They’ve been caught before but 140 minutes off a third successive All-Ireland, it’d take a brave punter to bet against the champions.
They have the players and the athleticism and they sure as hell have the hunger too but Dublin’s formation is helping them to no end on top of all of that.
Jim Gavin’s an astute man and ever since that defeat to Donegal in 2014, the capital have been formidable in the championship and they’re ready for any blockade.
Against Monaghan in the quarter-finals, they brought serious intensity – probably much more than they needed to in hindsight – and they brought respect for the opposition.
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They prepared diligently for the Farney challenge and they were ready for a packed defence so they just worked right around it.
On The GAA Hour, Dublin’s formation was discussed at length – how they created space for attacks and how they weakened that central channel of the opposition rearguard.
The key was width. Patience. Discipline.
Colm Parkinson discussed what Jim Gavin had them doing against Monaghan.
“They will not bring the ball into contact unless they have an out ball outside them,” Wooly said.
“When they were attacking and Monaghan were back in their defensive shape, James McCarthy would pull out and he’d be on the sideline around the 45′. Then Paddy Andrews would be on the sideline around the 21′. There were two others on the other side, Mannion and Lowndes.
“They are four lads posted on the 45′ and 21′, hugging the touch line. So they are out balls if you get caught up – you can throw it back out to them. Then at the very top of the thing, you have Fenton, you have Cian O’Sullivan and you might have Kilkenny floating around going in and out – they’re always probing.
“The thing about having the lads posted over on the side is that Monaghan had men turned around facing them. This is James McCarthy coming in at pace, he has to be watched. So immediately, their middle is weakened because they have to four lads watching these men out on the sideline.
“It’s like this unbelievably well-oiled machine, they know how to work it. They have somebody coming off the shoulder, if they get bottled up, it’s straight back out and then they try again.”
Now it’s about readying them for Tyrone’s formation.
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