Murphy: the dark arts have to come into it
August 26, 2015
Vinny Murphy of Dublin and Kerry's Tom O'Sullivan clash during the 2001 All Ireland quarter final
Former Hill 16 favourite Vinny Murphy says major question marks still hang over Dublin's defence.
The concession of two goals against Fermanagh in the quarter-final shone the spotlight on the metropolitans' back six and Mayo will punish any lapses of concentration this Sunday warns Murphy.
"Dublin don't seem to have a recognised defensive coach," he pointed out to The Examiner.
"Jayo (Sherlock) was brought in for the forwards. If Paul Curran was brought in for the defence I felt Dublin would walk away with the All-Ireland and Fermanagh wouldn't have got those two goals because he would have been on their backs' cases.
"It all depends on Dublin and if they're tighter. Everybody is saying they are but I'm not convinced. They're all footballers and to win things it's not always football you need.
"The dark arts have to come into it. The basics of 'defend first and attack second' against a team like Mayo need to be followed rather than 'attack, attack, attack'.
"With Aidan O'Shea at the edge of the square, they can fire long balls in. There are three or four defenders there who love attacking but if Dublin are turned over and they're up-field I think it could spell a lot of trouble for Dublin."
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