Well sure we'll stick in a 40 year old at full back this year and give Neil a rest then so.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9154 - 04/02/2015 13:46:44    1689992

Barry O Shea's words on "off the ball" not mine lockjaw but I did find it funny.

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 04/02/2015 14:04:06    1690000

What Barry O Shea said was funny Clondalkin but it was also wrong . Donegal have been and continue to be very good for football .

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6031 - 04/02/2015 14:14:51    1690008

This forum seems to have gotten sidetracked into a debate on the Dublin-Donegal semi-final. Getting back to the original topic, I'm surprised nobody has brought up Pat Spillane. He has spent over 10 years lambasting Ulster teams for playing "puke football" (he even invented the term), but when his own county brought that style to a new low (or high, depending on your point of view), in the all-Ireland final, he did not even acknowledge it and instead just shamelessly heaped mountains of praise on the Kerry team and management for their all-round magnificence. He is one "expert" who has lost every last ounce of credibility and I have zero interest in listening to any future pronouncements from him on how the game should be played, or on anything else for that matter.

Gaillimh_Abu (Galway) - Posts: 996 - 04/02/2015 14:37:04    1690017

clondalkin

What's so great about the way Dublin play?

Granted it looks great against poor opposition but the total lack of defensive ability destroys any argument about them being great. Having all your eggs in one basket is not a sustainable way of playing the game & if Donegal hadn't beaten them last year then Kerry, with the shrewdest manager in the game, would have.

Mayo were probably the most balanced team in 2014 but as a spectacle both semi finals were great games to watch for the neutral. Shane Lowry sent in a tweet that evening which said that the Dublin/Donegal game was the best game he had ever seen & the whole panel on the live programme were equally enthusiastic.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 04/02/2015 14:45:13    1690025

If you don't like watching a game, No-one is forcing you to watch it....
Sound advise

arock (Dublin) - Posts: 4897 - 04/02/2015 14:50:26    1690029

I much prefer the attacking brand of football as for me , that's what the sport is all about. But sometimes cutting your cloth to suit your resources means negative defensive football is adapted. As a Dub, I couldn't careless what system we use to win an all Ireland final, if it means reverting to negative and cynical football to beat a negative, cynical team at their own game, then so be it.

dubupnorth (Dublin) - Posts: 1897 - 04/02/2015 14:53:57    1690031

its all opinions at the end of the day
my opinion is i would rather play the way dublin did all last year and put in the performances they did
by going out to try outscore the oppoition and play attacking football
one defeat shouldnt change that way of playing as we still created 30 scoring chances in that one defeat.
I wouldnt like to see us adopt the tactics kerry did against donegal in the final just to get the job done.

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 04/02/2015 15:05:50    1690042

The fact that this 'win at all costs' attitude managers have taken at intercounty level has unfortunately filtered down into club level, where a high percentage of teams are playing blanket counter attacking football with 1 and sometimes 2 sweepers.
If this keeps up, it will get down to level of soccer, and teams will content on winning 0-01 to 0-00, which both Kerry and Donegal looked like they were set up for.
For what it's worth, I will never pay to watch a foothandball match again.
If I want to watch trench warfare and wars of attrition, I'll watch England play S Africa in rugby union

beansycpn (Down) - Posts: 128 - 04/02/2015 15:10:29    1690045

Not a bad OP at all.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the style of play that we saw between Donegal and Dublin in 2011, and between Donegal and Kerry in 2014. However, I'm by no means a fan of all-out attack either, it annoys me when teams have no defensive set-up of note. I'll watch both all the same.

I enjoy the tactical element, even of thos games I mentioned above. My own personal favourite style of play is one that combines miserly defence with effective counter-attack. That said, I would not try to claim this is the definitive way to play football. It's just the way I enjoy most.

Treaty_Exile (Limerick) - Posts: 386 - 04/02/2015 15:17:08    1690050

Pundits...a bunch of lads who get paid a salary and free admission to turn up at matches to complain about slipping standards and rant about the 'good oul days', tough life isnt it!

