Kerry have more room for improvement

There's no doubt that after last Saturday Cork are happier, particularly considering the number of their newcomers who looked comfortable at this level.

Micheál Shields, Ger Spillane and Michael Prout all defended exceptionally well, and Pierce O'Neill worked tirelessly around the middle, hitting all over the place. I was impressed by their attitude and work-rate, both of which were well ahead of Kerry's.

For Kerry manager Jack O'Connor and the team's supporters there are several questions. Is that as good as it gets? Can Kerry play at a higher intensity or are they tired? Is this the end of the road? Did the league drain their resources?

Cork were well ahead on the breaking-ball count around midfield, where Kerry lacked the sharpness and speed that give teams an edge. Diarmuid Murphy's kick-outs weren't doing Darragh Ó Sé any favours either. Every kick was coming straight down the middle, allowing Cork to line up accordingly.

A keeper needs to put more kicks to the side. When it's your kick-out you should be making every ball a 60-40 shot for your team, not 50-50.

Armagh are very effective at clearing space on the wing for restarts. Murphy is good at finding distance, but I don't think there was one clean catch from Darragh Ó Sé, and Cork were reading the breaks in advance. Seán O'Brien, for example, ran himself into the ground covering back.

My preference for midfield with Kieran Donaghy out suspended would be to release Séamus Moynihan and get him on the ball because he has the footballing intelligence to pick out the right pass and has played all his football there for the club.

Kerry also have the problem of too many defenders soloing the ball and slowing down movement. Cork moved it far more quickly and supported at pace. Soloing helps the opposition defence by giving it the time to regroup. The forwards would benefit from quicker release.

Colm Cooper didn't score again last week but I really believe he has undoubted class. But he needs others to take the heat off him, maybe a bigger full forward to break ball and give him a simple pass that gets him some space rather than leaving him fight for every single scoring opportunity.

He was also marked by Graham Canty, who is one of the best defenders in the country. With Cooper tied up, more ball should go to the other Kerry forwards to exploit weaker positions.

Another area where the Kerry attack was found wanting was the half forwards letting their opponents get forward almost unchallenged. There was no covering back in the face of Cork's main ploy - running hard from all over the pitch. Kieran O'Connor's point showed how comfortable and confident the Cork backs were on the ball.

I think Cork can improve as well if they address their main weakness in the final third of the pitch. Their options inside are quite poor. James Masters has terrific accuracy off his left foot but still attempts scores that aren't on, presumably because he feels the onus is on him to have a shot from anywhere.

But having said that, they finished strongly and controlled midfield towards the end and looked more likely to win. The momentum is with them even if there is extra pressure to deliver in front of a big home crowd.

This will be a defining game for Kerry. If they can't get back up to where they were two years ago, they're going nowhere. Teams can't keep playing poorly and then expect to turn it on at Croke Park. There should be pride at stake here as well because it's a Munster final - never mind the bigger picture.

I feel that they can pick up on last week's performance and iron out some of the problems. The attitude didn't look right and the first 25 minutes were unbelievable. That will improve. I can see Cooper finally coming up with a big performance because it's definitely in him.

Anthony Lynch is also a terrific loss to Cork because he is a driving force in the half backs. Owen Sexton hasn't the same pace and struggled in the second half on Paul Galvin.

Despite the reservations, I'm sticking with Kerry to come through. They'll have learned a lesson and know they were fortunate to get away with a draw.

There's no reason, though, to think that Cork will fall back and I expect the same sort of performance from them.

It's just that they don't have enough in the forwards to register a big enough total to ensure victory.