Sport

Enda McGinley: Cavan v Donegal? Simplicity spliced with collective energy is road to success

Donegal's Eoghan Ban Gallagher has his eyes on the ball as Eoin McHugh tussles with Armagh's Rian O'Neill during the Ulster SFC semi-final on Saturday November 14 2020 at Breffni Park, Cavan. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin
Donegal's Eoghan Ban Gallagher has his eyes on the ball as Eoin McHugh tussles with Armagh's Rian O'Neill during the Ulster SFC semi-final on Saturday November 14 2020 at Breffni Park, Cavan. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin Donegal's Eoghan Ban Gallagher has his eyes on the ball as Eoin McHugh tussles with Armagh's Rian O'Neill during the Ulster SFC semi-final on Saturday November 14 2020 at Breffni Park, Cavan. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin

Energy is the key.

That was Mickey Harte’s verdict having watched Cavan’s stunning turnaround against Down.

Writing about the start of his storied tenure of Tyrone last week, I referenced Harte’s demands for work-rate, of forwards who were his best defenders and of playing like ‘psychos for the ball’.

At the start, the term ‘energy’ was not a common theme.

Yet, over the years, this phrase was what all those early implorations were distilled down into.

And there’s more - being ‘switched on’ – that’s a manifestation of a player bringing energy, same goes for winning breaking ball or reacting first to a ball off the post or good communication or showing leadership and pretty much everything else on top of the more obvious links to work rate and intensity.

It may be a simple term but, when you consider its direct consequences, it’s the most potent force a team can have.

In the modern game we often end up guilty of making things more complicated than they should be.

A notion elegantly captured in the famous quote by Bill Shankly “football is a simple game, made complicated by those that should know better”.

That appreciation of simple ideas is a notably common theme among great minds. Steve Jobs, the iconic Apple co-founder, had simplicity as his mantra.

He said “making something simple was the hardest of tasks but it was worthwhile for when you got there you could move mountains”.

Einstein was a keen proponent too.

The running theme through them all is that simplicity, far from something to be scorned, is something to be admired worth striving for.

Bringing it back to football the performances which secured Ulster final berths for Cavan and Donegal were very different yet the key attributes in both were marked more by their basic nature than their complexity.

In the modern game, there is so much to think about and so much to factor in, that the complexity of it is increasingly bewildering.

This isn’t helped by a subset of people out there, particularly among coaches and pundits, who like to talk about the game in as complex a manner as possible with jargon filled language that would make David Brent blush.

At times, listening to such high-brow analysis, I feel like they must be talking about a different game or that I am a bit thick.

The one from the other side of the bed would certainly nod at the latter suggestion but then games like last weekend’s come along and suddenly my faith is restored.

At present, there is more knowledge around the game than ever before.

From stats, to experts to tactical systems and game play processes, the minutiae of the game are dissected like never before.

Is there learning in this? Absolutely.

Yet the best teams and performances look easy while the best managers can talk of the game with a beautiful simplicity.

This apparent contradiction may be best summed up by Martin Fischer, an esteemed German-born American physician and author, who said that “knowledge is the process of piling up facts; Wisdom lies in their simplification”.

I’m not saying we should stay with the blood and thunder of old. I’m not sure that fits well or certainly cannot be used repeatedly with modern players.

The tactical evolution has led to a much more sophisticated game which has, in turn, demanded that players become more intelligent on the ball and more orchestrated in their thinking.

In response, the language around the game has changed completely. That’s fair enough.

Rather than gaining kudos for fluency in this new language, the challenge for coaches and managers is to take the mountain of knowledge that the modern game disgorges and distil them back down to simple, basic principles.

If this is achieved it releases the players back to focusing on the most important things, their skills, focus and competitive spirit.

And this is where energy comes in as it alone can have a huge impact on all of those.

They say what is rare is beautiful and a post-match Kieran McGeeney interview is certainly not a common occurrence.

During Armagh’s many good days he usually refuses interviews sending Jim McCorry instead, yet on Saturday, when they got well beat by Donegal, he put himself front and centre to face his inquisitors.

His central reflection on that day’s match?

Simply that Armagh had been ‘too timid’ and failed to even ‘have a cut’ at Donegal.

Now, have no doubt about the depth of knowledge McGeeney has or the level of complexity he would go to in preparing his team.

Yet, the old warrior's flame that burns inside him meant he couldn’t overlook the obvious.

You can’t turn up to a Championship match without intensity, the same way you can’t turn up to a gun fight without a gun.

Jump forward to Sunday and a similar lesson is seen.

Cavan would’ve come into that match with deeply-thought-out tactics to curb Down's most potent weapon, their speed.

Yet, Cavan in the first half appeared disjointed and overly cautious in their play.

It’s something that many of us will have seen at various levels of the game.

It isn’t a result of lack of coaching or lack of a plan but more often a result of overt-thinking the thing.

It is fast becoming one of the curses of the modern game.

At half-time, Mickey Graham's message, was not some sort of complex tactical master stroke. It was a statement of the obvious. A return to the basics.

‘Lads, this is a Championship match, we’ve 35 minutes left, let’s go out there and have a cut. Give it everything, every ball, every tackle, every hit, every run’.

They emerged transformed. The evidence was as obvious as the message.

They tore into it like, well, like it was a Championship match.

The energy they demonstrated in the second half was massive.

Suddenly men were tracked and tackles were made count, thinking was sharper, ball use better, communication clearer and dirty ball won.

Next up for them is a Donegal side that are looking ‘Dublin-esque’ in their performance level.

By that I mean they are playing the game at such a high level that its beginning to look simple.

Scratch beneath the surface of Donegal however and there, powering the amazing football, is a work ethic and competitive spirit, that, like with Dublin, it is easy to overlook.

It is the combination of the two, a complex game played simply and a massive collective energy, that is the ultimate target for all teams.

Write off Cavan?

Of course you can’t, but for me, it’s Donegal to win.

Simple as.