SaffronDon (Antrim) - Posts: 2386 - 04/02/2015 15:31:45    1690059

Spillane going on about "how the cream rose to the top" (apparently he said that on the Sunday Game, although I haven't seen it) just illustrates how blinkered he is. As someone mentioned earlier he has spent over a decade chastising Ulster teams for their approach but when his own Kerry side adopt the same tactics all of a sudden he can't see the forest for the trees. Laughable really.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9154 - 04/02/2015 16:03:38    1690086

Spillane going on about "how the cream rose to the top" (apparently he said that on the Sunday Game, although I haven't seen it) just illustrates how blinkered he is. As someone mentioned earlier he has spent over a decade chastising Ulster teams for their approach but when his own Kerry side adopt the same tactics all of a sudden he can't see the forest for the trees. Laughable really.

____________________

He is biased. He wouldnt be the only one to be fair. Just have to look at some of the bias from posters towards their counties on this page to see that!

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13650 - 04/02/2015 16:26:34    1690102

He talked about a victory for skilled footballers Ver a system and how skilled footballers will always beat a system. It was entirely dishonest punditry. Hill an awful lot of those "30 chances" you talk about in last years semi final were pot shots under pressure from distance.

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6031 - 04/02/2015 17:24:27    1690123

Typo. I meant to say he talked about a victory for skilled footballers over a system.

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6031 - 04/02/2015 17:49:50    1690136

People expressing their views on 'how football should be played' are stating their opinion and have every right to do so. So no problems with that whatsoever. The way I would like to see football being played is fast, open, man to man stuff with a lot of foot passing. I think as a spectacle that is when the game is at it's best, quick. Quick is good. If it wasn't then rules like being able to take frees from the hand, for example, would not have been introduced. Hand passing laterally, foot passing backwards and repetitively etc does not make for a good spectacle in my opinion. I didn't see the Derry v Donegal game at the weekend but heard some negative analysis of it on Sunday. If the game continues to go down this road and all teams subscribe to the tactics of blanket defences, lateral hand passing, limited foot passing - slow tempo ball release, then IN MY OPINION the game will be gone as a spectacle. Let those who find this stuff 'fascinating' and 'intriguing' at it as far as I am concerned. IN MY OPIONION this is not the 'way the game should be played'. But it is just my opinion and it doesn't float my boat. Others might get entertainment out of it but it's not for me.

Joxer (Dublin) - Posts: 4700 - 04/02/2015 19:25:15    1690182

While I agree that everyone is entitled to their opinion as to how the game should be played, it must also be conceded by everyone that there will be differing ideas as to what the right way is.

clondalkin & most Dublin posters favour a fast open style where teams will back themselves to go mano a mano & come out on top. That Dublin play like this is hardly surprising since this is the style most Dublin clubs employ & the Croke Park surface which is hard & fast favours a fast style.

In Donegal with variable surfaces & a gale force win usually blowing possession football has over the years become the standard. Donegal could never play Dublin's style as it isn't in their nature & therefore it isn't the way they "should" play.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 04/02/2015 20:04:49    1690197

Hmmm, not so sure that I buy into the idea that bumpy pitches and wind are the reasons for adopting this particular type of footballing philosophy. I have seen Donegal posters on here before putting it down to lack of natural talent. I don't buy that either, Donegal have some of the finest footballers in the country. Incidentally the pitches in Dublin are not like Croke Park, wide open and billiard table level. The sod is just as bumpy down here and it's just as windy. The blanket approach is a deliberate tactical ploy to stop the opposition playing and to retain the ball. The theory is that if your team keeps the ball, low risk turnover with endless hand passing, then the opposition will score less. It proved effective with Armagh and Tyrone, was refined under McGuinness for Donegal and has been adopted by other counties since, Dublin and Kerry included, to various degrees. I don't think any county puts this down to bumpy pitches or wind, it's a tactic and philosophy - very deliberate and calculated. Also just to add that sadly some Dublin clubs are teaching this tactic at underage level. I know of two from friends who are coaching kids in D15 area.

Joxer (Dublin) - Posts: 4700 - 04/02/2015 21:15:00    1690227

Dublin just as windy as Donegal? Aye good man joxer.

Legend92 (Donegal) - Posts: 752 - 04/02/2015 21:26:08    1690230

Its a view Muck but I am not sure if it stands up to scrutiny - Galway would have very similar conditions and they are renowned for playing good, attractive, entertaining football. Fair enough they haven't been successful at senior level recently but their clubs and underage sides are doing ok and the senior side appears to be coming again. This was the first year in many that I didn't bother watching a repeat of the All-Ireland final at Christmas, just because it was so dreadful to watch the first time I couldn't face it again - I would say this was typical of your average football fan.

Soma (UK) - Posts: 2630 - 04/02/2015 21:26:50    1690231