Words: Iarla Muldoon
Dublin have won the All-Ireland for 4 seasons in a row. They have won five of the last six leagues. They have won 36 of the last 90 all star awards(an average of over a third of the awards each year).
Yet this season, they look far from the world-beaters they were proclaimed to be last September.
They are currently fifth in Division 1 with just one game yet to play. On Saturday, Dublin lost to Mickey Harte’s Tyrone side by 3 points, a team they brushed aside in the All-Ireland semi-final just over 6 months ago.
Tyrone’s three time All-Ireland winning medalist Enda McGinley joined us on OTB AM this morning to share his thoughts on what exactly has happened the Dublin team’s form this season.
"Dublin looked a shadow of themselves," he said. "They looked flat and they looked beat from 15/20 minutes out which was stunning to see."
So what’s the problem? McGinley thinks it’s a problem up front for the ‘Boys in Blue’ and the noticeable absence of one of the game’s most skillful and gifted players to ever play the game.
Diarmuid Connolly.
'On Saturday night, you could see they were missing that go-to player, an on-field leader...'
Enda McGinley revealed he'd not be overly surprised if Dublin's Jim Gavin found reason to recall Diarmuid Connolly pic.twitter.com/FX0q1m0I4P— Off The Ball (@offtheball) March 20, 2019
Leader
"On Saturday night, you could see they were missing that go-to player, an on-field leader."
McGinley isn’t suggesting that Connolly’s skill alone will win Dublin another championship, but rather be the player they can rely on to turn a game in their favour when their other five or six forwards are misfiring.
"They were missing their on field leader. They were missing that star that they could go to when the rest of the team was struggling."
A go-to player of Connolly’s calibre and of his stature in this squad could certainly turn the tide and help this fading side bounce back to their best.
Catch Enda McGinley’s entire chat on our Youtube channel.
