Cian O’Sullivan happy to pile pressure on Kingdom

It appears the Dublin footballers are well able to play a little cute-hoorism too. They may still be favourites to win the All-Ireland, although centre back Cian O'Sullivan reckons Kerry are still the team to beat – and, if anything, are even better than last year.

Perhaps it’s because O’Sullivan can claim some considerable Kerry roots (both his parents hail from the Kingdom), and yet it’s become one of the themes of recent weeks: the top contenders cutely playing up the chances of everyone else except themselves.

Dublin, like Kerry, aren’t even sure yet who’ll they play in their semi-final, and await the winners of Donegal and Mayo. O’Sullivan believes that game is too hard to call, although based on Kerry’s 27-point win over Kildare “they definitely showed why they have that favourites tag”.

Darragh Ó Sé would be impressed: in his Irish Times column yesterday, Ó Sé admitted that "in the long history of cute-hoorism, we [Kerry] have never faced a battle like this". O'Sullivan says he doesn't read newspapers, but he is putting his money where his mouth is, and that's on Kerry.

“I haven’t been reading his [Ó Sé] columns to be honest, so I don’t know what his point is,” says O’Sullivan. “But Kerry were extremely impressive on Sunday. I only saw the highlights, but they completely annihilated Kildare. They certainly look like a force to be reckoned with. Some of their goals were extremely impressive. They definitely showed why they have that favourites tag.

“It’s going to take a very, very strong performance to beat Kerry. You look at their team, and then who they have coming on off the bench, and it’s very impressive.”

O’Sullivan doesn’t stop there: he points to a number of areas where he believes Kerry have improved since they beat Donegal to claim All-Ireland number 37 last year.

Partnership

“Well, David Moran at midfield,” he says, for starters. “That’s not saying he didn’t have a good season last year. He won an All Star, but he seems to have stepped it on even more this year. His partnership with Anthony Maher seems to be extremely strong, and I don’t think there’s any better midfield partnership in the country at the moment.

“Offensively, they have the Gooch back and Darran O’Sullivan seems to be coming back into a bit of form. They also have the option of Kieran Donaghy coming in or starting. So there’s frightening talent there.”

Still, after putting a tidy 2-23 past Fermanagh on Sunday, Dublin aren’t going too badly themselves.

The enduring worry about not yet being fully tested remains, although with a four-week gap before their All-Ireland semi-final, O’Sullivan is at least sure Dublin are where they wanted to be.

“Great credit to Fermanagh, they never stopped until the final whistle. They scored 2-3 in the last 10 minutes or so and credit has to be given to them for the season they’ve had. Our main aim at the start of the year was to try to get to another All-Ireland final. We are in a semi-final now, facing some pretty stiff opposition, whether it be Mayo or Donegal. It’s where we want to be and we are looking forward to the game in four weeks.”

Another crack

There is the sense Dublin would prefer another crack at Donegal, the team which took them out in last year’s semi-final, although O’Sullivan is understandably cautious about predicting who might emerge.

“I honestly find it difficult to call, and think it’s going to be a very tight game. Mayo were obviously very impressive against Sligo the last day. But that’s a number of weeks ago now.

“Donegal have the momentum coming in through the backdoor system and put in a very impressive performance at the weekend. But whoever wins it is going to be a massive test for us in the semi-final.”

So no preference for another crack at Donegal?

“No . . . Because 2015 is a new season. You can’t be bringing the 2014 season into that. I just think, regardless of who the opposition is, it’s an opportunity to get into another All-Ireland final. That’s how we approach it.”

The only worry, it seems, is managing that four-week gap.

“There are pluses and minuses. On the one hand, you can get a lot of good work done in those four weeks. But maybe it’s a luxury, too. Maybe three weeks would probably be the ideal time frame.”