The beautiful game

[raphael]

Hopefully in a few years the Armagh team will be back playing total football at the Athletic Grounds.
No dunting or shoving or using upper body strength to wrestle the ball from an opponent.
Instead players with skill and speed will be treasured.

Realistically it will be a while before we see the sweet sweet 'total football' (exercised by the two Brians) once again from Armagh. Sadly last years minor lot are all about those evils of dunting and shoving and upper body weight.
Given the success of Tyrone's 'running game' from defence to offence which is so easy on the tv eye and Kerry's evergreen 'poetry in motion' approach, it is often a little embarrassing to hear Colm O'Rourke say on television ' Well we all know how Armagh teams play of late'
The crucial words being 'of late' which is a reference to the post 2001 period and the advent of the dunting shoving long ball black circus.

Football should not be about the negative stopping tactics where no skill or ability is needed except regular attendance at weight training.
Football is an art, for the skillful player to display everything that is good about ball control and interplay. In essence the positive things.

Playing at the Athletic Grounds (our Utopia) is an incentive for all players to display their skills.

[Armaghgeddon_02]

It dosent matter if it is a skill or not. The fact is, if you want to stop the opposition scoring, you have to do so by any means necessary [within the rules of the game]. Defending is just as much a vital skill than any other position on the pitch. The annoying thing however is that we all know Armagh can attack and they can certainly defend, they just need to balance it. Another thing, I couldn't give 2 sh**s how Armagh get to an All Ireland final if they get there.

They have to learn to play total football again anyway, they wont be able to defend against the likes of Cork. They will just run through the defence like paper.

[raphael]

Your probably right, the Armagh team are presently not good enough to compete with any of the top teams in a pure football sense and have not been since 2001. The admission of this is clear for all to see and evidenced by the advent of the negative 'dunting shoving long ball black circus'.
Your probably right, that Armagh should continue to concentrate on defence rather than offence. The forward division usually have to be more mobile to trek back and so that everyone is behind the ball. The defence was therefore generally less fleet footed.
To fully participate in this darker side of the game, the Armagh players would have to beef up their upper body strength as their stated aim was to stop or nullify any attack (rather than to play any football).
Pat Spillane with the assistance of TV and the media was able to bring to national attention the slow and cumbersome style of the Armagh defence which epitomised this negative defensive style.

Your probably right, that Armagh forward power has to be adequate given that one of them plays permanently in defence thereby stretching the space between the remainder of the forwards and consequently the big long ball needs to be hoofed upfield (that is when any forwards are occassionally upfield or if not it usually goes out over the sideline).

Now that Armagh are solely relying on an ageing veteran to score (mostly from frees) the limitations of this approach are beginning to come home to roost.

Another humbling by the free flowing 'running game' that is Tyrone would be too much to bear. So no doubt there is already a plan in place to make an honorable exit at the hands of Monaghan (assuming Monaghan's free taker is on song) or if not by their semi final opponents. This is really a measure of how pathetic Armagh has now become.
Thus the need to play the game in Casement (not for Armagh's benefit) as this will give the Monaghan victory much more credibility and no doubt cause enough of a stir in that county to drive them on to an Ulster Final with Tyrone at Croke Park.

You say you don't care how Armagh gets to the All Ireland final.
Truth is Armagh style of dunting shoving long ball black circus will lead you round Ireland and finish up being exposed by a mediocre team (in the second round of the qualifiers) with no more than one good forward who can kick points from play.

[Armaghgeddon_02]

Your probably right, the Armagh team are presently not good enough to compete with any of the top teams in a pure football sense and have not been since 2001. The admission of this is clear for all to see and evidenced by the advent of the negative 'dunting shoving long ball black circus'.
Your probably right, that Armagh should continue to concentrate on defence rather than offence. The forward division usually have to be more mobile to trek back and so that everyone is behind the ball. The defence was therefore generally less fleet footed.
To fully participate in this darker side of the game, the Armagh players would have to beef up their upper body strength as their stated aim was to stop or nullify any attack (rather than to play any football).
Pat Spillane with the assistance of TV and the media was able to bring to national attention the slow and cumbersome style of the Armagh defence which epitomised this negative defensive style.

