Kerry A Crazy Price For Sam

The Provincial Championships are nearly complete, and the All Ireland Series is but a couple of weeks away. It has been an entertaining summer so far, and there has been plenty of exciting matches on offer, as well as the usual few snoozefests. The highlight so far has to be the cracking contest between Westmeath and Meath, a truly ding dong battle that featured some excellent attacking football, as well as some questionable defending, a combination that usually guarantees a thrilling spectacle.
Cork and Kerry was another exciting, high scoring game, and Kerry were lucky to escape with a draw thanks to an unbelievable last minute point from Fionn Fitzgerald, one that his namesake Maurice would have been proud of.
Dublin have predictably swept all before them in Leinster again, and they have looked as slick an attacking force as ever in disposing of their opponents with ruthless efficiency. However, they still seem to be lacking a lynchpin type figure at centre half back, and there has looked to be plenty of open space in front of the full back line at times. There is no doubting that more accomplished outfits will target that space, as Donegal did so brilliantly last year, and it remains to be seen whether Dublin have learned from that shock defeat.
Although Kerry could only manage a draw against Cork, I believe they are by far the most likely winners of this years All Ireland. They still have the vast majority of last years wining squad, and they also have Colm Cooper back from injury and Tommy Walsh back from Australia. Cooper has been used mainly as an impact sub so far, and seems to be slowly working his way back to full fitness. Surely the plan is for him to peak for late August/September, and if he does it is doubtful he will be left on the bench.
Tommy Walsh is an interesting one, as he has yet to be used at all in this years championship since returning from an unspectacular stint down under. Some have suggested that he may be struggling to re-adapt to Gaelic Football, but I'm not too sure about that argument. He played football his whole life, and only spent a couple of years in Oz. There is no way he would have forgotten how to play in that short a time. Who knows why he hasn't featured, but when he does he will be some weapon for Fitzmaurice to call upon.
Fitzmaurice is as cute an operator as they come, and seems to be an extremely tactically astute manager. When Kerry win they can do so in a number of different ways. They can turn on the style and play open attractive football with the best of them, and they can also win ugly when needed, as they did in the Final last year against Donegal. Most teams have their way of playing, be it blanket defence, sweepers, two man full forward line or a quick hand passing game.Kerry have all these strings to their bow, and they look well equipped to mount a serious challenge this summer.
Dublin on the other hand seem to have stuck to the blueprint that failed so spectacularly against Donegal in last years semi final. Tyrone showed in the League that they were still vulnerable to a defensive, quick counter attacking system, and it remains to be seen whether Jim Gavin has a Plan B up his sleeve.
 McCaffrey and McCarthy are still both bombing forward from wing back, and there have been a couple of different lads tried at centre half back, Cian O'Sullivan the latest against Westmeath. He is essentially another attack minded player though, and has a tendency to drift forward. Dublin desperately miss the presence of Ger Brennan  in this position. He had no problem sitting and letting the wing backs do the attacking, and any counter attack through the middle was met with steely resistance (Just ask Declan O'Sullivan!). He is a typically tough, no nonsense Dublin centre half back with excellent distribution, and reminds me of Keith Barr in many ways. Dublin are a poorer side without him, and unless they plug the gap he has left they will remain vulnerable.
Jim Gavin looked like a genius in his first year as manager in 2013. Dublin won the All Ireland with the minimum of fuss, and did so playing an all out attacking brand of football with a flair and flamboyance that drew praise from many quarters. However, his laissez-faire style of management looked to backfire in 2014 when Donegal came up with a plan to halt the unstoppable Blue Machine. Gavin has often claimed that his input at half time in matches is minimal, and he leaves the players to sort things out among themselves. I always found this to be a strange philosophy, as no matter what level of the game is involved players need guidance and instruction before they go out on the pitch, both before the match starts and at half time. If his claims are indeed true, the players did not find the answers during the interval against Donegal, and capitulated tamely after the Northeners had weathered the early  Dublin storm.
 In the second half The Dubs half backs continued to bomb forward, and Donegal picked their way through an exposed full back line with consummate ease. It really was shocking how naive Dublin looked both tactically and defensively, and their current price of 10/11 looks extremely skinny given that they have yet to be tested this year. Westmeath exposed the gaps in their defence on a few occasions in the Leinster Final, but just lacked the quality in their team to capitalise. The likes of Kerry, Donegal and perhaps even Mayo will be looking forward to meeting that defence later this summer, and their forwards definitely have the class and ability to make hay if the opportunity arises.
Kerry though look the strongest outfit left in the competition, and 4/1 is truly a head scratching price. Fitzmaurice is a shrewd operator, and he will have this team peaking both mentally and physically at the business end of the championship. They are a confident selection to go all the way.

All Ireland Winners Outright: Kerry 4/1.