Former All-Ireland winning manager Jim McGuinness believes that stalwart Mayo midfielder Barry Moran could be the key to Mayo's success as they face into an All-Ireland Semi-Final replay against Dublin this weekend.
The Donegal man identified a place in the Mayo full-forward line alongside Aidan O'Shea where Barry Moran would be best utilised to pierce the Dublin fortress. Writing in his Irish Times column this morning, McGuinness said:
Aidan O’Shea was fighting a lone battle up front, with Cillian O’Connor playing off him. If Barry Moran had been pushed in there, which Dublin player would have picked him up? Who would have played sweeper?
McGuinness added that the enforced removal of Rory O'Carroll would have indirectly maximised this strategy thus allowing the physical presence of O'Shea and Barry Moran to inflict punishment on Dublin.
He also felt that Kevin McLoughlin who was positioned in the half-back line, would have been more effective operating as 'a hard-tackling half forward, getting on the ball and looking for that pass with the outside of his left foot.
This coupled with the Barry Moran/O'Shea ensemble would have spooked Dublin according to McGuinness.
It probably would have meant Cian O’Sullivan, their sweeper, committing to marking either O’Shea or Moran. Or Denis Bastick would have to leave the middle of the park. Either way, it would have required major surgery by Dublin.
Looking ahead to the replay on Saturday, McGuinness is unwilling to stray too far away from his original take on the situation and he believes Dublin will still come through. But the former Donegal boss cautions that the 10 minute comeback from Mayo makes them a dangerous beast to negotiate with.
If Mayo can make a few adjustments to how they attack, in particular, and they learn from the drawn match, then that can have consequences on how Saturday’s replay goes.
So who will prevail on Saturday? Will Mayo capitalise on their bottomless resolve or will Jim Gavin's men have enough time to eradicate their indiscipline? We have no idea but we can't wait to see it unfold.
