In an interview with The Irish News, Jim McGuinness has said that if Mayo decide to go toe-to-toe with Dublin again on Saturday and attempt to play them at their own game, it could be their downfall.
Donegal beat Mayo in the 2012 All-Ireland final under McGuinness' guidance. Despite being on their second management team since the departure of James Horan, McGuinness feels little has changed in terms of Mayo's style since that game.
Jim McGuinness on Mayo vs Dublin
Mayo, for me, haven’t changed much since we played them in 2012. Next week will be their eighth semi-final or final. That’s a lot of big games and they haven’t managed to win the All-Ireland yet.
For all those big games, I don’t see a lot of difference in them from 2012 to now. The only thing I see is the sweeper system, but that’s because Dublin implemented it. Had Dublin not done that, would Mayo have? I’m not so sure.
The former Donegal manager believes that if GAA teams are to be successful, they require something 'unique', their own style which makes them tough to beat. He appears to think there is a deficit of that in this Mayo side.
If you want to be successful, they’ve got to come up with something that’s almost unique to them. Not playing Dublin at their own game. Mayo are probably thinking ‘we’re good enough to play Dublin at their own game - we took them to a draw last time, we took them to a draw last year, so we’re as good as them. You can have your opinion, but the reality is we believe in ourselves’. I’d just be wary about that.
McGuinness believes Dublin will win the replay, mainly because 'they’ll probably return to their normal performance level' or in the terms everyone else has been putting it, Dublin can't be as bad as the last day.
Picture credit: Sportsfile
