Why wont die hard GAA fans admit football these days is muck?

I have played gaelic football, not for years admittedly and at a very low level.

I have also played soccer as well where it's far more difficult to keep possession of the ball and far easier to miscontrol it.

Same applies to hurling too even though as I said earlier in the thread it has its own set of challenges as a sport despite the fact we keep hearing it's the 'best sport in the world' every 5 seconds.

I'm a huge fan of football but I do think that what spectators are ultimately frustrated with is the lateral hand passing etc. This is a direct consequence of it being too easy to retain possession and reduces the unpredictability of open play.

You essentially have to wait for the team in possession to make a mistake with their passing or shooting to get back the ball.

What I'm trying to say is rather than hand passing being the symptom of everything that is perceived as being bad about the sport as mentioned so many times on this thread that instead it's the tackle that's the problem.

In saying all of that football has arguably never been better. Watch old games, you'd be surprised how dire they were and the low levels of skill involved.

Good post which quite rightly points to the tackle in GF as a problem.

Now before everyone tries to explain the ‘correct ‘ tackle I know what it is so can that.

Its the one on ones are the real problem.

I see players on one to one encounters going up close and then bursting past the defender who has very

little chance of dispossessing..result is usually a free for the attacker.

I would prefer if the onus was on the attacker to play the ball if possible before taking it into the tackle.

This s**t again.

Do you know that Donegal lost that game?

Do you know that they came back the next year with a completely different high tempo game plan and won the All Ireland ?

A half-court rule akin to basketball is one that could be worth trialling. I think it wouldn't be the most onerous to implement (other than needing to add an extra line to pitches) and shouldn't be too much of an additional boost to the effectiveness of mass defences.

There would possibly be some issues around turnovers that are won around the half-way line that only happens irregularly in basketball games.

But it failed as a tactic, and Donegal came back a year later with a much different approach that won them an All Ireland.

People take games in insolation where one or both teams adopt a "defense first" approach and then bemoan it as being puke football and the end of the world.

What they ignore is that the most successful teams win games and championships by being aggressive and attacking.

It is very hard to tackle effectively. For instance Sam Callinan for Mayo made a great interception against Donegal by flicking the ball away from the Donegal player as he soloed it.

This is one of the ways a defender can win the ball but how often do you see it? Once a game, probably not. It stood out to me because it's so infrequent. Isn't that what the solo is there for essentially to allow a window for an interception when there isn't an opportunity to shoulder a player. However, it rarely ever happens and showcases how hard it is to win possession as a defender.

It's evidently not simple.

Players have never been trained better to tackle and yet you still rarely see interceptions like I pointed out.

This suggests it's the rules that are inadequate rather than the skillset of the players.

Because in the modern game the opposition are not interested in engaging with attackers until they get nearer the goals. And they arrange their defence accordingly. Then as you have pointed out before yourself, the man in possession is likey to have two or more in close proximity. It demands a high level of fitness on both sides. There are variations, such as pressure on the kickout leading to contested balls in the air. Or long kicks into the goal area, a low percentage option when a goal is needed. But in general it is more like soccer, playing out from the back.

Some people are saying that it is skewed in favour of defenders, where they can "swarm" around the man in possession. But the number of scores being achieved would point to a healthy balance. Better than years ago when it was a one on one, and possession was given up far too easily.

The idea that it's simply a matter of waiting for an inter-county forward to take a solo and flick it away from him as you run alongside is so detached from reality it nearly makes any discussion of strategy in the game completely pointless.

These guys are clearly operating at a level far, far beyond your comprehension.

No, not aimed at you, sorry. Your latest message came in before I posted!

Constructive ideas - a minimum number of players remaining in the other half is definitely worth trialing however you always need to consider unintended consequences.

Would go with 3 inside the opposing 65, and not specifically identified. Playmakers who can both score and drop deep to start attacks are to be encouraged. One linesman tasked with each half. Free only as sanction - from where is the question? Added bonus - the 65m line actually serving a function in football. Leaving it as a specific player would stop a player coming out to initiate an attack, stop a team being able to draw the tight marking corner back out the field freeing up space inside and stops a team bringing back their high fielding FF to help defend the lobbed in hail mary at the last minute. Potential unintended consequence - an underdog who has over-achieved gets punished when trying to hang on to a 4 point lead in the last 5 minutes having performed brilliantly up to then.

Ok with not being aloud back inside 45, however having to stay inside opposition 45 - think that could result in encouraging the defending team to remain deep. Recirculating the ball to find space elsewhere is an attacking skill.

Dont like this one at all. Potential result is the middle third becoming a crowd of bodies. The team who may be smaller and faster with more skill disadvantaged. A minor tweak on the current rule - kick out cannot be returned directly to the goalie and cannot be returned inside the 20. If the opposition push up the challenge is to find the space further forward

Advanced mark can only be claimed from open play in the current rule. Still should allow the mark from kickout. What I dont like in the current rule is the lobbed 20 metre diagonal pass from 50 meters to 40 meters qualifying as a mark as technically it travels 20 meters. Think it should be that it needs to travel at least 20 meters forward

The handpass limit was tried and failed. The players rejected it.

I'd be slow to make any significant changes at this point. It has been a poor league this year, last years was much better.

This year you have Donegal who are dreadful to watch and have been for years, but are absolutely rubbish this year and unfortunately are always on the TV live games

Monaghan have been on the slide now for a while and are quite poor also this year. These are the 2 teams that I would like to see relegated.

Kerry are only doing enough in their home games to stay up and have probably left themselves plenty to do over the next while which is fair enough as they are AI champs.

Dublin are a loss to the league, even though their style isn't anything great to to watch, they have some brilliant players.

Tyrone have loads in the locker, but for whatever reason are very hot and cold, hopefully they will bring it consistently in the championship.

Armagh seem to have regressed a bit on last years swashbuckling stylish performances.

Mayo really the only team that are flying it and playing great football.

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I can't see any team winning the AI conceding all kick outs to their opponent, which to me is the big problem in a lot of these boring games, so hopefully once teams get established and bit more confident we will see more focus on their attacking strategies.

The only thing I'd change right now is that dreadful attacking mark or at the very least only allow it for overhead catches.