In Defence of Gaelic Football

"People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defences, or the problems of modern society."

Yep, that’s a Vince Lombardi quote to start an article, but trust us this one really, really, really ties in with our thought process (we promise!).

We observed with some interest as Gaelic football’s obituaries were scripted last week. So for our first blog we thought we’d tackle the issue of blanket defences - we’re going to have to leave the solving of modern society’s problems to another day (disclaimer: we may not solve any problems!).

Let’s concentrate on the first part of Lombardi’s quote: “People who work together will win.”

Sounds simple, as all great plans are. Every football coach wants his team to work, and work together. A ferocious work ethic gives any team a fighting chance in a duel. Isn’t this what everyone has been ignoring in recent weeks?

Then again, what is wrong with defensive football? We are programmed to want flair and excitement: to be entertained (the Utopian Joe Brolly outlook). But is good, disciplined tackling not as important to the team as the swashbuckling football?

Most great managers, no matter their chosen sport, always point to getting the defensive side of their teams in place before they even think about attacking. Defences win you games, the forwards decide by how much. Defence is the foundation of any great side.

The wailing over the Dublin-Derry league in late March hasn’t been heard since . . . well, since Donegal lost by two points to Dublin in a rip-roaring All-Ireland semi-final back in 2012.

The 2012 game ended 0-8 to 0-6 in the Dub’s favour while Derry were beaten 0-8 to 0-4. Yes, Dublin won both games. The blanket was wrapped around them for a while but it didn’t smother them. Sure, they took their time to pick through the mass of bodies in both games but that’s to their credit: patience is, after all, a virtue.

But what of the Derry team in the March league game? Was it not a case of 15 Oakleafers working hard for each other. They weren’t great, it was a boring game, but what was undeniable is that they worked hard. Derry were already practically relegated – shorn of their Ballinderry (self-imposed exiles) and Slaughtneil men - and are not going to win the All-Ireland any time soon, so why not go for plan B?

Plan B, unfortunately for Brian McIver, fitted the ‘Northern’ stereotype and the vultures swooped on the carcass of Gaelic football.

But, hold on. Where was the uproar when Cavan beat Westmeath 1-8 to 1-3 on the same night? Didn’t know that – did you? Ah yes, this game wasn’t live on d’telly and the armchair pundits didn’t get a chance to dissect it. Or what about when Monaghan beat Donegal 0-9 to 1-4 three weeks earlier? The death of football? No, nothing, zilch, nada – just a tough Northern game. What about these Division 4 games: Offaly 0-9, London 1-2; Carlow-Wicklow 0-9 apiece? Nothing.

These games, of course, were the exception rather than the rule but that doesn’t fit the narrative. So surely this recent uproar should be reserved for when Gaelic football is actually strangled by a majority of teams adopting a ‘defensive’ set-up?

The recent wailing has been of the usual hyperbolic variety. There wasn’t the same level of condemnation of ‘Northern’ football when Donegal skewered the Dubs in the second half of last year’s All-Ireland semi-final. No, that was filed under ‘Jim McGuinness masterpiece’. Of course, the final score suggested a cracker: Donegal 3-14, Dublin 0-17.

Did Donegal change the way they played football between the 2012 and 2014 encounters against Dublin? Nope. Jim McGuinness’ training sessions and subsequent playing style was based on hours upon hours of repetition. They played the same way, but were fine-tuned to the nth degree. They won the 2013 All-Ireland playing the same way. It simply took him two years to get the defensive side of his team right and then another to get the attacking element synchronized. All a year ahead of his Olympic schedule (when McGuinness took over he had a four-year plan based on Olympic training methods).

What was the difference between 2012 and 2014? It was all down to Dublin’s tactical approach. Where the Dublin manager Pat Gilroy was pragmatic in 2012, Jim Gavin was naive last August. Gilroy didn’t let Donegal dictate and matched their system while Gavin believed they could run over the top of them. Eamonn Fitzmaurice then turned around and left his half-backs in place (some say he also mirrored McGuinness’ system) thus scuttling Donegal in last year’s final.

There’s a domino logic at play here. McGuinness outfoxed Gavin, ergo Fitzmaurice outfoxed McGuinness in last year’s All-Ireland final. It’s history - as per usual - being written by the victors.

We here at FundMyClub.ie towers would like to think that ‘mirroring’ defensive systems isn’t the only solution.

Who is to say, as Gaelic football evolves, that we will look back on this period (the last decade or so) as a necessary evil. It is the first time that a serious tactical blueprint has been placed over the game – that’s Jim McGuinness’ legacy. He turned the game on its head and has provoked some soul-searching. Some just don’t like the upheaval, they like the normality of their football. The obvious panacea to this defensive-orientated approach is for one of our inter-county football coaching geniuses to conjure up an attacking style that trumps the McGuinness’ blueprint.

Perhaps the time will come when a Gaelic football inter-county coach decides to play four full-forwards of varying size as close to the goalposts as possible. Why not? We’re sure McGuinness had plenty of episodes of soul-searching himself whenever he doubted his own strategy.

The blanket attack? Why not?