Your probably right, that Armagh forward power has to be adequate given that one of them plays permanently in defence thereby stretching the space between the remainder of the forwards and consequently the big long ball needs to be hoofed upfield (that is when any forwards are occassionally upfield or if not it usually goes out over the sideline).

Now that Armagh are solely relying on an ageing veteran to score (mostly from frees) the limitations of this approach are beginning to come home to roost.

Another humbling by the free flowing 'running game' that is Tyrone would be too much to bear. So no doubt there is already a plan in place to make an honorable exit at the hands of Monaghan (assuming Monaghan's free taker is on song) or if not by their semi final opponents. This is really a measure of how pathetic Armagh has now become.
Thus the need to play the game in Casement (not for Armagh's benefit) as this will give the Monaghan victory much more credibility and no doubt cause enough of a stir in that county to drive them on to an Ulster Final with Tyrone at Croke Park.

You say you don't care how Armagh gets to the All Ireland final.
Truth is Armagh style of dunting shoving long ball black circus will lead you round Ireland and finish up being exposed by a mediocre team (in the second round of the qualifiers) with no more than one good forward who can kick points from play.

Can I ask, where you are from?

Truth is, is that Armagh would have hammered Derry had they played a more attacking game in the whole of the second half. However they disposed of them with little effort. Armagh don't necessarily have to concentrate on the defence anymore. Armagh Conceeded 6 against Donegal, 5 against Kildare who by the way both played in the quarter finals last year.

As for the forwards, we have more scoring options that what people think. Derry had the run of themselves by thinking if they could keep McDonnell quite then they would win quite comfortably. So as you can see, you are entirely off the mark when you say that Armagh rely on the older players for scores.

Just goes to show how poor your knowledge of Armagh football really is.

[raphael]

You may find it almost convicing that a former player from Lurgan is now doubting the merits of the ugly game played by South West Armagh (or SWAMP for short).
See this week's Irish News.
ie the dunting shoving long ball black circus

But this is just too much.

Although the beautiful game of total football exercised by the 2 Brians is much loved in Lurgan, the article writer is hardly a true believer.
Upper body strength was his hallmark before it became the hallmark of the ugly football deployed by SWAMP

That said, converts to the beautiful game are welcome.

Ideally the veteran and current number 14 would probably have been more at home within the free flowing total football that is the beautiful game.
as he doesn't like the physical stuff.
But he too is stuck in the evil that is the ugly game of SWAMP.

[ardmhachaabu]

Armagh are capable, well capable of playing the sort of game you want to see them play raphael. I suspect you know this already

I don't think we will see the sort of free flowing catch and kick football you admire so much against Monaghan. What needs to be done to bate them will hopefully be done well. That would set Armagh up for a semi-final against Cavan/Fermanagh and then either Down/Tyrone in the final.

I would love to get Tyrone in the final and bate them with the sort of football you obviously admire so much

[Armaghgeddon_02]

Armagh are capable, well capable of playing the sort of game you want to see them play raphael. I suspect you know this already

I don't think we will see the sort of free flowing catch and kick football you admire so much against Monaghan. What needs to be done to bate them will hopefully be done well. That would set Armagh up for a semi-final against Cavan/Fermanagh and then either Down/Tyrone in the final.

I would love to get Tyrone in the final and bate them with the sort of football you obviously admire so much

I would love to get Tyrone again too. Possibly put the final nail in the Tyrone teams coffin. They have done it enough times to us!

[the applecart]

I would love to get Tyrone again too. Possibly put the final nail in the Tyrone teams coffin. They have done it enough times to us!

Wishful thinking here, I wouldn't like to be meeting Tyrone after todays showing.