Galway GAA Discussion Thread #2

Robson99

Waterford game will tell a bit more.
Still think going into championship we have problems at 2, 4, midfield partner to play beside Mannion ( possibly Loftus) and a shape /structure to our forwards. Personally would leave Joe at 14 and Whelan close to him. But half forward line needs to start forming some sort of shape or we could be found out earlier than expected.
Time to move on from expecting to score 30 points a game and no goals and hope to win.

threeball

Robson99 wrote: »

Waterford game will tell a bit more.
Still think going into championship we have problems at 2, 4, midfield partner to play beside Mannion ( possibly Loftus) and a shape /structure to our forwards. Personally would leave Joe at 14 and Whelan close to him. But half forward line needs to start forming some sort of shape or we could be found out earlier than expected.
Time to move on from expecting to score 30 points a game and no goals and hope to win.

Surely Burke partners Mannion at midfield but I think thats the least of our worries. We were badly found out for lack of depth in defense last year and nothing has changed there really. Up front wasn't much better with us bringing back on lads we had taken off in the Clare game. We really only had Flynn and N Burke to go to and that really hasn't changed it seems. We have an entire league campaign which in reality means nothing this year and really haven't seen anyone putting their hand up or even getting much game time to put their hand up.
Its hard to see us making an impact this year with the way things are currently set up even though we have a really solid starting 15. The new format demands at least 19-20 solids.

Robson99

threeball wrote: »

Surely Burke partners Mannion at midfield but I think thats the least of our worries. We were badly found out for lack of depth in defense last year and nothing has changed there really. Up front wasn't much better with us bringing back on lads we had taken off in the Clare game. We really only had Flynn and N Burke to go to and that really hasn't changed it seems. We have an entire league campaign which in reality means nothing this year and really haven't seen anyone putting their hand up or even getting much game time to put their hand up.
Its hard to see us making an impact this year with the way things are currently set up even though we have a really solid starting 15. The new format demands at least 19-20 solids.

Burke has a lot of miles on the clock and was average enough by his standards in a lot of games last year. Possibly if he plays the defensive role he might be OK with Mannion.
Flynn, N Burke, C Cooney... are you going to consistently get 8/10 out of these lads that it takes to win an all Ireland ???

cosatron

Robson99 wrote: »

Waterford game will tell a bit more.
Still think going into championship we have problems at 2, 4, midfield partner to play beside Mannion ( possibly Loftus) and a shape /structure to our forwards. Personally would leave Joe at 14 and Whelan close to him. But half forward line needs to start forming some sort of shape or we could be found out earlier than expected.
Time to move on from expecting to score 30 points a game and no goals and hope to win.

I would have joe at 15 and let him float around between 45 and goal and have Whelan and concannon inside for there speed, I would like glynn at 11 to bottle up a center back and break ball for mannion in the middle of the field, niall burke at 10 and joe cooney at 12 as a defensive half forward pulling into midfield and half back line as his a smart hurler. david burke will partner mannion as a defensive midfielder. I think fintan burke will come into the backs and that will be the only change MD will make.

GS11

A little bit harsh on Johnny Coen, good that we do have a few more options.

I too would like to see Joe in the full forward line, if he get's the ball in hand, he will be hard to stop getting a goal, move Glynn out to the half forward line.

I don't expect massive changes and don't belief they are needed, Fintan Burke barring injury has to be on the team.

Aravo

Mgt issues above. Plain and simple.

How would a player feel seeing someone subbed going on again. That would be demoralising to the panel. The Clare players must have been laughing seeing the same lads coming back on again. Fresh legs is what was needed.

Galway only had Flynn and Burke to go too as the others were not given a chance. Playing injured players and players not on form was Galway's undoing last year.

donnem33

Aravo wrote: »

Mgt issues above. Plain and simple.

