Trials: Offaly, Laois, Meath

Seamus OShea? He's hardly in the same category and neither is his brother yet they are the second best midfield pairing in the country. The Kerry Midfield were dominated by Dublin but they dont have anyone better than Buckley and Maher. Is there better than Daryl in the County at the moment I doubt it. Do we have anyone that is of the type of OSulllivan or McCauley.

Midfield is definitely a problem area for us. We haven't really had a settled partnership there since Dermot and Daryl before Dermot got injured.

I think we struggle at midfield when Daryl doesn't play there because he is great at competing for the ball from kick-outs and does a lot of the unselfish work there, allowing others to get forward. He has been injured a lot in the last couple of years and is only getting back to full fitness now. I wouldn't be worrying about him at all if he can stay fit, we need to get a partner for him in midfield.

We are desperately short of midfield options apart from Daryl. In the past we tried Foley, JD, Kelly and PON, none of whom are midfielders. The modern game is hugely reliant on mobile players in the middle of the pitch and Jason has to make that a priority if we are to compete next year. Did anyone spot anyone in the trials or the club championship who might step up?

Id say jd did work. He was nominated for an all star that year at midfield and was picked on the Sunday game team of the year at midfield.
But I agree we need to get a consistent pairing this year

jim wrote:

Id say jd did work.  He was nominated for an all star that year at midfield and was picked on the Sunday game team of the year at midfield.
But I agree we need to get a consistent pairing this year

Agree he did very well in midfield but then he is a superb player in any position. The big problem is that he was our best forward by some distance and we had to play him in midfield where he could score a lot less and also took a lot of heavy tackles in 2011. We solved one problem and created another in the process.

It will be a big boost if Chalky is back available next year. He has all the attributes to be a very effective midfielder.

TheManInTheStands wrote:

Jaysus thats a dodgy oul line up there from the nationlist, wouldnt agree with a lot of them now

Who would you omit ?.
IMO its not too bad, and probably a fair enough reflection on the Club scene..

I'd have chalky at 6 with Flynn & Paidi midfield. In my opinion Paidi O'Neill getting taken off against Tyrone cost us the game. A vital cog in the team

Hate to say it but Chalky is not a good enough man marker to play centre back, he is a midfielder, that is where Kildare will get the best out of him. If u want to play him as a defender it would only be as a sweeper where he can cover in front of the full back line and doesn't have to man mark anybody

Depends on if you're having a man-marking centre-back or play-making centre-back or free role centre-back. Not too many man-marking centre-backs in the game these days really.

Well topcat, I'd certainly pick Paidi midfield ahead of Chalky.

umpireonditch wrote:

I'd have chalky at 6 with Flynn & Paidi midfield. In my opinion Paidi O'Neill getting taken off against Tyrone cost us the game. A vital cog in the team

He was taken off because he was a walking red card in that game. In fact he should have got a second for a pulling down a Tyrone player as the broke up field in the second half but the ref let it go and only ticked him. It was not a tactical sub.

For the first time chalky started playing to the level everyone thought he could. It was no coincidence that our levels dropped when he went overseas. If he was back in the middle it would be a big boost.

The best centre backs, namely the ones that have won All-Stars in the position the last 3 years I believe it is have been man-markers in Lacey and O Sullivan, I know O Sullivan was accommodated there but he won it in the 35 minute man marking job he did on Gooch in the 2nd half of the All-Ireland semi final, Letting any centre forward worth his salt have the freedom of the park is a recipe for disaster in my humble opinion.

TopCat it wasn't for Laceys man marking abilities that he was player of the year or an allstar it was for his capabilities as a playmaker and ball carrier from deep on that Donegal team. He was essentially a quarter back on that team, everyone seeked him out, he was the link between defence and attack.

Ger Brennan played center back for Dublin for all bar 35 minutes this year and he was not a man marker either, hence why they put O'Sullivan on Gooch.

O'Sullivans selection at no 6 was a cop out by the selectors of the all stars as was Sean Cavanaghs selection at 12.

The main attribute a 6 needs in this day and age is tactical prowess. Hence why Morgan O'Flats despite not having the typical center back physique was deployed their for so long for us.

Whatever about the role of the centre-back, I think we have a lack of defenders able to do a man-marking job when required. Peter Kelly would be the one out-and-out defender we have, whereas most of our other defenders are probably happier going forward than defending. This was also a problem in the minor and Under-21 teams this year, when we had nobody to keep the oppositions danger men quiet in the Roscommon and Galway games.
Hopefully the trials might have thrown up a couple more options in this area.

JohnnyC wrote:

Whatever about the role of the centre-back, I think we have a lack of defenders able to do a man-marking job when required. Peter Kelly would be the one out-and-out defender we have, whereas most of our other defenders are probably happier going forward than defending. This was also a problem in the minor and Under-21 teams this year, when we had nobody to keep the oppositions danger men quiet in the Roscommon and Galway games.
Hopefully the trials might have thrown up a couple more options in this area.

