Philly McMahon Says Meath Star Showed The 'Dog' Dublin Are Missing In Defence

Philly McMahon says Dublin are missing a 'dog' in defence to strike fear into opposition players.

Dessie Farrell's Dubs relinquished their 14 year unbeaten run in Leinster at the weekend after being toppled by Meath by 0-23 to 1-16 in the semi-final.

Meath raced into a twelve point lead by half-time having kicked a number of two pointers with the aid of a breeze. Cormac Costello's goal reduced the deficit in the second half before an orange flag by Colm Basquel brought the gap back to two, but Meath kicked on for a famous win with late points by Aaron Lynch and Eoghan Frayne.

Dublin's All-Ireland credentials were already being questioned after losing generational players Brian Fenton, James McCarthy, Michael Fitzsimons and Paul Mannion after last year's quarter final loss to Galway.

They mixed the good with the bad during the league but a subsequent ankle injury to arguably their most in-form player Sean Bugler ahead of the Meath game was another blow, as was the absence of Sean McMahon, Cian Murphy and Lee Gannon.

And then Meath did the unthinkable.

Speaking on the Indo Sport podcast with Joe Molloy, eight-time All-Ireland winner Philly McMahon discussed Dublin's defeat and their hopes for the year.

The Ballymun ace believes Dublin still have a forward line of All-Ireland winning potential but he felt there were too 'many gaps' and 'too much space' in their defence.

"The back six for me, have been in a way throw in the deep end. It's not Dessie's fault, it's not the defensive coach's fault, it's not the player's fault. It's what it is.

"They had held onto players, possibly like myself and Fitzsimons for a very long time and probably didn't bleed in enough over time. Because a full back needs two seasons at least to find his feet and understand the dynamics.

"There was too much space, and too many gaps. Players were exposed one v ones. That should never happen."

"Teams are aware of this," McMahon says.

"What I would hope now is the Dublin defensive coaches are going to look at that and that (Meath game), in hindsight, they will be grateful for that spanking they got from Meath and say this will not happen again this year.

"But what I would like in that Dublin defence is someone that has a bit more...this is not going to sound good, but someone that has a bit more bite about them.

McMahon feels Dublin don't have enough 'grit' in their defence, adding that they need a 'dog' in there. Meath star Conor Duke's hit on Paddy Small in the 35th minute as the Ballymun man cut through their defence is the type of aggression Dublin are missing, according to McMahon.

"Paddy Small was bursting through the middle and he got milled. With my Dublin hat, I'm going, how dare you, that's a free, you shouldn't have done that but I'm like that's what we need and that's what we don't have anymore.

"We don't have that grit, we don't have that someone who's going to put the fear into the opposing team. That back six, you need someone that's a dog in there. I don't see it," he added.