How would a player feel seeing someone subbed going on again. That would be demoralising to the panel. The Clare players must have been laughing seeing the same lads coming back on again. Fresh legs is what was needed.

Galway only had Flynn and Burke to go too as the others were not given a chance. Playing injured players and players not on form was Galway's undoing last year.

Clare did the same thing!

Aravo

donnem33 wrote:

Clare did the same thing!

Yes but Galway did it more.

DVDM93

Aravo wrote: »

Yes but Galway did it more.

& so we ended up in the AI Final & they didn't

jr86

DVDM93 wrote: »

& so we ended up in the AI Final & they didn't

Haha indeed!

I'm sure they were doing plenty of "laughing" alright :rolleyes:

Who'd be a manager eh, get Galway to two finals in a row for the first time in 30 years and people still cite "management issues"!

Kevin Walsh has Galway at their best level since 2001 and its the same

jr86

jr86 wrote: »

Haha indeed!

I'm sure they were doing plenty of "laughing" alright :rolleyes:

Who'd be a manager eh, get Galway to two finals in a row for the first time in 30 years and people still cite "management issues"!

Kevin Walsh has Galway at their best level since 2001 and its the same

Kevin Walsh has Galway playing a way that's consistently proven will NOT beat the guys going for a five in a row so theres a bit of a difference there.

It would be similar if we were playing a sweeper against KKs dominant team and consistently losing easily when we played them, that would be a similar hurling comparison.

We'll see how he fares this year now that Horan is back to make Connacht a bit harder.
He's already improved Mayo immediately as a more astute manager would with our panel of footballers.

GS11

I think we are in a lot better position squad wise than last year,

If joe Cooney comes back, he can fill in at halfback, also Fintan burke.

Ronan Burke looks like he could do a job against lesser teams. Paul Killeen came on the last say and he looks like a bit of a unit.

Loftus, Mannion, as backup for midfield.

I hope winning the Club final will do Niall Burke a lot of good, he's been very inconsistent.

Thought Kevin Cooney although a bit light could add another dimension to our play, Monaghan as well.
Davy glennon also seems to have a bit of form.

jr86

A good club final could easily see darragh Burke getting a run

Eanna looks like he could push for a championship start too, he has been tremendous in this Thomas's campaign

PJ98

gilberto_eire wrote: »

Kevin Walsh has Galway playing a way that's consistently proven will NOT beat the guys going for a five in a row so theres a bit of a difference there.

It would be similar if we were playing a sweeper against KKs dominant team and consistently losing easily when we played them, that would be a similar hurling comparison.

We'll see how he fares this year now that Horan is back to make Connacht a bit harder.
He's already improved Mayo immediately as a more astute manager would with our panel of footballers.

Wouldn't be getting too carried away by Mayo, its February and their ahead training wise of most teams. Lets see how some of these new lads do in the championship. They've still not found a fullback, not found a midfielder and not convinced they've found any scoring forwards who'll make an impact come the summer.

I think we all have reservations about the style of play but I still think Mayo are going to struggle to break Galway down come the middle of June should we both make the Connacht final.

jr86

PJ98 wrote: »

Wouldn't be getting too carried away by Mayo, its February and their ahead training wise of most teams. Lets see how some of these new lads do in the championship. They've still not found a fullback, not found a midfielder and not convinced they've found any scoring forwards who'll make an impact come the summer.

I think we all have reservations about the style of play but I still think Mayo are going to struggle to break Galway down come the middle of June should we both make the Connacht final.

Would agree with all that

threeball

PJ98 wrote: »

Wouldn't be getting too carried away by Mayo, its February and their ahead training wise of most teams. Lets see how some of these new lads do in the championship. They've still not found a fullback, not found a midfielder and not convinced they've found any scoring forwards who'll make an impact come the summer.

I think we all have reservations about the style of play but I still think Mayo are going to struggle to break Galway down come the middle of June should we both make the Connacht final.

