Former Donegal captain Micheal Murphy believes that Mayo lack the ingenuity and creativity to break down teams in the sport, and says that changing that could help them.
Yet again, Mayo have failed to end their Sam Maguire hoodoo that they are infamous for after losing to Derry in the preliminary quarter-final match last weekend.
Derry's 0-15 to Mayo's 1-12 meant that the game went to penalties, and it was Derry that won 4-3 on penalties. Kevin McStay's side will now go back to the drawing board to assess the season and hopefully kick on for next year.
Murphy, a former All-Ireland winner, believes that Mayo should ask more questions of defences rather than trying to go straight through the middle.
"Mayo tend to play like battering rams, running in straight lines, but when you’re looking to pick a defensive lock or for a precise pass played in over the blanket to an inside man, they just lack that creativity or guile,"he said
"Jordan Flynn had a powerful game in the air and kicked two points, but they came from brute-force running lines, which will break Derry down sometimes, but you need to ask more intricate questions of a set defence. You need quicker, more incisive passes."
Mayo , Ireland - 22 June 2024; Emmett Bradley of Derry during the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship preliminary quarter-final match between Mayo and Derry at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park in Castlebar, Mayo. (Photo By Seb Daly/Sportsfile via Getty Images)The Sam Maguire will now be won by one of the remaining teams left in the championship. It is likely to be Dublin or Kerry, according to the bookies. However, Murphy believes that this year the two aren't as good as in previous years.
"Dublin and Kerry are the two teams [to beat],” said Murphy. “[But] I don’t believe they are at the level they once were, though.
“With Dublin, five or six years ago, you were asking the question, could teams stay with them for half an hour, 40 minutes?,"he added
“We’re not speaking about them now at those same levels, but I don’t think the chasing pack have come up near it.
“I don’t think Galway have got up to that level we are all expecting them to potentially get to, to challenge or to beat a Dublin or Kerry.”
Mayo's conquerors Derry are also in contention, but Murphy does not believe that Mickey Harte's men have the mental strength to become the best in Ireland.
“Derry have that ability, but you would think the psychological damage of the three defeats, it’s hard to see [them winning Sam]. It would absolutely be the most monumental turnaround if they were to win an All-Ireland.
“I can see them troubling Kerry in a quarter-final, getting to a semi-final, but to win an All-Ireland, to take out a Mayo, Kerry, Dublin after the year they’ve had, I think it’s just too big of an ask."
The quarter-finals will continue tomorrow.
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