The goal drought is the biggest sign of Dublin’s worrisome decline

The Dubs arrived in Omagh as a wounded troop, five defeats after last year’s All-Ireland semi-final loss to Mayo.

Dessie Farrell’s men are on the ropes and fighting for their survival in the top flight of the league. Tyrone will enjoy the opportunity to cause more pain.

Go back a few years and Dublin was able to go to Omagh with exhausted teams and get the job done. That, most certainly, is no longer the case.

I predict Tyrone will have a hangover after his success in All-Ireland. They were certainly behind the other teams at the start of the tournament but woke up from that sleepiness in their win over Kildare.

I watched them live in Ballybofey against Donegal and I was really impressed with their first half performance. There are aspects that suggest they will return to be a force this summer. However, they lost their way and were overtaken by Donegal.

In the first 35 minutes against Declan Bonner’s side, they defended solidly and were well organized but it was their transition to attack that impressed me most. They played with the confidence that comes with being champions.

Tyrone is particularly good at getting more people into the scoring area, near the goal, while holding the ball. This allows them to break through the opponent’s defense by making effective use of the forehand pass.

True, they lost that game after being out of shape in the second half and their shooting options and decision-making went awry. It’s all fixable, though, and Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher will be looking to build on that performance on Sunday afternoon.

Dublin’s problems and issues are well documented and it’s possible that for the first time in years they’ll be starting this game as outsiders. Indeed, their time is a change.

Not long ago, the heroism of the Dublin players had Gaelic game historians working overtime to determine what the latest Dublin or national record was broken.

Longest unbeaten streak, their streak of consecutive provincial championships, historic records five and six in a row, personal records for the likes of Stephen Cluxton and Dean Rock.

Those same archivists are now scouring the archives for records of a different color, as Dublin’s decline continues. Their defeat to Kildare, last time, was the first time they’ve met the Lilywhites in a league or championship in 22 years and now Farrell’s men will have to make a great run of the run if they are to maintain their place. its leading alliance position.

It was a game that saw them not score a goal for the third time in a row – a real concern as Dublin’s ability to both create and capitalize on scoring opportunities is one of its qualities. make their difference.

How many times in the past decade have we seen a team that comes in contact only with the blue boys score a goal and then immediately score a few points to propel themselves into clear water?

Dublin have scored just one goal in their four games so far in this campaign – that’s from newcomer Lorcan O’Dell in their opening clash with Armagh.

Since then they have failed to raise the green flag against Kerry, Mayo and Kildare. For comparison, look at their scoring ability in recent seasons in the opening quarterfinals.

Last year in condensed form – operating in Division 1 South – they scored eight goals in their four games, three in their regulation games (Roscommon, Kerry, Galway) and then won it. before Donegal, when Dubs and Kingdom shared the honorary Division 1 championship.

In 2020, the number is four in games against Kerry, Mayo, Monaghan and Donegal. The year before that was five (against Monaghan, Galway, Kerry, Mayo) while 2018 was six (against Kildare, Tyrone, Donegal and Mayo).

It was just one of a number of aspects of the Dublin game that needed to be fixed – their first-half woes also needed to be addressed – but there were some encouraging signs against Kildare two weeks ago in Newbridge, when they created three good chances but failed. Capitalization.

Dublin didn’t have enough strength but in the case of Con O’Callaghan’s injury, they failed to develop an offensive strategy that would somehow lengthen the opponent’s defence.

At the other end of the pitch, Dublin was very open in the back. The math is simple: if you don’t capitalize on your chances in advance, you’re unlikely to pass up as many scoring opportunities.

There are more obvious signs of a defensive structure against Kildare. Accepting a sweeper on Sunday would give Tyrone the option to free Frank Burns but at this point Dublin has no choice but to deploy one.

Another key area will be midfield, with Dublin struggling to find a suitable partner alongside Brian Fenton.

Last year Tyrone was said to have a weakness in midfield, but in the All-Ireland final they started in that area. They have two dominant fields Brian Kennedy and Conn Kilpatrick. By contrast, Fenton is being asked to shoulder almost all of the responsibility. The options may seem limited, but Brian Howard should be the right man for the job.

So is there light at the end of the tunnel? Well, the only tunnel visible in Dublin is the one at Healy Park, Omagh; something of the Bermuda Triangle. I believe the young people, the weak players, walked down that tunnel and were never seen again!

Dublin’s back is the wall and a victory is out of their sight. However, maybe they will accept the challenge of fighting relegation and ultimately sparking life.