I'd agree with the Mayo renaissance being blown out of proportion but with the squad we have we should be able to put them to the sword on all but a bad day. I wouldn't put a fiver on us beating them however as our style just leaves teams in with a chance in almost every game.

spurshero

threeball wrote: »

I'd agree with the Mayo renaissance being blown out of proportion but with the squad we have we should be able to put them to the sword on all but a bad day. I wouldn't put a fiver on us beating them however as our style just leaves teams in with a chance in almost every game.

Mayo have been to and unlucky not to win 3 all Ireland finals over last few years . They have been the one team constantly putting it up to dubs . Talk of us putting them to the sword on all but bad days is crazy . They have walked the walk a lot more then we have over the last 7 or 8 years . What we have is potential but there’s a few of our lads being talked about potentially for a while now and we need to start showing it a lot more often then we have .

threeball

spurshero wrote: »

Mayo have been to and unlucky not to win 3 all Ireland finals over last few years . They have been the one team constantly putting it up to dubs . Talk of us putting them to the sword on all but bad days is crazy . They have walked the walk a lot more then we have over the last 7 or 8 years . What we have is potential but there’s a few of our lads being talked about potentially for a while now and we need to start showing it a lot more often then we have .

Yes but most of that Mayo team have serious mileage as well as being the wrong side of 30. They haven't been getting the benefits of new blood and even a truly great team like Kilkenny couldn't survive without an injection of quality from the youth ranks. They've been to all irelands, same as we were to 3 from 98 to 2001 and that side disappeared off the radar as quickly as it appeared as the group disintegrated due to age, injuries etc. Being in past all Irelands means nothing in relation to the future. Player for player at the moment we have more talent and more potential but we won't see that with the current gameplan.

westcork67

threeball wrote: »

I'd agree with the Mayo renaissance being blown out of proportion but with the squad we have we should be able to put them to the sword on all but a bad day. I wouldn't put a fiver on us beating them however as our style just leaves teams in with a chance in almost every game.

I agree it can he hard to watch Galway and their defensive style, but that style is creating chances, its just that Galway are not taking them. They should have had 3 goals against Monaghan - several were not taken against Cavan as well - even going back to Dublin in CP Semi last year, Galway had goal chances that a Kerry or Dublin would convert, and they didnt. Everyone is going on about the Galway forwards but Ian Burke aside, and the occasional performance from Comer and Walsh I am not sure what the fuss is about - some of the shot/pass selection is poor and shot execution not great either. Would be interested in their relative shot to score ratio against other teams

threeball

westcork67 wrote: »

I agree it can he hard to watch Galway and their defensive style, but that style is creating chances, its just that Galway are not taking them. They should have had 3 goals against Monaghan - several were not taken against Cavan as well - even going back to Dublin in CP Semi last year, Galway had goal chances that a Kerry or Dublin would convert, and they didnt. Everyone is going on about the Galway forwards but Ian Burke aside, and the occasional performance from Comer and Walsh I am not sure what the fuss is about - some of the shot/pass selection is poor and shot execution not great either. Would be interested in their relative shot to score ratio against other teams

The forwards will always struggle when the supply from the back is slow. I can't think of a field sport where slow transition from defence to attack allows the forwards to maximise potential.
In rugby fast ball off the ruck is essential for attack. Any successful defensive soccer team needs to counter attack at pace. Hurling you get the ball in to the full forward line asap to cause maximum panic.

Do we have an amazing front six? No but I don't see any county that does. Kerry are getting there, helped by their pace of transition.

Happyilylost

Why does Kevin Walsh get a kick out of naming teams that will never start?

Hurling team is good to see. Plenty of lads getting chances. Thought maybe they could of left Ronan Burke and found a place for Paul Killeen.

RMAOK

Happyilylost wrote: »

Hurling team is good to see. Plenty of lads getting chances. Thought maybe they could of left Ronan Burke and found a place for Paul Killeen.

