The McGuinness method is pushing rivals to break point
JIM McGUINNESS has the Wimbledon wow factor. You know how kids take up tennis for a fortnight every year, influenced by the hype from London SW19, well there is still a child inside all of us.
I found mine at the training pitch in Listowel this week; hopping on to it inspired and excited by what I had consumed watching a Jim McGuinness masterclass last weekend.
There were so many elements to Donegal’s performance that thrilled but the one element which tickled my fancy was just how quickly they were able to not just transition when counter-attacking, but also in how they were able to change the point of their attack.
One of the hardest things to do when confronted with a set block is to move the ball quickly enough to the other side that the opposition are unable to filter bodies across to stop their line being breached. It is not easy, it needs to be perfectly choreographed and clinically executed, with all moving parts certain of their roles.
After half an hour on the pitch, I was taken back to my delusional youth, the days when I realised on my own front lawn that I was probably closer to Postman Pat than Pat Cash.
It didn’t work and it wasn’t the players’ fault. I left the field feeling that prior to the pitch session, I should really have got across in a meeting room what we were trying to achieve and how we were going to do it. Coaching is 99% preparation and 1% inspiration.
You can bet that what McGuinness makes look so easy is the result of studied detail, of rehearsed preparation, of absolute clarity of purpose, all rehearsed to the point that it becomes almost instinctive.
Those of us who wondered what his second coming would look like now know that it looks a lot like his first. Despite the changes in personnel and adapting to an evolving game, the core principles remain: knowing the opposition’s gameplan inside out, hammering the hammer in the process, and every player in the group being not just certain of their role, but having bought into the belief that if they execute they’ll win. He might as well never have been away.
This time last year, Donegal were on a seven-game winless streak, suffered relegation from Division 1, exited Ulster to a Division 3 team and sacrificed a manager to a player coup.
Twelve months on they are unbeaten, Division 2 winners and have taken out the Allianz League champions in Ulster, so you can believe Tyrone’s discomfort heading for Celtic Park this afternoon will be real.
If Brin Dooher has one source of comfort, it is that at least his team has not been exposed to the level of scrutiny which Derry were, and the sense was that McGuinness had his eyes on Mickey Harte’s team for an age.
The targeting of Odhran Lynch’s flykeeper role was the obvious outcome of that and with three of their four goals coming directly from long kick-outs, it paid off even more handsomely than McGuinness could possibly have envisaged.
But what really impressed was the manner in which he shut down the Derry attack, and as ever with McGuinness it was not about the structure of having 15 men behind the ball at times, but the purpose with which they went about their business.
Prior to last Saturday, the assumption was that if you invited Derry onto you, they would crack you open by shifting the defensive block to a point where they would be left with one-on-one match-ups, which would be to their advantage – something they executed to perfection in last year’s Ulster semifinal against Monaghan.
That did not happen last Saturday evening because Donegal kept a set block down the middle ensuring that there would be no pathway through on goal. But I don’t buy the analysis that in doing so they gave up the sideline space to Derry. When Derry sought space out there, a Donegal player always sprang and not just to screen but to engage.
There is a reason why Derry had 34 shots at the posts and an execution rate below 50%. It’s because they were pressed into either making bad kicks or bad decisions.
That is the beauty of Donegal under McGuinness, there is no posturing in defence, there is no zonal heat map they are guided by. They get in your face, they get in their tackles and usually you remain tackled.
You can be certain that Tyrone will be more judicious in their employment of Niall Morgan as a fly keeper this afternoon, especially if Shaun Patton – who is an injury doubt having limped out against Derry – is off the kicking tee, given how he decommissioned Conor Glass and Brendan Rogers by kicking over them.
But the one thing that will not change is that Donegal will suffocate what the Tyrone forward line will bring.
No more than Shane McGuigan, Darragh Canavan is a rare talent but he will not have faced the kind of structure, armed with purpose and clarity, that Donegal will bring today.
Because when you are playing Jim McGuinness, Centre Court can be a very cruel place to be.
‘DONEGAL GET IN YOUR FACE, THEY GET IN THEIR TACKLES’