Yesterday’s match was probably one of the best in the modern era and in time it will be looked upon as one of the all-time greats. Think about the two counties involved, Dublin and Kerry, and the history of their brilliant rivalry in the 70s and 80s — what happened yesterday lived up to anything that preceded it.
I’m not surprised that both sides went at it and didn’t let up. When it comes down to it, both of these counties want to play football. Jim Gavin has made no secret of the way his team are going to go out and play. It’s going to be open, quick, aggressive football. In Kerry, you have the most natural footballers in the country. When two teams like that meet, invariably you get what we saw.
And at the end of it all, it’s Dublin who are back in the All-Ireland final. They have turned up for every game and met every challenge head on. You can’t argue that the two best teams in the country are the two left still standing now.
It wasn’t all perfect for Dublin yesterday though, particularly in defence. They let in three goals in 20 minutes which will be a serious concern but they have three weeks now to work on that and fix it before they come up against Mayo.
Look at the early changes Jim Gavin made. Ger Brennan got an absolute roasting but it’s not the first time that Colm Cooper has done that to a man. Is there any disgrace in it? Absolutely not.
Eoghan O’Gara celebrates (INPHO/Donall Farmer)
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As for Kevin O’Brien, he’s young, he’s only new and he’s very, very raw. He captained the U21s but it has been a seismic jump up for him.
The important thing is that Gavin did something about it. He made the changes and stemmed the bleeding; he didn’t wait in the hope that the problem was going to fix itself. That shows you the ruthlessness he has about him — he had to make those calls and he did. Now Dublin can move forward.
For the lads who didn’t start yesterday, they’ll be thinking that they’ve a chance to impress now and because of that, the training sessions in Dublin are going to be absolutely savage. You’re going to have players thundering into each other hand over fist. That’s the best preparation you can have going into an All-Ireland final and that’s exactly what Gavin will want, to have all these boys chomping at the bit.
The impressive thing about yesterday was how Dublin responded when they were four points down in that second half. To be in that position and then win by seven points, that’s an 11-point turnaround in 25 minutes. The pace they played at and the pace they move the ball at really impressed me. It’s frightening.
And then you look at lads like Bernard Brogan and Diarmuid Connolly. You’re talking about two guys who haven’t been at the height of their powers this summer. Brogan has struggled and then he comes in with 0-6, four from play. You can see a spark coming back into his game again. That’s a little thing but it could make a massive difference.
We knew before yesterday that Dublin have a very strong squad but the final quarter showed just how much of a trump card their bench can be. To unload those lads and get nine points, that’s absolutely phenomenal.
For some of these guys, it’s better to bring them on with 20 minutes to go when the game is slowing down and they can find a bit more space. Would you start Kevin McManamon in the next game? No you wouldn’t. You keep him in reserve until the last 15, 20 minutes and then you let him go.
Stephen Cluxton leads his troops into battle (INPHO/Ryan Byrne)
On all the evidence so far we’re in for a rip-roaring final, no doubt about that. It will take the Dublin boys a week to get over yesterday, there will be a few sore bodies for sure. But when I played, we had six weeks to prepare for a final. Six weeks! It was ridiculous.
Dublin have won an All-Ireland so they should be able to handle the expectation. Nobody wants to win an All-Ireland more than Mayo but there’s no such thing as deserving to win an All-Ireland. You have to go out and win it. If they do, there aren’t many people who would begrudge them it.
Their main concern will be that the full-forward line isn’t functioning as well as it was. Andy Moran isn’t playing as he was before he got injured, Freeman has stood up, but to lose O’Connor if he’s out is a big blow. If he plays with an injured shoulder, he could be gone within a minute.
Bernard and Bernard: Dunne congratulates Brogan at the final whistle (INPHO/James Crombie)
I’ve always fancied Dublin. I met Jim Gavin at the start of the year and he explained to me the way he wants this team to play. You could feel the enthusiasm and energy from him. The way they have gone about their business has been very impressive and now you’re starting to see their stars putting in a performance.
Are they perfect? No but it’s going to take a hell of a good team to beat them, and Mayo are a good team.
You’ve two teams with strengths and weaknesses, and they are well able to expose each other’s strengths and weaknesses. They are the best two teams in the country but there are a lot of questions over both of them. That’s that way we all want it.
Conor Deegan: 'The two best teams are left standing -- but there are big question marks over Dublin and Mayo'
AFTER A GAME like that, where do you start?
