How Kevin McStay has tweaked Mayo's style of play
by Martin Carney, GAA's foremost columnist
Few will argue with the opinion that Jim McGuinness is the architect of the style of football that is commonplace now.
After a winning audition in 2012, when Donegal landed their second ever All-Ireland title at Mayo’s expense, teams the length and breadth of the country at both club and county level began copying an approach where the emphasis on an ultra-defensive football took precedence over everything else.
Fifteen men behind the ball became the norm, protecting possession at all costs was sacred, and a reliance on fast counter-attacking for scores was seen as the optimum means of scoring.
Levels of athleticism, strength and power assumed an importance that hitherto had remained secondary.
Lateral passing, patient probing through never-ending handpassing sequences added to the expansion of the goalkeeping role have changed the optics of the game considerably.
Conforming to rigid positional roles and pre-arranged patterns are the norm.
Players are expected to sacrifice instinct and flair in favour of formula.
Creating and maintaining a strong and central defensive plank demands collective and individual understanding of the coaches' wishes, exceptional concentration and levels of stamina to maintain shape throughout.
And yet, for all the undoubted hard work and levels of organisation that are devoted to preparing teams, a reasonable question to ask is: Are we watching a game that is more entertaining than was the case in the past?
Man to man marking is less evident now; marking space, screening the scoring zones and conforming to pattern is prioritised.
Taking risk is frowned on.
In some cases, I have heard of the 80:20 rule when it comes to shooting; this being that players are discouraged from going for scores unless that are 80% certain of scoring!
Kicking the ball from distance, in particular with purpose, into a full-forward line has become a seldom-executed skill.
On reflection, it’s those who have achieved a balance between the short handpassing, possession-orientated game with moving the ball forward by foot who have been the most successful.
Kevin McStay, to his credit, has recognised this and this year Mayo have tweaked their style of play to strike a balance between the short handpassing, possession-orientated game with moving the ball forward by foot. It has brought some success so far.
By deploying Aidan O’Shea primarily as a target man, we have seen more direct ball going into the full-forward line and the team appears comfortable in executing this approach.
Seeing how the next few months pan out will be interesting.
Will the game remain a captive of the rigid, formulaic approach that has become commonplace or will we see flair, free-thinking and more expressive play become centre-stage?
One way or the other, three interesting months await.