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The modus operandi of this Mayo team, led by James Horan, is and has always been very simple. They will apply to each contest in their own way, imposing their style of football without rest and the cards will fall as they want.
That belief in what they do can be a really powerful accelerator for any team. It requires a total commitment to the cause and lends itself to performances linked to the character of the players.
In simple terms, once the green and red jersey is on, all of the players pursue the game as hard as they can through perfection, mistakes, and anything in between.
Adventure culture
From afar, it’s hard not to have great admiration for the almost magical sense of purpose that his group feels when he watches Mayo play. The sense of adventure and invincibility is a credit not only to James Horan but also to the culture of May football.
Mayo absolutely believes in his own ability to compete and perform at a level that opponents cannot resist on any given day. They seem confident that if they apply their entire skill set to the dynamics of any game and combine it with high-intensity, clinical decision-making in the middle of a battle, anyone can win.
That approach explains why so many neutrals gravitate toward Connacht’s champions. The spirit and freedom in his game are not found in any of Ireland’s other rivals, including Dublin. The empowerment that players feel by not being afraid to take a chance or play instinctively is inspiring and, captured as part of the game plan, can transform performances.
Of course, the absolute belief in the power of anything leaves believers blindly exposed to their weaknesses and while they were comfortably the best team in the Connacht final, those vulnerabilities left the door open for Galway.
Inefficiency in attack
On Sunday we saw the strengths and weaknesses of the Mayo approach. There were periods in both halves where Galway struggled to contain, in the first place, the innate athleticism of this Mayo team, but also the variety of attacking threats it contains across the field. However, the winners’ policy of “going after him” hurts more in the last third.
The return of scores from the first half sums up some of that pretty succinctly. Playing with a breeze at his back and with Galway stubbornly defending, Mayo created and fired seventeen shots, not unimpressive given the conditions, setting, and pressure through Galway’s numbers, but he made just eight.
Sunday’s game Highlights Reel had no trouble picking up passages of fluid build-up and scores from Tommy Conroy, Cillian and Diarmaid O’Connor and Paddy Durcan in the first half. But the clear and pragmatic picture at halftime was that despite playing most of the football and getting attention, they only outscored Galway by three points.
The numbers don’t lie
It’s the play that stays on the cutting room floor that hurts Mayo over the course of games. There were several examples of ambitious (stupid) shots taken in the first half that should have been worked in areas with a higher percentage of return. According to their belief system, no reprimand follows what is considered overconfidence in those situations and the next reckless attack is never far away.
The numbers don’t lie and Mayo’s conversion rate at the break was a frustratingly low 47%. Compare that to Galway, who lived on scraps and ventured into the middle of May infrequently, but lost just one opportunity to score in the first half to stay in the game.
During the first half, despite the breeze, when they crossed midway, Galway always had an inward kick pass option. As always, Mayo’s enthusiasm on the front foot often exposed his line of defense to counterattack. Over the course of the game, with the best of creative intentions, Mayo spun the ball 24 times, a number that will cost them any game against Dublin.
Galway’s lost opportunity
Three areas of Mayo’s game combined to keep Galway in the game: poor shot selection, silly turnovers, and lack of urgency to protect his entire baseline from early kicks.
Galway didn’t really force any of those factors, but it almost took full advantage. In the second half they constantly searched for their inside forwards with a breeze-assisted long ball, but most of the time they didn’t win those balls. Neither Conneely nor Burke had the movement or pace to pull off what could have been a match-winning serve. Often times, the mercurial Shane Walsh would throw those balls when ideally he would have been at the bottom of them.
Damien Comer’s presentation seemed perfectly timed to address Galway’s problem of winning the ball on the inside, but it became obvious that the sharpness of the match just wasn’t there. Comer’s handling errors probably affected his teammates and as he got further away from goal, he was not in a position to solve the problem that Padraic Joyce needed to address.
May football identity
The people of Mayo have always had the feeling that their team’s swashbuckling style is a very important part of their identity as a football county. Understandably, he takes pride in his team’s approach to the game, especially given the larger context of increasingly cautious “systems.”
Newcomer Eoghan McLaughlin’s Sunday lesson may be timely and something of an epiphany. After the entire run and creative use of the ball, McLaughlin rescued Connacht’s title and a place in the Irish semi-final thanks to his reaction to Sean Kelly’s goal in the final seconds of injury time. There was only room for cruelty or defeat at the time and McLaughlin did what he had to do, as well as contributing generously to Mayo’s overall performance.
To win the most important games you have to do what is necessary and that is not always comfortable. If Mayo is to win his last two games of the season, he will need to give serious thought to the facets of his game that offer initiative to opponents.
Sometimes forcing a pass, putting a man in traffic or going off the shoulder is not the high-percentage play. It takes leadership on the field to make those decisions in real time and not give your opponent both possession and opportunity. That decision-making process for players begins off the court with coaches helping them understand risk and reward.
Just as important is Mayo’s need to protect his defense line from early passes. Playing without the urge to take the weapon away from opponents could have cost the game on Sunday and will cost games against more ruthless opponents.
The brand of champions
This group of Mayo players has consistently shown in recent years that they can mix and beat the best teams in the country. His ability is never in doubt. To take the final step towards the level Dublin has been operating at, they must quickly add a tougher edge to their decision making on and off the field.
Anticipating and reacting to minimize the opportunities opponents have against you in any game does not diminish your position as a team. It is the mark of champions.
With perhaps the greatest chance to end their 69-year famine at their fingertips, the folks of Mayo must be wondering if a mild inclination toward pragmatism might be the golden ingredient they’ve been looking for.
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