Oisin McConville says watching Roscommon retain possession for nearly six minutes before scoring towards the end of the first half against Dublin on Sunday "completely took the wind out of my sails".
Roscommon were three points up with 31 minutes elapsed when goalkeeper Conor Carroll took a short kickout. They made 77 pasees before Ciaráin Murtagh eventually kicked the ball over the bar at the Hill 16 end as the clock ticked into the 38th minute. It put Roscommon 0-9 to 0-5 ahead.
'It's probably more of a general problem than it is just Roscommon'
Speaking on the BBC's The GAA Social podcast, McConville - the current Wicklow football manager - said that Roscommon have been "mightily impressive" this season.
"It's probably more of a general problem than it is just Roscommon," he continued.
"I watched Westmeath hold onto the ball against Armagh for two or three minutes for a couple of different spells. Roscommon obviously held onto the ball for, what, six minutes against Dublin. There were other spells.
"I was the Armagh match, and it just does nothing for the game from a spectator point of view. I'm just putting it out there as a spectator.
"If I was managing a team and they were able to retain the ball for that length and have some finished product at the end of it, then you'd probably feel some sense of pride in what they were after doing.
"As a spectator, when you're standing there watching it, it just does nothing for you. It's so frustrating."
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟!
Roscommon retain possession of the ball for a lengthy period of time, before breaking at speed and finishing in style through Ciaráin Murtagh.
https://t.co/5HQnfDv1D6 #RosGAA #Win200Grand pic.twitter.com/hj8vI0wDRQ
— Roscommon GAA (@RoscommonGAA) May 29, 2023
McConville said seeing the effectiveness of the tactics which Roscommon employed was a "moral dilemma" for him as a football manager.
"When you're at a football match, nothing else in the world really matters. You're just there, you're entrenched in it, and you feel as if you want and deserve to be entertained," he said.
"All the games at the weekend, there always seems to be exciting finishes in these games, but it masks a lot of the stuff that has gone on.
"That is a massive contradiction in my own head. A lot of the time I'll be saying 'Hold onto the ball. Don't take it into the tackle. Work the shot'.
"I can understand, just as a spectator at the weekend, that it can be very frustrating. The Roscommon one for six minutes just completely took the wind out of my sails.
"I am torn. I don't like it but I understand it. I really don't like it but I understand it."
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