Yesterday’s match was probably one of the best in the modern era and in time it will be looked upon as one of the all-time greats. Think about the two counties involved, Dublin and Kerry, and the history of their brilliant rivalry in the 70s and 80s — what happened yesterday lived up to anything that preceded it.
I’m not surprised that both sides went at it and didn’t let up. When it comes down to it, both of these counties want to play football. Jim Gavin has made no secret of the way his team are going to go out and play. It’s going to be open, quick, aggressive football. In Kerry, you have the most natural footballers in the country. When two teams like that meet, invariably you get what we saw.
And at the end of it all, it’s Dublin who are back in the All-Ireland final. They have turned up for every game and met every challenge head on. You can’t argue that the two best teams in the country are the two left still standing now.
It wasn’t all perfect for Dublin yesterday though, particularly in defence. They let in three goals in 20 minutes which will be a serious concern but they have three weeks now to work on that and fix it before they come up against Mayo.
Look at the early changes Jim Gavin made. Ger Brennan got an absolute roasting but it’s not the first time that Colm Cooper has done that to a man. Is there any disgrace in it? Absolutely not.
Eoghan O’Gara celebrates (INPHO/Donall Farmer)
As for Kevin O’Brien, he’s young, he’s only new and he’s very, very raw. He captained the U21s but it has been a seismic jump up for him.
The important thing is that Gavin did something about it. He made the changes and stemmed the bleeding; he didn’t wait in the hope that the problem was going to fix itself. That shows you the ruthlessness he has about him — he had to make those calls and he did. Now Dublin can move forward.
For the lads who didn’t start yesterday, they’ll be thinking that they’ve a chance to impress now and because of that, the training sessions in Dublin are going to be absolutely savage. You’re going to have players thundering into each other hand over fist. That’s the best preparation you can have going into an All-Ireland final and that’s exactly what Gavin will want, to have all these boys chomping at the bit.
The impressive thing about yesterday was how Dublin responded when they were four points down in that second half. To be in that position and then win by seven points, that’s an 11-point turnaround in 25 minutes. The pace they played at and the pace they move the ball at really impressed me. It’s frightening.
And then you look at lads like Bernard Brogan and Diarmuid Connolly. You’re talking about two guys who haven’t been at the height of their powers this summer. Brogan has struggled and then he comes in with 0-6, four from play. You can see a spark coming back into his game again. That’s a little thing but it could make a massive difference.
We knew before yesterday that Dublin have a very strong squad but the final quarter showed just how much of a trump card their bench can be. To unload those lads and get nine points, that’s absolutely phenomenal.
For some of these guys, it’s better to bring them on with 20 minutes to go when the game is slowing down and they can find a bit more space. Would you start Kevin McManamon in the next game? No you wouldn’t. You keep him in reserve until the last 15, 20 minutes and then you let him go.
Stephen Cluxton leads his troops into battle (INPHO/Ryan Byrne)
On all the evidence so far we’re in for a rip-roaring final, no doubt about that. It will take the Dublin boys a week to get over yesterday, there will be a few sore bodies for sure. But when I played, we had six weeks to prepare for a final. Six weeks! It was ridiculous.
Dublin have won an All-Ireland so they should be able to handle the expectation. Nobody wants to win an All-Ireland more than Mayo but there’s no such thing as deserving to win an All-Ireland. You have to go out and win it. If they do, there aren’t many people who would begrudge them it.
Their main concern will be that the full-forward line isn’t functioning as well as it was. Andy Moran isn’t playing as he was before he got injured, Freeman has stood up, but to lose O’Connor if he’s out is a big blow. If he plays with an injured shoulder, he could be gone within a minute.
Bernard and Bernard: Dunne congratulates Brogan at the final whistle (INPHO/James Crombie)
I’ve always fancied Dublin. I met Jim Gavin at the start of the year and he explained to me the way he wants this team to play. You could feel the enthusiasm and energy from him. The way they have gone about their business has been very impressive and now you’re starting to see their stars putting in a performance.
Are they perfect? No but it’s going to take a hell of a good team to beat them, and Mayo are a good team.
You’ve two teams with strengths and weaknesses, and they are well able to expose each other’s strengths and weaknesses. They are the best two teams in the country but there are a lot of questions over both of them. That’s that way we all want it.
Murph’s Sideline Cut: That was the greatest game of football I’ve ever seen
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