DEAD END…Donegal have to stop thinking about the defensive, and focus more on the offensive, according to Kevin Cassidy

Since the game we have heard the usual “agh sure they didn’t want to be there” and “they only stated training a few weeks ago.” Nonsensical statements and, to be honest, none of them wash with me.

How can a team that has been back training since last November not be fit enough to at least try and compete with the Dubs at this time of year bearing in mind that the Dubs have at least another two or three gears to shift through themselves?

I will be the first to vouch that League and Championship are two totally different animals and that come the summer no one will even remember League form, but as a player you always wanted to finish it strongly so that you were in the correct frame of mind going forward.

Every team in the country will knuckle down now to find that extra gear or two but to think that this is the only reason for Donegal’s poor finish would be foolish.

I have said here on a number of occasions over the last two years that I felt that the style of football we have adopted in this county in recent years would come back to haunt us and that day may have come.

When Donegal had major success playing the counter-attacking defensive football, it was plain to see that this style would be taxing on the body. It required ridiculous fitness levels and in order to get into that shape it took great sacrifices and effort and to sustain that over a long period of time would have been impossible.

We placed more emphasis on picking players based on fitness levels rather than natural ability and this was the case from minor grade, u-21 and senior so now we are left with a pool of players that can only really play the one way.

Dublin showed that even if Donegal had the legs that they could have dealt with their defensive game plan because teams have now adapted their own game plans to make sure that they are not caught again.

Teams with better footballers are now being coached on how to be patient on the ball and how to breakdown the blanket defence rather than to try and play their natural game, which is the trap that teams playing that system want you to fall into.

Rory has placed a lot of faith in the hope that when he puts his squad through their paces over the next month or so, they can once more deliver on Championship days.

Looking in I really hope that this is the case because Rory is a good guy and he deserves a lot of credit both for the part he played in bringing Donegal back to the top table a few years back and also for having the balls to step up as manager when Jim bolted.

As a Donegal man I believe it is maybe time to return to the drawing board. At underage level it is imperative that we stop coaching our teams to play this defensive football as it is impeding on our ability to produce technically gifted footballers who can play any system or style.

In this county all club teams, developments squads and school teams virtually play the same system so for the good of the game here in this county we desperately need some coaches to buck the trend.
Let’s get back to playing and coaching football, the path we have chosen over the last few years has run its course, good teams are no longer being caught like rabbits in the headlights so what you are left with is results like last Sunday.

The better teams are now more patient, more clinical and smarter when in possession so this means that they can go a few points ahead of you which means you must come out and play which in turn isolates your defenders who are so used to having extra bodies around them that they can no longer handle the one-to-one combat. Once this happens the floodgates open and you are on a hiding to nothing.
I can’t see any major changes happening while this current set of players and management are at the helm so all we can hope for is that the older brigade have enough in the tank to give us one more summer.
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