I see some people mistakenly saying that Dublin played a blanket defence against Derry in their Allianz League match on Saturday.
Dublin only did that because of the way Derry set up. The only way to beat that Derry set-up is to mirror it yourself. I've said this a hundred and one different times.
Dublin have finally copped onto the fact that you can't commit too many bodies forward and allow them to hit you on the break.
So Dublin are doing to other teams what they do to them and it makes for a horrible game.
I see Derry playing that new 14-1 formation @JoeBrolly1993 pic.twitter.com/Iag8IyAELY
— Colm Parkinson (@Woolberto) March 28, 2015
The thing that stood out for me was when we first saw this with Donegal and Dublin back in 2011, the whole country was horrified. But we've become so desensitised to it now that this didn't even create much of a ripple.
I know the fans at the game booed every now and then but it's not the same media storm as what it was back in 2011.
It's the very same tactics. In the Tyrone v Dublin game, I counted 14 outfield players behind the ball, inside their own '45. Derry were the same.
They left McGuckian up in the forward line and all other 13 players were behind the ball inside the '45. It's impossible to get through that. I don't care what team it is. There's too many bodies in a small condensed space, covering the scoring area.
They'll allow Dublin to get it on either wing because you're not going to score from there, or from outside the '45. Once you get inside there, you're just being swarmed by players and there's no getting through it.
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