Dublin are National League champions and 6/5 favourites, but can anyone stop them from winning Sam?
Conor Heneghan from JOE.ie says: YES
Dublin are 6/5 favourites to win this year’s All-Ireland title and they’re 6/5 favourites for a reason.
They’re currently the best team in the country. Their squad has the greatest strength in depth.
Their path to the All-Ireland semi-finals is nigh on guaranteed and they are managed by a man who is tactically astute, level-headed and has made winning a habit.
But can they be stopped from winning this year’s All-Ireland? Of course they can.
Dublin may be 6/5 favourites but ask yourself this: if a bookie gave you the choice of Dublin winning the All-Ireland or any of the other 31 teams winning the All-Ireland, both at even money, who would your money be on?
Dublin are a long way from the team that used to become suffocated by hype at the business end of the championship, but as was the case when they were ambushed by Donegal last year, they are still vulnerable.
Looking at the Dublin team forensically, it’s hard to pick holes because it’s an impressive unit with any amount of replacements willing to take the place of any man not pulling his weight.
But it’s not bulletproof.
Losing one of Stephen Cluxton, Rory O’Carroll, Paul Flynn or Diarmuid Connolly would be a terrible blow.
The loss of Eoghan O’Gara, whose physicality offers a different threat in the full-forward line, has perhaps been underestimated.
Eoghan O’Gara’s loss could be crucial for Dublin
That’s all hypothetical, of course and injuries can affect any team.
Even with a full strength squad, however, I have my doubts about Dublin at centre-back and, as was noted on the Sunday Game at the weekend, a man to nullify the threat of the marquee forward on a top class opposition side.
Jim Gavin isn’t likely to be as tactically naive as he was against Donegal by the time Dublin face that top-class opposition later this season, but how ready will they be for the task that awaits them?
They beat Longford by 27 points on Sunday. They’ll probably be comfortable victors over Kildare or Laois in the semi-final and whoever faces them from the other side of the draw in the Leinster final.
Dublin can only beat what’s in front of them after all but consider the path the other leading contenders will face between now and August.
If Donegal get through Ulster, they’ll have beaten Tyrone, Armagh, Derry or Down and probably Monaghan to make it to the last eight.
Donegal will be well battle-hardened if they can make it through to the last eight
Mayo have had it pretty easy in Connacht in recent years but if they can land their fifth title on the trot this time, they’ll have to overcome two vastly improving sides in Galway and Roscommon.
Down south, a Tipperary side on the up and old rivals Cork stand in Kerry’s way and if Cork can get their act together, they might even force the reigning All-Ireland Champions on a detour through the qualifiers.
Dublin have found out twice in the last four years how tough it is to win back to back All-Ireland titles but the truth is it’s bloody hard to win one full stop.
If they do it in 2015, they’ll have deserved it, but I wouldn’t go counting my chickens if I was a Dublin fan just yet.
Conán Doherty of SportsJOE.ie says: NO
There’s no logical reason that would suggest Dublin could be stopped. There’s no scientific reason either.
They’re the best side in the country. They’re the best trained side in the country. They have one of the best managers in the country.
Dublin have only started getting the wheels turning on their frightening machine. Their merciless obliteration of Longford is just a taster of what is sure to come and we’re only a matter of weeks away from once again hearing the cries that the county should be split in two. Because it’s not fair.
Because they’re too good.
Expect more of the same
In the last two and a half seasons, the league champions have scaled new heights. Physically, they are virtually unstoppable.
Jim Gavin’s men are a suffocating hybrid of an impenetrable watertight safety and an all consuming tsunami wave. You can’t get through them and you can be damn sure that you can’t stop them coming through.
Even against Donegal last season – the best defensive set-up that this sport has ever seen – Dublin should’ve had them dead and buried by half time as wave after wave washed over Jim McGuinness’ shell-shocked Ulster men.
Okay, the capital outfit were eventually caught. Last year.
But even in the face of blankets and whatnot, they have shown that they are almost impossible to contain. And they have also shown that they have learned from their mistakes.
They took some of the flak along with Derry back in March for playing out a dull 12-point defensive stand-off. The northern men came to Croke Park and flooded their backline, looking to hit Dublin on the break, Gavin refused to let them. They filtered back in numbers themselves, they set up their own blanket and they beat Derry at their own game.
It’s simple, really. If the Dubs work like any other side, if they match any other side, then they always have the players to out-shoot any other side.
Right now, Michael Darragh MacAuley is on their bench. Michael Darragh Mac-bloody-Auley.
Eoghan O’Gara is injured, Cormac Costello is floating around somewhere too and the sky blue outfit still boast the best attack on the island. The best. Bar none.
They are the only team who could run at you, pick your pockets, thread passes, turn the ball over high up the field, shoot from distance and open up 19 goal chances a game. Approximately.
And they’re adapting all the time. Against Longford, they showed clear trends that they are trying to move the ball quicker, trying to keep their pass count down and attempting to finish their attacks sooner, rather than being caught with men behind the ball.
At the back, they are strong, they have numbers back themselves – although not every Dubliner would admit it – and, well, if they catch you in a footrace to the other end of the field, you may forget all about it.
The best side have the best tactics and the best physical presence to boast. Dublin won’t be caught this year. How could they be?
