, it will be interesting to see if Donegal break prematurely Sunday as they did in the semi-final. If they do will Kerry remain in place and go around in front of the Hill, often the most enjoyable and memorable part of the parade?
This final is a clash of styles. Whoever wins will provide a template for certain coaches up and down the country for the foreseeable. Donegal will look to limit David Clifford's influence while not obsessing over him. As Kevin Cassidy mentioned on the RTÉ podcast this week, Jim McGuinness may accept that David will score a certain amount and they may well to try to negate the rest of the Kerry attack using their zonal system. They will plan that he can't win the game on his own and will try to make sure that the rest don't do enough to make up the difference.
From a Kerry perspective they will have to get a lot right, the norm to win a final. Everyone will have to play well, they will need to tie down the Michaels (Murphy and Langan) and the O'Donnells (Shane and Conor) and they will need to get an impact from the bench, including springing a marker for Patrick McBrearty when he is introduced. To win, the Munster champions will also have to excel in attacking against Donegal's zone, defending their runners and breaking even on Shaun Patton's kickouts.
Donegal's greatest strength so far can be their biggest weakness - in my opinion. Their zonal defensive setup has worked so far, getting them to an All-Ireland final and winning Ulster. I have long felt it won't win Sam, and I am about to get my answer, one way or the other.
They have conceded an average of 19 points per game in the championship (2.5 less than Kerry). They sit deep, marking normally one, and sometimes a second danger man while everyone swaps between opponents on or close to the ball. Ryan McHugh and Eoghan Bán Gallagher sit in and mind the 'D'. Caolan McConagle prior to his injury can also fulfill this role, which he may do again to free up McHugh to possibly track Paudie Clifford in a similar job to the one he did on Rory Grugan in the Ulster final.
Joe O'Connor is one of the Kerry players who can punch holes in an opposition defence. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
These twin sweepers are the players that will sprint to the danger and double up to force turnovers. As a team they thrive on these. It energises their supporters as they hare up the field in search of scores. They are mesmerising to watch in full flow. They have got goals from these situations where they are going from turnover to score in between 15 and 20 seconds. Finnbarr Roarty's goal against Cavan and Ciarán Moore's major against Meath are great examples. For Kerry to win they will have to avoid these turnovers, but do it without blunting their attacking edge. They need to avoid being conservative and pedestrian and attack with pace, while being patient. Patience at pace.
For Kerry to pull that zone apart, there are a number of considerations. Chief among them will be decision-making in possession. Where that zone thrives is when players take the ball into contact or when a player receives a sloppy pass. The Donegal boys are expertly drilled on this and pounce on their quarry to force those precious turnovers at the most opportune time - when their opponent is in a vulnerable position.
Generally this season, when faced with a deep sitting team, Kerry have favoured setting the spare bodies up outside the defensive shield and punching holes when they can. Gavin White, Brian Ó Beaglaoich and Joe O'Connor are especially effective at this. Use this again but don't rely solely on it. Flood the full forward line and create space for those runners to break into and shoot.
Alternatively, to mix it up they can push those outside bodies further up the pitch, inside the two point arc to engage the Donegal backs and the create more one-on-ones. Occupy and rob them of their sweepers. Force Donegal's host of converted half forwards to defend. Play through the zone with accuracy and in the direction they are facing. Set up a two-point shooter outside and when the Donegal defence collapses in to deal with a threat feed it back out to that shooter. Monaghan did exactly this to good effect in the first half of their quarter final encounter.
Furthermore, Kerry can set up two-point shooters outside the arc and entice the Donegal defence towards them. If they are given space as against Armagh, shoot. If they push too aggressively is there a pop pass inside to set up a possible goal chance, which will be required to win? Use David Clifford when possible but don't force it his way when it's not on. In short, be ruthlessly efficient through a variety of methods. Be a nightmare to defend against. Kerry have the quality but can they execute accurately under pressure?
An extension of that area is Donegal's awesome counter-attacking running game. The simple thing for Kerry to do is to rob them of turnovers and the momentum that generates by killing the ball. Armagh limited them to four points from turnovers in the Ulster final because of their efficiency, getting off 42 shots from 47 attacks. Against Meath, Donegal scored 1-5 from turnovers, with the Royals getting 31 shots from 43 attacks. Three of those shots dropped short, a cardinal sin against the Ulster champions. Their huge spread of scorers (generally ten plus players score for them) in part comes from those counter attacks. Reduce those and you reduce that challenging scoring spread.
Tyrone were quite effective at exactly this, limiting Donegal to nine scorers, in the one game they have lost in championship this year. The second part of that turnover scenario is that when they do occur Kerry have to react instantly. It is a code red situation, with all hands to the pump. Track runners and get back in shape. Delay their attack and slow them down. If necessary give away a point but never a goal.
Speaking of slowing Donegal down, when they do enter established 11 v 11 attacks they are excellent at opening up the right opportunity. They constantly run angles and wrap around each other to make sure they are probing while not over-committing. They wait for the opposition to switch off and pounce. The simple answer - harder at a human level - for the Kerry defence is never switch off, especially against this quality of opposition on the biggest day.
Finally we come to Shaun Patton's kickout which will, as always, be a concern for Kerry. As well as his accuracy and distance, his unique trajectory off a couple of steps is a formidable weapon. This is his first All-Ireland though, and he has come under pressure in big games in the past. Kerry will need to press it when they can, after frees and established attacks, as giving kickouts up to Donegal is akin to giving a shot away, most of the time. When pressing they will be hyper-aware of the long one over the top and flick ons. They were extremely alert on this against Niall Morgan in the semi-final.
Mark O'Shea competed manfully in the air and as soon as the ball was kicked, Joe O'Connor, Gavin White and others sprinted from their zones and anticipated the destination of the flick on. The Kingdom defenders will have to be ready for Michael Murphy's late move from the top of the traditional 'D' for this kickout and be ready to disrupt him on the ground and in the air. Up to this point they haven't used it as often as one would expect, but they may on Sunday. Similarly, the number of balls kicked into Murphy in the full forward line could be counted on one hand so far in championship but we may see an attempted 2012 reprise early in the match.
All of this is only scratching the surface of what the teams have prepared for and what they are planning for. My wish for both sets of players is that they play to their potential and perform on one of the most special days of their sporting lives. Two great groups of players going at it will make for a fascinating contest, and a potentially cracking final, particularly the second half.
We may need a second day to separate them, but Kerry to prevail.
Eventually.