JIM MCGUINNESS WAS the man who put the brakes on the ‘unstoppable juggernaut’ two years ago in the All-Ireland semi-final.
McGuinness’s Donegal shocked the football world to overcome Dublin 3-14 to 0-17 and on Saturday, in this year’s All-Ireland quarter-final Donegal are considered huge outsiders again.
Three years beforehand, Dublin had overcome Donegal 0-8 to 0-6 in a sterile All-Ireland semi-final.
“Naturally, Dublin will see this as an opportunity to sort out the demons from 2014,” McGuinness wrote on his column in The Irish Times today.
“I do feel Dublin have progressed tactically since then. Primarily, they don’t allow themselves to be manipulated through the man-marking system they favoured that season. As we know, they like to push up on kickouts and choke the opposition for space and force them to kick the ball long.
“For instance, against Laois, they did that zonally, with James McCarthy pushing into the middle of the park and then the two midfielders moving to the centre and left-hand side of midfield. So you had a situation where they had two fullbacks, three halfbacks, three midfielders, three half-forwards and three full-forwards facing the Laois kickout.
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“The other big innovation has been Cian O’Sullivan preventing teams from rampaging down the middle.”
Donegal defeated Cork 0-21 to 1-15 on Saturday at Croke Park to get back on the road following the disappointment of losing 0-13 to 0-11 against Tyrone in the Ulster final.
” I was hugely impressed with how Donegal responded to that defeat in their win over Cork because losing an Ulster final can be absolutely soul-destroying,” McGuinness added.
“And Rory Gallagher had the task of putting them in the right frame of mind for that game. For all the talk of Donegal ageing, the team continues to get younger, which is interesting in itself. Since he has become manager, Gallagher has introduced new players who have subtly but significantly altered the profile of the team.
“Eoin McHugh and Marty O’Reilly can inject serious pace while Odhrán MacNiallais and Ryan McHugh have become very important players. The win over Cork may have marked Paddy McBrearty’s true coming of age.
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“My feeling is that if Donegal go defensive, they could struggle on the scoreboard. Dublin, by their nature, give players a chance to run the ball and kick it and this will specifically suit players like the McHughs and Marty Reilly and Frank McGlynn and Odhrán.
“I think that Donegal still depend on senior players like Rory Kavanagh and Christy Toye and the McGees to exert huge influence at critical times in big games. Obviously, Michael Murphy remains the driving force behind the team. But I feel that the energy can be dictated by the newer players.
“I feel that in order for Donegal to win the game, they simply must take Dublin on. Currently, the Dubs average 24.3 points per game in the championship. Donegal must strike the balance between very solid defence and a bold attacking approach.
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“I don’t mean an out-an-out shootout but leaving two to three players up the park so that we can bridge the gap between defence and attack.
“I believe Donegal can win but they are facing an immense challenge and, in order to win, they will have to get a lot of things right.”
Please click here to read Jim McGuinness’s column in full
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