A departure from their tactical preference in the drawn All-Ireland final, Aaron Kernan diagnosed the key issues with Kerry's early attempts to test Dublin's defenders with long-balls from deep.
In what appeared to be an attempt on Kerry's behalf to hit Dublin for an early goal in Saturday's replayed All-Ireland final, the series of long-balls into Stephen Cluxton's proximity caused little or no real concern.
Although reluctant to criticise Kerry for what was a determined plan to unsettle the five-in-a-row chasing Dublin, Kernan highlighted two inescapable flaws in their attempt.
"There were two issues," he explained to Off the Ball.
"The ball was never being kicked from the '45, it was being kicked from near midfield which meant that it was too easy to read from a Dublin perspective.
"After the first one, that flight of the ball may take three or four seconds and any quality player who's switched on will cover that ground to be underneath a break.
"That's what Johnny Cooper and Eoin Murchan were doing really well."
Where much had been made in the pre-game build-up of whether or not Peter Keane would introduce Tommy Walsh from the start, his decision to hold Walsh in reserve appeared misguided if it was Kerry's intention to attack from above.
However, beyond the potential impact Walsh could have had in such circumstances, Kernan pointed to the ineffectual positioning of Kerry's corner-forwards as a particular disappointment.
"[The ball] was always nearly to an isolated Kerry player," he explained.
"If you're going to go route one, yes you have your target man, but the two corner-forwards need to be hoovering up under the breaks as well."
Insistent that Kerry's approach was not problematic in theory, Kernan is at a loss as to what would have informed the defeated finalist's ill-informed attempt at implementing it.
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