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The The brilliant Super 8 's is a little out of breath in the twilight and rain of Croke Park last Sunday and if Kerry and Kildare do not win today, there will be little excitement for their encounter in rubber in Killarney in a fortnight. Whatever it is, a defeat should mean the end of the season and if you beat Kerry once at Croke Park, you should not have to beat them to win All-Ireland. .
In fact, the absurdity of this new system translates into another possibility: that one team of the group can win all its matches and that the rest wins one each; then, the second county of the group could reach the semi-final All-Ireland on the points difference. If this team had crossed the back door, then it is possible to have a county in an All-Ireland semifinal that has lost three league games. And they could continue to win All-Ireland.
In previous years, the quarter-finals of All-Ireland at the August Bank Holiday weekend worked very well. He really signaled the arrival of the end of the championship business. There was no second or third chance, it was death or glory. As Eric Cantona said, the losers go home. Good order too.
Today, it will be hot at Clones. Not just the temperature, but young Kerry players will discover what's the real world of championship football without compromise. It was not designed to be like that.
Last Sunday, Kerry was supposed to go to town and play silky football at Croke Park. They had read too many papers.
If they had watched the Cork-Tyrone match, the alarm bells would have rung. It was only then that Cork's poverty was totally unveiled, but the positive spin of the Munster finale was infiltrated into the consciousness of too many of Kerry's heads. When that happens, there is no return. Not during a match anyway.
Now, with a very cold wind blowing on their necks, Kerry players have a chance to save their year and reputation. And a reputation for good or bad is hard to shake in the Kingdom, where players are judged by different criteria to most ordinary counties who win the odd All-Ireland.
Then Kerry went from challenger to anemic performance. Eamonn Fitzmaurice is also on the shooting line. After all the compliments of having thrown so many young stars into the Munster final and being rewarded with the performances of a lifetime, the harsh realities of Croke Park began a week ago. Some teams mark their men, unlike Cork, and the appropriate teams have a collective will and a work rate to cover the weaknesses.
The only Kerry player who seemed to have considered all of this was the youngest, David Clifford. The 19-year-old could have been caught in the bullshit of an impending coronation, Prince Harry of Kerry's football. Yet he was the one who dug, worked hard and did the right things when all around were collapsing. He pbaded his first big test with distinction. The bad news for him is that another test is waiting every Sunday, and the hardest will probably be at the club level, where there will be even less respect.
Be that as it may, the brutal nature of championship football unveiled Kerry players who dominated the minor ranks. Games at this level involve a lot of things: maturity, confidence, intelligence, work pace and mental determination. On each of these Monaghan check the boxes. Maybe the secret service may be pushing a little stupid things that some Monaghan players continue to do in almost every game, but I will not name them, or their school, to protect their reputation.
They are not blessed with the same individual talent as Kerry but the sum of Monaghan's talent is certainly greater than the individual parts. This is the essence of the team. It is unlikely that they will get a huge total and they will rely on some degree of stubbornness, or thickness as we called it, to maintain the 15 – to – 15 opposition. 18 points. It's manageable even though the fast conditions should lead to better scoring. A bit of rain would make a bit of Monaghan – and potatoes – but this is not the case today.
When I saw Monaghan beat Laois at Navan, I was very impressed with his first-half performance. In the second half, they seemed to rest on their oars with a big test on hold and it turned out to be. They have some top players: Wylies, Niall Kearns, Ryan McAnespie, Vinny Corey and Fintan Kelly. Conor McManus was a little calm but a big game at Clones should give him a big performance, while Rory Beggan's long kick-outs and frees make him equal or better than Stephen Cluxton. You must bless yourself by saying that. Karl O. Connell continues to try these kicks with the outside of the foot to the point where I am inclined to shout, "Do not do it". . .
To win this afternoon, Kerry must sort out her punt. It was a raffle last week at Croke Park when Shane Murphy launched them. (All is blamed on the goalkeepers these days.) Why not just kick him out if in doubt and let the midfielders fight for it? Too many players are shooting now when they should simply continue and win their own ball. Paul Murphy, Sean O 'Shea, David Moran, Paul Geaney and James O' Donoghue could they be so bad? Yes, they could and there must be a major shift in attitude and staff. It may not be enough to stop Monaghan feeling the blood now.
In Newbridge-or nowhere, a similar conspiracy is taking place.
The Kildare are fighting for their lives, which they have been used to since Carlow's defeat. A savvy psychologist will propose a theory on whether a team that was used to knockout football changed their mindset when it came back to a league format that is essentially what the Super 8 is. You do not need to have a degree to have a theory.
Kildare encountered many roadblocks last week and was very easily bottled by Monaghan. Often, they carried the ball into trouble and were easily dispossessed or had to stop and replay it to a teammate who was standing around the 45-meter line. Everything was very static and no hard runner came out of the shoulder, which is very easy to defend. Director Cian O'Neill (pictured) needs to make sure that there is a change of approach nowadays. Kildare can expect Daniel Flynn to get the ball, beat three or four defensemen and score, but it will not work against a defense that Galway can defend individually and, more importantly, collectively.
Kildare needs a lot more Kevin Feely and Tommy Moolick and two Cribbins, not to mention Paddy Brophy, who needs to show a lot more drive. They are talented players, but there are many more things in the package.
Galway is the best in the world and probably has the impression of having a foot in the semifinals, so that's not really the case. It will be very interesting if they are able to bring the same relentless approach today as last week when they really strangled Kerry from beginning to end. This should lead to even greater performance with the confidence it brings. Yet there is also the danger of slipping mentally into a not so sharp mode.
Even though they beat Kerry, I still was not very impressed by Galway. They are certainly a team, but there was very little outstanding individual performance, with the exception of Ian Burke, Shane Walsh and Sean Andy Ó Ceallaigh. Damien Comer is too one-dimensional, he needs to get others into the game rather than always taking on his man – some quick releases could set goals for his friends up front. One thing that Galway has is a bench that makes the difference and they should finish with all their redheads on the ground. It seems to work. All they need with them are some farmers.
Galway has been wary in his games until now and that will not change today. The clamor of strangers, and even of their own supporters, is to drop the handbrake and accumulate big points. Yet why would they change now? Their approach works very well and they seem to improve all the time.
However, they are in an unusual position today. They do not have to win. The pitch is tight and home support will be similar to the Mayo match. If Kildare are men, this will lead them to another emotional level. Maybe even enough to win and keep their season alive.
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