Footballers facing a mammoth task

TO have any chance of beating Kerry on Saturday evening in Limerick, Clare will have to change their approach. Too passive against Cork, they must up their (legitimate) aggression levels and think about adopting a more defensive approach, which if implemented would conversely help them to attack Kerry from deep.
While Clare are not in the same league as Donegal at the moment, the Ulster champions’ approach is the way forward. They defend and attack en masse. Eleven Donegal men scored against Down in last Sunday’s Ulster final, including corner-back Frank McGlynn, who scored a superb goal, while full-back Declan Walsh scored two points from play.
It’s simplistic to maintain that instructing players to get behind the ball, when the opposition have it, is a purely defensive approach. It is if the players who are dropping back aren’t fit or keen enough to get back up the field in the event of a turnover.
However if, in this instance, Clare adopted that approach against Kerry and were to turn over possession, they would have several options in terms of players supporting the play back up field. Of course, it would be important to ensure that David Tubridy, Rory Donnelly and Michael O’Shea are kept close to goal and that Clare wouldn’t completely lose their shape in the event of going with this strategy.
If Clare don’t change their approach, which didn’t lay a finger on Cork, it is likely that Kerry will run out comfortable winners. That is, unless Kerry are not as motivated this weekend as they were in Killarney last Saturday. If Kerry are as lax as they were against Westmeath in Mullingar two weeks ago, Clare have a chance, as long as Micheál McDermott’s team are completely motivated and armed with a cohesive game plan.
Their insistence against Cork of going man to man was laudable but would be likely to end in failure again. Every leading county gets players behind the ball and uses the same players to support their attacking forays back up the field.
The concession of 3-16 from play against Cork is the clearest indication that Clare must do something about their defensive strategy. Kilmurry Ibrickane’s Martin McMahon definitely won’t be part of the solution, having refused to come on as a substitute against Cork. He hasn’t trained since.
Most of the same players are likely to feature in the Clare backline, although perhaps Gordon Kelly might come in at wing-back to add a bit of steel to Clare, who conceded a mere six frees against Cork. That is not to encourage the concession of frees but giving away some in their own half would at least slow up Kerry in their efforts to break out of their own defence.
It will be interesting to see if Clare go with Enda Coughlan in the half-back line again or if he is moved back up to the half-forward division. The Brennan brothers did well at midfield against Cork, when they were paired there in the second half. Perhaps Ger Quinlan might be an option in attack or from the bench at some stage in the second half. Also, if David Russell is going to make an impact, he needs at least 20 minutes when introduced. The Kilkee man was brought on with 12 minutes remaining in the Munster final.
Clare have excellent forwards, as evidenced by their respectable 13-point Munster final tally. If Clare can tighten up defensively, they have a real chance of competing with Kerry. That’s all they should worry about – competing. Don’t dwell on the likely result, just worry about fighting for every ball. If Clare do that, the result will reflect their approach.
Kerry are overwhelming favourites and unless their stable of All-Stars take the result for granted and are not switched on, they will win comfortably.
Clare v Kerry will throw in at 7pm in The Gaelic Grounds on Saturday.