Good to see John hanbury back - there was talk that he mightn't be able to commit this year.

Still very surprised that canning is playing - imo there's no need for him to be playing against offaly (with all due respect to them).

MattressRick

Happyilylost wrote: »

Why does Kevin Walsh get a kick out of naming teams that will never start?

Hurling team is good to see. Plenty of lads getting chances. Thought maybe they could of left Ronan Burke and found a place for Paul Killeen.

Walsh not naming his team until right before throw in shows fear. Couple that with the mass defence where they're marking space and the endless slow hand passing and it shows the fear of losing more than anything.
It's been shown time and again that this isn't good enough to beat Dublin and they're the team to beat. Walsh seems to be modelling his team on the last team to beat Dublin playing this way, Donegal in 2014, yet Donegal moved through ball at serious pace that day and their plan should've been blown apart if Dublin hadn't missed all them chances early on.
There'll be no progress this year apart from lads just getting more experience under their belts. Would be great if we could man mark at the back with max 2 lads extra back covering/sweeping, leaving four forwards up the field.

Hulk Hands

Does Jim Gavin regularly naming dummy teams also show fear?

threeball

MattressRick wrote: »

Walsh not naming his team until right before throw in shows fear. Couple that with the mass defence where they're marking space and the endless slow hand passing and it shows the fear of losing more than anything.
It's been shown time and again that this isn't good enough to beat Dublin and they're the team to beat. Walsh seems to be modelling his team on the last team to beat Dublin playing this way, Donegal in 2014, yet Donegal moved through ball at serious pace that day and their plan should've been blown apart if Dublin hadn't missed all them chances early on.
There'll be no progress this year apart from lads just getting more experience under their belts. Would be great if we could man mark at the back with max 2 lads extra back covering/sweeping, leaving four forwards up the field.

If you need more than 8 back you can't defend, simple as that. Two midfielders dropping in front as cover. Kerry's defence has alot of the same personnel as last year just doing their job properly.
Last year we had Walsh and brannigan, two of the fastest players in the country that should have been transitioning the ball from our 45 to inside theirs in seconds. Instead we had kyne and Bradshaw strolling out of defence looking for someone to pass backwards to. Not their fault as it was clearly an instruction on how we were to play. 2019 will be another lost opportunity to progress. I'd rather go out and give it a go and lose than arseing around and lose anyway. We're good enough to beat all but Dublin and Kerry regardless of how we play.

jr86

Happyilylost wrote: »

Why does Kevin Walsh get a kick out of naming teams that will never start?

Hurling team is good to see. Plenty of lads getting chances. Thought maybe they could of left Ronan Burke and found a place for Paul Killeen.

RMAOK wrote: »

Good to see John hanbury back - there was talk that he mightn't be able to commit this year.

Still very surprised that canning is playing - imo there's no need for him to be playing against offaly (with all due respect to them).

I'm hearing there'll be a few changes to line-up I don't think Ronan B and JC are going to start

Fann Linn

Hulk Hands wrote: »

Does Jim Gavin regularly naming dummy teams also show fear?

Case in point. Kilkenny wasn't even in the programme last night. I don't think any regular supporter of any team expects the team to line out as initially announced.

RMAOK

jr86 wrote: »

I'm hearing there'll be a few changes to line-up I don't think Ronan B and JC are going to start

Flynn taking the frees instead of canning who isn't on. No sign of either of the mannions either.

Offaly seem to be giving away a ton of frees

jr86

RMAOK wrote: »

Flynn taking the frees instead of canning who isn't on. No sign of either of the mannions either.

Offaly seem to be giving away a ton of frees

Oops thought it was starting at 2

Jeez Offaly must be dire. Sad to see

RMAOK

jr86 wrote: »

Oops thought it was starting at 2

Jeez Offaly must be dire. Sad to see

I realise it looks like nitpicking on my behalf, but Offaly have been dire for years tbh.