There will, of course, be specific plans around curtailing the likes of David and Paudie Clifford. But fundamentally the question asked of each Mayo player will be: \u201cOn one day in Croke Park at the end of July in 2026, can you consistently beat your man?\u201d<\/p>\n
And, for me, the place Mayo can win those battles is on the ground. Mayo are not suddenly going to become a dominant primary possession winning team at midfield. <\/p>\n
But they can win the battle on the ground. Dublin got their best success against the Kerry<\/a> kick-out when they broke the ball. Mayo will have identified Shane Murphy\u2019s strongest side, who his preferred target is and they must create a plan that will disrupt this and deny Kerry clean possession. <\/p>\n Mayo need to be smart in how they create traffic and don\u2019t allow Kerry\u2019s jumpers in, while also being careful they themselves don\u2019t get screened off.<\/p>\n You can trial various scenarios in training to help you get on breaking ball, but at play, too, is also the primitive desire of who wants it a little bit more.<\/p>\n Kerry have been the performance leaders when it comes to winning primary possession from kick-outs. Mayo can\u2019t choose to ignore that; instead they\u2019ve got to hammer the hammer, they\u2019ve got to go after the kick-out and get the ball on the ground, make it ugly for Kerry.<\/p>\n When there\u2019s a contest on the ground, it has to be a win-possession-at-all-costs mentality for Mayo. They have to be better down in the trenches than Kerry. And when Kerry do have possession, Mayo must make it uncomfortable for them by bringing heavy pressure.<\/p>\n There are essentially just two ways to source possession: one is kick-outs and the other is turnovers.<\/p>\n From the five games both sides have played in the All-Ireland series, all the core performance indicators point to Kerry winning this game: they have a 75 per cent retention rate on their own kick-out compared to Mayo\u2019s 56 per cent. Kerry also have a 64 per cent shot-to-score productivity rate compared to Mayo\u2019s 60 per cent.<\/p>\n But sport doesn\u2019t always operate in a rational or linear sense.<\/p>\n Moran got his punch in first during his post-match press conference after the semi-final, calling a very public snap survey of the national mood as to whether anybody believes Mayo can beat Kerry. No harm.<\/p>\n Because the management won\u2019t have spent the last few weeks trying to create the dream of winning Sam Maguire for the players, creating belief is what they will have been about.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t expect Mayo have spent any time discussing Kerry posters about brides and bridesmaids or giving much credence to podcasts declaring Mayo have been playing Tailteann Cup<\/a> football for most of the summer.<\/p>\n But the Mayo players will have heard about it from friends or family during the week. So, too, though, will the Kerry players.<\/p>\n And obviously they will also be aware of their superiority in the stats, so there is a logic floating around the fixture that has the potential to make Kerry feel just a tad comfy.<\/p>\n![\"Kerry](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WT3BUX6SXB3ZGVOWSAIUXCZICQ.jpg\")
Kerry goalkeeper Shane Murphy. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo\/INPHO <\/p>\n
![\"Kerry](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/QNTQGW246FB5PGI6M5MLUNHRPA.jpg\")
Kerry manager Jack O’Connor with Paddy Tally, who is now part of Mayo’s backroom team. Photograph: James Crombie\/INPHO <\/p>\n