Thinking like Stephen Rochford

Analysis
Edwin McGreal

IT’S been very hard to second guess Mayo manager Stephen Rochford’s line-outs and formations this year. The expectation is that on Sunday he will come with some left field selections again. Certainly Dublin will not know how Mayo are going to line out until the ball is thrown in.
We look at some options which Rochford, Donie Buckley, Tony McEntee and SeΡn Carey might be considering this week.

Midfield Matters
THE expectation is that Tom Parsons will start alongside Seamie O’Shea in midfield with Donie Vaughan moving back to defence. However, the fact that Parsons has not started either of the last two games, despite being fully fit, makes you reconsider the role Rochford sees him in. Does he envisage Parsons as a player he wants to bring on and stretch the game with his athleticism whilst others are tiring?
The counter point to that is who will start at midfield if not Parsons?
Perhaps Vaughan with someone else coming in to defence. Or else maybe a surprise start in midfield for Barry Moran. Many wonder about whether he will have the athleticism for a midfield starting role against the likes of Brian Fenton and Michael Darragh MacAuley.
But if Rochford’s plan is to stifle the game in the first half, maybe Moran would be a much more comfortable starter and what a player to have to bring on at half-time or after in Tom Parsons when the game opens up.

The twin towers?
ANOTHER possible role for Barry Moran could be in a full-forward line with Aidan O’Shea. There’s little doubt that the Dubs would be under pressure if those two got enough good ball inside. But, against that, the likes of Philly McMahon and Jonny Cooper would try to run them the other way too. This could be a tactic if Mayo are chasing the game too.

What toa ask of Aidan?
HOW to make the most of Aidan O’Shea seems to be a question ahead of every game for Mayo. O’Shea can do serious damage at midfield, centre-half forward and full-forward.
This year he has had a fluid role in games, moving in and out of full-forward. It makes planning for him more difficult for the opposition. Last year against Dublin O’Shea struggled to influence the game at full-forward. Though often isolated, O’Shea was on the backfoot when his direct opponent, Philly McMahon, ran him the other way.
Mayo need the Breaffy ‘bomber’ dictating the game to Dubs and not they to him. It will take more than just O’Shea for that to happen. It may mean half forwards helping to track forward runs from the Dublin full-back line and also getting good ball into him when he has support around him.

The role of Alan Dillon
AFTER his successful deployment for the first half of the Tyrone game, some people are talking about Alan Dillon starting on Sunday to do a similar job — exploit Cian O’Sullivan’s wish to sit deep and go looking for ball around the middle, unopposed.
That worked well against Tyrone but they played two sweepers. Dublin have plenty of other options to track Dillon, especially if Mayo play a sweeper themselves.
The Ballintubber veteran could certainly do a job off the bench if Mayo are chasing the game or holding a lead where someone of Dillon’s composure and passing ability would be vital.

Bring Barrett in from the off
IF Mayo look at playing Donie Vaughan in midfield, a gap opens up in defence.
Keith Higgins, Brendan Harrison, Lee Keegan, Colm Boyle and Paddy Durcan will all start there, but who would be the sixth? If he has enough work done, it has to be Chris Barrett. He would be capable of picking up the likes of Bernard Brogan or Dean Rock but the big question is over how much match sharpness he has.
While he has come off the bench in the last three games, the fact that the earliest he came on was after 57 minutes against Tyrone, would make you wonder if starting is an option. Perhaps the last four weeks are a help though but as we discuss further on, Rochford will need defenders in reserve too.

Will Keegan take Connolly?
THE belief in Mayo right now is that Diarmuid Connolly is having sleepless nights worrying about Lee Keegan marking him on Sunday. Whether he is or not, Connolly is certainly preparing for a battle with Keegan, a man he has continuously struggled to best in recent years.
Is that dominance bound to change eventually, and is Keegan’s marking role likely to blunt his attacking play? If Stephen Rochford thinks the answer is ‘yes’ to both of those questions, he may well consider pulling a surprise and putting someone like Colm Boyle on Connolly and giving Keegan more license to attack.

Could Andy be a handy sub?
OKAY, it may sound like sacrilege but bear with us.
Andy Moran has been one of Mayo’s best performers in Croke Park this year. His form is one of the main reasons Mayo are in the final. So why would you drop him? Well, we don’t think it’s a case of dropping him, more a case of ensuring he’s on the pitch at the end.
In the last three games Moran has been withdrawn in the final ten minutes. Given how well he’s playing, he would be a huge loss if he departed in an All-Ireland Final going down the home strait and very little between the teams. Of course not starting him runs the risk of leaving you too much of a hill to climb.
Another alternative would be to do what Mickey Harte did with Peter Canavan in 2003/05 — start him, substitute him at half time and bring him back on near the end.
If Andy Moran has a full game in him, then this is a moot point.

Defensive reinforcements
IT’S often said that in order to match Dublin in the final quarter, you need to match their fresh legs off the bench with fresh direct opponents. That is something that was lost in the aftermath of the Kerry game when people questioned Marc O Se’s introduction.
Whilst it was baffling that Paul Geaney was the player withdrawn, bringing in Ó Sé made sense as the Dubs were effectively playing with eight forwards, what with Diarmuid Connolly in midfield and CiarΡn Kilkenny in the half-back line.
If the same six Dublin forwards start from the Kerry game, Stephen Rochford will have to be ready for the introduction of players like Paddy Andrews, Paul Mannion, Eoghan O’Gara and Cormac Costello.
Mayo’s defensive subs from the semi-final were Chris Barrett, Stephen Coen, Kevin Keane and Shane Nally. All may see game-time depending on how starters are faring. A defender getting a black card in the first half is not a scenario Rochford will want to deal with either.

Surprise starter options
IF it’s not Alan Dillon who starts, are there other forwards who could come into the mix for a surprise selection from the throw-in? Have the likes of Conor O’Shea, Evan Regan, Alan Freeman or Conor Loftus shown Rochford something in the last four weeks that is putting them in the mix?
Is he tempted by the thought of finishing, rather than starting, the game with Andy Moran? Could the same apply to Jason Doherty, who brought a lot of forward threat off the bench against Kildare?
That was the evening Regan kicked 1-4. He has not impressed off the bench since. Maybe it’s start or nothing for the Ballina man. Like so much about Sunday, we will not be surprised to see a curved ball thrown in here too.

Sweeping chances?
THE assumption is Mayo will play with a sweeper, but if Rochford feels Dublin’s sweeper is more important to them than Kevin McLoughlin’s role is to Mayo (a big if, we are at pains to add), then he might push up.
Doing so would engage Cian O’Sullivan and allow for man-on-man contests in the Mayo full-forward line. Trouble is it would be the same at the other end of the field and Mayo would effectively be trying to take on Dublin in a shoot-out.
Doing so for the full game would be a highwire tactic.
However, it might be a tactic that would work for five minutes here and there when Mayo feel they can reap a dividend, tying in with pushing up on Stephen Cluxton’s kick-outs.
All in all, this could be a titanic game of chess played at breakneck speed.