Mayo GAA Discussion

Armagh and Derry/Clare stand in front of them and An Ireland Final... and they're still crying over the "horrible draw".

Its not just Ruane, DOC, COC needs to come good as well but Horan needs to make the changes that every dog in the street sees. AOS and Coen need to hit the bench. I could never understand Coen captaincy anyway...

While the Kildare game was brutal for 3/4, I was more pessimistic after the Monaghan game. The Kildare game has been the perfect game to start them back on the tract if there is anything in them. Time will tell but with the changes Horan needs to make and maybe ROD back, who knows and of course the league final was never going to be even!!!

What are peoples thoughts on getting Keegan and Mullins out of the full back line? I think Saturday showed again what they offer going forward, having them in the full back line really holds them back!

I don't think he has been very good. He has in a few games but not consistently good. We are talking about Senior county football now not minor and u21/sigerson. Granted he has done this at these levels and all this is very promising but there is a clear distinction between the two levels. We are seeing this with young players taking 2/3 years to get up to the required level at IC and some just cannot make the leap. I also think Coen lacks pace and also does not offer enough going forward/attacking. He has not got the pace or power to take lads on like Mullen, EOL, PD.

Ya. Definitely. Really suited Oisin Mullin that Daniel Flynn spent most of his time out the pitch. Kildare would have known that it would be either Mullin or Keegan that would take up Flynn. Don't know why they didn't strategise telling him to keep close to the Mayo goal and preserve his energy for the danger areas. I was delighted to see him operate out around midfield and their own '45.

Issue in 2 weeks time will be who picks up Clifford. If O'Hora plays, I don't think it should be him. Too much pressure stemming from the previous Kerry game. I think it could be left to Keegan to muster up some of the "dark arts" that kept Diarmuid Connolly and Ciaran Kilkenny quiet. But then again, that was a good few years ago. I don't think he'd have the legs for following Clifford around.

Horan will need to have a trick or two up his sleeve for this Kerry match, otherwise that league final thumping will be earmarked as the turning point in Mayo's season.

Confidence levels are still low and dragging on after that game , having done all the hard work eradicating the Tyrone loss with a solid NFL campaign, only to go and throw it all away with an insipid display in the final, to the horror of a large Mayo fan-base that turned up that day.

I don't know about Mullin on Clifford for height difference alone.

We saw it in the final last year and in one of two instances against Kildare that Oisin struggles on a bigger man when a 50/50 high ball comes in.

Everyone struggles on a 50 50 high ball against a bigger man!

Mullin is far better in the air than Keegan, O'Hora, Hession etc. Stephen Coen might be slightly better under a high ball but doesn't have the pace.

Confirmed for Sunday at 16.00 in Croke Park!

https://www.gaa.ie/news/times-dates-and-venues-for-inter-county-football-championship-fixtures-confirmed/

Past successes in younger grades are irrelevant as he is in the big time now. It is a different time and a long time ago. You are correct thou... he is not new.... he is decent/good but that is not good enough. All defenders are outshining him as a player and he needs to be more than just decent. He needs to defend and attack. He needs to lead as a captain. I don't know what he has scored as an IC player but I would love to see the stats on his scoring in comparison to our other half backs. He is decent at man marking, not at the same level as Keegan but he is decent at it. He reminds me of Silke for Galway the luckiest man to ever win an All Ireland when he was center half back!!

Look it could also be Horan and he wants him to sit and hold the center back position but I doubt it.

I would agree with you.. Mullen to CB, Ohara on Clifford. I think pressure out the field and trying to cut supply is the most important.. The main part is to keep it tight for the first half and not give away handy goals. Expect high balls as JOC is all about this. It might mean some forward player playing a sweeper role to break tackles and win ball. We have guys in the half back line who will hurt them with our pace if we can do this.

I really hope ROD is back

Horan mentioned the two subs missing, one from injury on Thursday evening and another through illness on Saturday morning. We know Walsh was one, do we know the second yet?

I don't remember seeing McLoughlin or Brickenden warming up but it's very possible I just missed either or both of them on the day. Wasn't specifically looking for anyone missing and just glancing around.

O'Hora on Clifford for sure for me. I think Padraic will be rightly fired up for it. Would be tempted to put a fiver on him for MotM just in case we pull it off.

Mullin on Seanie at 6 sounds good. Tough battle. Could be a cracker.

(Not sure Kevin would manage to stick with Gavin. In full flight I'm not sure many in the country can. If we do decide to go man to man, rather than dropping off completely blocking the channels, we'd probably need to be looking at a Hession or Durcan? Both offer enough going forward to not be a complete sacrifice and would get close to tracking White. The way Kerry play their wing forwards there will be little difference in role for our or their wings backs and wing forwards in this one.)

• Just realised you meant Eoghan. D'Oh. Yeah, that'd work too. Head still fuzzy from the game ;)

I fear we'll see Diarmuid given the job but can't imagine it'll end well. Gavin White has so much pace it's all but sacrificing Diarmuid tracking shadows. If we can get that match up right, or the tactic right to make the match up irrelevant, it'll give us a good platform to work from.