Wouldnt agree with that statement at all. Hugh McGrillen is a top class defender, McGeeney always had Ollie Lyons on the opposition best attacker and rarely concedes scores or frees and David Hyland looked very impressive this year. All three are very good man markers.

The main problem is when the half back line attack they leave the full back line vulnerable and all it takes is one to go forward and the other two lads in the half back line are left to compensate and cover the additional space and what forward doesnt love space.

Yeah, the full back line got so little protection against Dublin this year it was outrageous. Generally speaking, Hyland OWNED Mannion - the half-back line goes AWOL for the first goal, allowing Connolly to walk through the defense (even pausing to wave to a neighbour in the Davin Stand at one point), then throwing it over to Mannion who has a tap-in. Wow, big deal, anyone would have scored that goal.

Our general tackling and intensity was abysmal against Dublin. I mean, even Meath - I swear to God, MEATH! - were better in the Leinster final.

The biggest question for me next year is the system of play we're going to use. I would actually like to see us playing an open, attacking game, but like Mayo, pressing high up the field and hounding the opposition relentlessly. I think our ambition should be to become the best team in the country at winning the ball back. If we improve in that department, and not allow the Dubs to settle into their usual attacking rhythms, we can really put it up to them. We have talented young players coming through, if we're prepared to put the work in we can go places, I have no doubt about that.

That first goal Dublin got came about by Connolly being lazy, Mick Foley who was marking him went to support the player in possession, Leper gave the ball away, 2 passes later and Connolly is charging at out goal!! I remember talking to Foley after that game and he said Connolly is the laziest player he has ever marked but he took advantage of mistakes we made!!

Problem against Dublin, as with anyone who plays them, is turnovers. You have to attack in numbers, but lose the ball and you are dead given their pace and finishing. And by God, some of our turnovers were spectacular.

Connolly is a forward who stays in the danger area and when he gets a chance he generally takes it, he doesn't get deployed else where, am not a big fan of the man as I think he's a rake but I'd have him in my team

+1

Agree completely Ballyboy - it's like Seán Cavanagh at midfield, it's taking a chance, or backing the other guys to win the ball. Cavanagh is always making the forward move, never jumping in the air at midfield. And when he gets it, his man is gone. Which is why Monaghan just man-marked him until Hughes got the wrong yellow card. So it is with Connolly. Doesn't do much going backwards but Kildare had as much ball as Dublin in that game but had 44 turnovers or something like that. It was basic errors that cost them that hiding and that score was just another example.

Re marking a play-making centre-forward topcat, you're spot on. It just isn't usually the guy with No 6 on his back that does it.

The names centre-back, centre-forward are pretty much obsolete now. Karl Lacey definitely won his All-Star for being a playmaker and getting forward at the end of moves to kick points. He was rarely breaking lads up with shoulders. When they hadn't the ball, he was one of the usual 10 or so players plugging the gaps.

Kildare have markers - the big issue for me has been having to make do at midfield for the past three or four years... and I don't think there's anything anyone could have done about that. There must be close to 10 players have been tried there... seven or eight in championship. The injuries to Dermot and Daryl were the costliest blows to Kildare in my opinion and prevented a longer stay at the higher end, and maybe winning that coveted Leinster. Very interested to see what they'll try this year...

I always had fierce sympathy for Paudie O'Neill. He'd be great at full-forward but has done the job asked of him over the years purely selflessly but to his own detriment on many occasions.

last time he played he played full forward I think for kildare was against derry up in derry in a qualifier and he scored 5 points from play for a team that was hammered. always wondered why he wasnt tried out more there.

Some of the turnovers against Dublin were very bad but you wouldn't expect so many of them to lead to goal chances. We needed a bit of extra cover at the back but hopefully we can learn from that.

I'd always find a place on the team for Padraig O'Neill. Some days he mightn't look to be playing great but he's really missed when he's taken off (Louth 2010, Tyrone 2013)

ballyboy wrote:

Connolly is a forward who stays in the danger area and when he gets a chance he generally takes it, he doesn't get deployed else where, am not a big fan of the man as I think he's a rake but I'd have him in my team  

Your right there, and should have being a certain AllStar IMO, ahead of Cavanagh.. Ger Brennan is probaly the best example of a holding / sitting Center Back.. Some Days it works well, some Days it dosent.. Probably depends on the type / quality of the Centre Forward.. I always preferred the holding CB tbh.

Yea, I'd agree with your view regarding the no 6 role, now I am not that naive as to think that its a simple answer to Kildare's problem, but f--k me we're just to soft through the middle for the last few years, we didn't appear to have anyone minding the house.