Jim McGuinness on the many mini battles around the middle that help you win the war

Jim McGuinness explains that there is so much going on around the middle third now as teams look to stamp their authority on that crucial sector. 

Primary possession and breaking ball can help swing the direction of games and there is no doubt that under the new rules, you boss midfield, you give yourself a huge chance of taking the victory. 

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But to get to grips with all of that, there is also so much other stuff going on. It’s not exactly the dark arts, but it probably does border on cynical as players look to get the edge.  

Speaking after Donegal’s recent NFL win over Kerry, the 2012 All-Ireland winning boss says brains as well as brawn can help win the day at midfield. 

“There is a lot going on there around the middle,” he said. “A bit like Dublin and Kerry when they were getting them away, they were running out the middle and then deciding were they going to go left or right. 

“They were trying to create an overload so they could leave players on the weak side of the zone. 

“There is a lot going on in the pod as well. You can see that with all the games. There is a lot of blocking going on, it’s very difficult to get off the ground.  

“There could be four or five guys in one area and then one guy comes and fetches as the way has been cleared. 

“That’s a trend that is there now. People are understanding that blocking out and stepping across guys has become very important to try to secure primary possession on kickoouts”.

McGuinness, at the time, explained he was relishing the breathing space that the fortnight’s window and the free weekend was going to present Donegal ahead of hosting Andy Moran’s outfit. 

“It’s difficult to do anything within the week’s turnaround. You are very limited in the first session and even the second.  

“So the break allows ou to take a step back and look at the whole picture and see what are the areas you really want to go after in terms of the tactical aspect. 

“So that’s what we’ll do. Mayo are going really well. They have a lot of big men. They are just after beating Dublin so we know what’s coming. 

“But the goal remains the same as it did before it began. That’s to get as many through it as safely as possible, develop depth and give young lads a chance. 

“We have four points on the board and that does allow more of that to happen. We’re looking for six to be safe and we have four after two games so that’s very positive. 

“Hopefully, it means we can let the rope out gently as we go now and give lads even more minutes, a full game even. You’ll only learn more about them in that type of environment”.