JIM McGuinness may have kicked a hornet’s nest with his recent comment that Dublin was “the most defensive team in the country last year”.
Eight-time All-Ireland winner James McCarthy, who will be fit to face McGuinness’s native Donegal in Saturday’s Division One semi-final at Kingspan Breffni, rejected the jibe and says the reigning All-Ireland champions go out to “play on the front foot all the time”.
And while he said criticism of the dominant Dubs is “part and parcel” of being the top dogs in the game, McCarthy added that sometimes he does enjoy ramming criticism down the throats of his county’s detractors.
“That (criticism) is part and parcel of it I suppose,” said Ballymun Kickham’s clubman McCarthy.
“It happens and it’s not something I take too much notice of. Sometimes you might pick up something that might annoy you and you would hold on to it for a while and hopefully ram it back.”
Jim McGuinness’s Donegal side was the last team to beat the Dubs in the Championship in the All-Ireland semi-final of 2014 before going on to lose in the final to Kerry. Former RTE pundit Joe Brolly is a vocal critic of the system McGuinness’s teams played in and labelled his description of the current Dublin side as “bonkers”.
McCarthy was more diplomatic.
“Everyone is entitled to their opinion I suppose,” said the midfielder.
“I don’t think we are (defensive), I think we’re a team that wants to play on the front foot all the time and put pressure on teams and try and score as much as we can.
“Defence is obviously a very important side of the game and we put a lot of focus on that as well. We’re a hard team to play against, we don’t want to be an easy team to play against – we want to be a tough, defensive unit as a group. We want to play football and go at teams as much as we can and put them under pressure and I think that style of play has really served us well over the years. I don’t know why we would change it now.
“When the ball is thrown in we aren’t looking to put 15 players in behind it, sometimes it happens in games when you’re tracking runners and players get behind the ball but it’s definitely not our intention to do that.”
Because of the provincial Championship fixture schedule, this weekend’s League semi-finals will only lead to a final if Dublin beat Donegal and Tyrone come out on top against Kerry. McCarthy said it would be “an awful pity” if the decider isn’t played.
The four-time Allstar says the Dubs are “building up nicely” and would benefit from another competitive game against quality opposition before the start of the Championship.
“We have a mix of players at the moment – you have lads in the learning stages of their careers and you have lads like Con (O’Callaghan), Brian Fenton and John Small who are at their peak,” he said.
“We have a nice blend of different age groups and the way it goes is that if you’re playing well you hold onto your position. Colm Basquel did really well last week and it’s going to be hard to dislodge a guy like that who is playing well. Once you’re in and you’re doing well it’s very tricky for other guys so that’s the challenge for everyone.”
Dublin accounted for Galway and Roscommon in Division One South and drew with Kerry meaning they finished second in the table. McCarthy says Dessie Farrell’s side has yet to hit top gear but their appetite for success remains voracious.
“Once you’re enjoying it so much and you get a kick out of it the challenge is there and the challenge of being chased by other teams keeps us on our toes,” he said.
“I’m enjoying my football and that’s the same with a lot of the players on our team. We want to win as much as we can.”
