EVERY team has a Plan A - a gameplan designed to get the most out of your team which also lays out how the opposing teams strengths are to be thwarted.
Often Plan A remains largely unchanged from game to game and it informs a profile on what teams become known for. Think of Armagh in the noughties. Joe Kernan cultivated the concept of diagonal kick-passing and his team implemented it to great effect, perhaps three or four times a half. There were many times when a punt pass into Ronan Clarke was the preferred choice which reaped us many rewards, yet, ask anyone to recall one unique feature about that Armagh team and they will undoubtedly mention the long diagonal kickpass.
The Kerry team over the same period were known as purists and technically gifted, however, as Darragh Ó Sé rose to fetch the ball, he’d have disfigured opponents in his way – in the nicest way possible. Darragh’s retirement in 2010 did more harm to the tooth fairy industry than Brexit.
Tyrone’s current defensive structure and counter-attacking style is another example of a well-honed Plan A which has coloured one’s perception of how that team plays. Predictable teams are easy to counter-plot so the top teams, and particularly the top players, do not rely solely on one system of play.
The Mayo versus Kerry game provided a recent example. Here we witnessed the Kerry Plan A of launching long ball into Kieran Donaghy being countered by Mayo by matching him against an equally tall, self-confident and capable player in the form of Aidan O’Shea.
Kieran could not fetch the ball cleanly nor could he palm it down to the scavengers O’Donoghue or Geaney. Plan A was thwarted. To Kerry’s credit they tried this option only twice. Credit goes to Donaghy too. A good man assesses the problems before they get out of control. He began seeking the ball in front and playing others into the game, he came short, ran off players shoulders, worked outside his comfort zone and reaped the rewards. His colleagues adjusted likewise. For me, he didn’t have the influence he wanted nor was he allowed to play the game he was instructed to play, but he showed guile and courage of a different kind befitting of his years of experience.
Some analysts went a step further by saying Donaghy was brilliant and destroyed O’Shea, which concurs with the old saying, ‘Doctors differ while patients die’. Mayo will get some level of satisfaction and confidence having upset the slick Kerry machine but they have to do it all again. This time it will be Eamonn Fitzmaurice who has to get his tactics right. Starting Stephen O’Brien was a mistake. His impact was neutralised because he started against fresh players. Normally he is introduced when players are tired so his pace and direct running in the final third of the field is profitable.
Starting Anthony Maher sent negative ripples through his team, suggesting they were intent on adopting a defensive strategy from the start. Kerry’s best form of defence is offence. Fitzmaurice is a master tactician so I’m sure his homework has already started. Tyrone will take lessons from this match and apply it to the Dublin challenge. Ask any Dub to name one team they hate to play and they will answer, Tyrone. Dublin hate the northerners’ style of defence, their adherence to the system and their ferocious crowded tackling. Yet, following last Sunday’s game, Mickey Harte will need to prepare a Plan B if things are not going the way he envisages.
The Plan B might consider what happens if their only reliable free-taker, Sean Cavanagh, is injured or if the mighty Colm Cavanagh is sidelined with a black card; what happens if Dublin apply pressure on the short kick-out and they are prevented from getting their running game going; or who is going to score from play if the threat of Mark Bradley is neutralised?
Tyrone trialled Mattie Donnelly and Sean Cavanagh as two full-forwards in early League rounds with limited impact. It seems such a waste of Mattie’s talents to be isolated from the general play. Would they contemplate shifting Colm Cavanagh onto the edge of the square for five minutes either side of half-time to mix it up a little?
Whatever the plan is, the primary objective will be to get at Dublin’s weakness. Dublin play at 100 miles per hour and they can maintain that intensity for as long as it takes. Think about a time when you played the best teams of their time and this would be a common theme.
On the other hand, if you were on one of those winning teams, ask yourself why did you lose that game you should have won? The answer could be due to complacency or loss of concentration. This is the key for Tyrone. Dublin don’t do complacency under Jim Gavin but they can lose concentration. Changing the tempo, controlling the tempo is essential for Tyrone. They need to be in charge, Dublin need to be chasing shadows. Sunday sees the death of one of the big teams. The post--mortem will focus on how the managers differ.
