Galway GAA Discussion Thread #2

A lot of positives from the footballers yesterday. Defence very solid when we had equal numbers. John Maher is some man, must be built from concrete.

Gleeson actually pinged a few lovely kickouts. I don't really understand what our bunch and break tactic on kickouts is, the players break but Glesson never looks like he intends to kick to any of them. Seems like it's designed to attract a lot of players towards the keeper so he can kick over the top of them to the space that should be created further out. Whatever it is I don't think it works all that well for us.

The few mistakes obviously cost us dearly. Felt like we were beginning to dominate before the penalty.

One thing that annoyed me was how we completely dropped off the last Derry kickout in first half injury time. We were on top at the time and it was the perfect time to push up aggressively and try and go in level at halftime, instead it looked like a preplanned move to drop back and defend and run the clock down to halftime. Resulted in a very handy point for Derry.

Still good to see so many lads putting their hand up for Selection in Championship.

Big and bulky! Keep Cunningham close to goal he'll cause them big issues.

Better performance so far today. Far more direct and with more pace and its paying dividends. Its not rocket science.

Hoped we win by more. Scoring difference is still an issue if Roscommon managed to pick up a win somewhere.

Stupid turnovers would drive one demented. So careless on the ball at times.

Cunningham took his chance. 1-3 from play. Goal showed what he's all about. Give him a sniff and he'll pull the trigger.

Why didn't Mikey Harte rest Conor Glass last week :-(

Looks highly likely that will be the case. Fitzgerald has been very steady but I think it's the evolution of Johnny McGrath that's must be giving management the most hope in being able to play Kelly further out the field. Tasked with the opposition main forward so far:

Mayo - Ryan O Donoghue - no score from play

Roscommon - Ben O Carrol - one point form play

Tyrone - Canavan x 2 - two point from play

Derry - McGuigan- no score from play

Monaghan - Jack McCarron - one point from play

When McManus arrived it was Glynn that picked him up so it's likely if those two do start together the "full back position" will be very fluid and more around fitting into a system than an out and out man marking role with then a freedom to go forward. Fitzgerald, Mulkerrin and Silke would be very suited to that role.

Acid test is the next two games with McGrath likely marking O Callaghan and Clifford. Holds his own more confidence to let Kelly off. Big struggles Kelly may have to revert back to a more defensive position.

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O'Curraoin definitely should be on the team and on the right footed frees but I doubt that'll happen. Walsh is a bit unreliable with frees but they never take them off him. God knows we need a left footed free taker. Walsh and Tierney miss their fair share.

Yeah I don't know how they didn't give motm to Cunningham. A debutant in the league, 1-3 from play, 1-2 of that were eye catching scores. He deserved it.

Good question. I think there's a combination of decent speed to drive past his man, very good ball control in close quarters and incredible stamina to keep going. He nearly always creates a situation with an extra man, so scores come off the back of it.

First and foremost his awkward running style fools people. I remember Colm Parkinson calling him a limited player multiple times basically solely down to his running style, and has admitted since it was a bad assumption. It also masks how fast he's moving. While he doesn't throw solo dummies in the mold of a silky forward, he's constantly throwing handpass dummies or feinting one way while he runs which makes him by far and away Galway's most effective runner

All of that stems from the basketball background. All 3 Kelly brothers were very high level underage basketball players (Eoghan was on scholarship at a US college and Paul was Ireland U-19), and while none are particularly skillful players with the foot, it shows through in their lines of running, support play and ball handling. It's very rare to see one give a handpass away. I think Sean has a level of aggression and confidence to his game that's possibly holding the other pair back from being first teamers rather than squad players

I hear Glynn is back in with the senior hurlers?

Is 5 years too long out of the county game at this stage? Will take a good while to get back to that level

I’m not trying to be dismissive of the man’s ability but he won’t be there to hurl. He’ll be there to win ball, Make sure backs feel big hits, and give the ball to the hurlers around goal

May be one league game. Starting in earnest the following week.

If Glynn is back in the fold, all it means is that shefflin isn't willing to discard with the lumping ball forward he's tried since his appointment and is hoping glynn makes it work for him. Which he won't. Glynn can be fairly well thethered at average club level never mind top level IC.

There ll always be a place for the High ball. Ever see a fella called Aaron Gillane. He catches high balls. Id agree that Glynn has always threatened more than delivered. Mike Casey was comfortable on him in 2017..and it wasn't by fouling. I think Shefflin is abit desperate at going for a guy that hasn't played in donkeys years but Shefflin has it all to do as a manager. He's been average enough so far.