ULSTER football will have to open up if any county from the province is to stand a chance of beating Dublin believes Monaghan sharp-shooter Conor McManus.
Before Tyrone were blitzed in the All-Ireland semi-final, it was Monaghan’s defensive system that was expected to produce a test for the All-Ireland champions.
But that failed to materialise in a comprehensive and demoralising 10-point defeat for the Farney that was never a contest at any stage.
Tyrone’s efforts with a similar gameplan led to widespread criticism that teams from the northern province were too defensive minded.
Speaking at the launch of the International Rules series on Wednesday, at which he was named as Ireland’s vice-captain, McManus conceded that no team will beat the Dubs playing the style of football Monaghan and Tyrone took to Croke Park.
“We never got going at all. I suppose when you look at how we played against them, Dublin are so comfortable in that environment now of teams sitting back off them.
“There was one score they got against us where they kept the ball for maybe one-and-a-half or two minutes, and that was us with 13, maybe 14 men behind the ball.
“I think there’s a lesson for us and everybody. If you look at how they dealt with us and Tyrone, and how compact Tyrone were all year, it shows how good Dublin have become at that game.
“When you flip that to the All-Ireland final and you saw Mayo went toe-to-toe with them, man-for-man and pushed right up, and caused them problems, there’s probably a lesson in that for everybody.
“Mayo are an exceptionally good side, they’re very physical and fit, they have the personnel to play that game.
“But that’s the standard you have to get to if you’re going to seriously compete at that end of the championship. We’ll be looking at that and seeing what we can improve on.
“I genuinely don’t believe you can beat Dublin playing a defensive system because they’re so comfortable in that environment.
“If you go out and play man-to-man and play them toe-to-toe, who knows where it’s going to take you. You’re not going to beat them doing anything else. You ask any footballer in any county, in any province, particularly the top 10 in the country, ‘is he a better footballer than you?’ and if he says no to you, I don’t think he has much business being there.
“I don’t think too many of them will. If players can really apply themselves to that and go at it, there’s a lot to be said for it.”
An ultra-defensive approach has dominated Ulster football and while Tyrone’s brand of fast-paced counter-attacking football has brought them successive provincial titles, the system fell down against Jim Gavin’s side.
McManus admits that with other teams unlikely to come out of their shells, it will be a difficult balancing act deciding upon which way to play next year.
“You would [like to see it open up] but I suppose there’s a juggernaut there that Ulster football has tended to be a bit more defensive than other provinces.
“In order to be competitive in Ulster football, you kind of have to adopt a defensive approach. Then when you come out of Ulster, the thing opens up a wee bit.
“There’s going to be a wee bit of cat and mouse about how you approach things. I don’t think the defensive thing is going to disappear altogether.
“I’m not naïve enough to pretend that things are just going to move away from all defensive styles, but I imagine there will be some sort of a shift towards a more attacking mindset and trying to keep more men up the field.”
