Five-time All-Ireland winner Tomás Ó Sé feels Kerry need to be “a lot sharper” if they are to retain the Sam Maguire Cup this weekend.

Jack O’Connor’s men face a Mayo side looking to end their county’s 75-year wait for the All-Ireland SFC title and former Kingdom defender Ó Sé reckons that the holders have room for improvement after their displays thus far this summer.

Speaking on the RTE GAA podcast this week, the An Ghaeltacht clubman says he would like to see the Munster champions going more direct against their Connacht counterparts at headquarters.

"Kerry have to be a lot sharper. I think there's been a lot of handing over, moreso in the Kerry defence this year. I never liked it as a defender," he said.

"Last year Kerry had a scenario where every man stuck to their man, they followed him, they didn't hand men over as much as they're doing this year, and I think that is one of the reasons why certain lads are getting extra space.

"But I'll throw another one at you. I genuinely don't think that Kerry - you can't argue against a team that are continuously winning, it's very, very difficult to do that - but watching the matches the last couple of days, they're winning long kick-outs and the ball isn't going direct in and you're saying 'wow'.

"It's like they're waiting for the real percentage chance, they're not going to give that ball away and they're not going to take the risk on it. Therefore, they're quite comfortable and quite effective at going at the slow attack more often than a fast attack.

"Whereas, Mayo have changed that and they're adding a lot more pace. I think Kerry last year even in the All-Ireland final, they didn't kick the ball an awful lot.

"But they moved it at a lot more pace than they are now and I just feel there's a room for improvement there where if they are a lot more direct, a lot more quick, a lot more movement, a lot more support, they will cause Mayo trouble."

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