Diarmuid Connolly reckons Dublin can find some success from a more direct style of play as he admits Dessie Farrell's side have been 'found out' in 2021.
The Boys in Blue have slumped to an unprecedented three league defeats in a row, and find themselves bottom of the table with a score difference of -17 as relegation becomes a real concern.
And as former Blues ace Connolly admits that they are trying to cobble together a stronger panel in the absence of some key starts, what he's seen hasn't been good enough.
Although Dublin's patient possession-based style helped them to six All-Ireland titles, Connolly thinks that teams can now cope with this style as injuries and retirements level the playing field between the Dubs and the rest.
Instead, the St Vincent's stalwart offers a direct style of play as a potential solution to Farrell's woes.
“Zero points on the board after three games is just not good enough,” he told BoyleSports.
“Dublin are in a different position now in that Dessie Farrell is trying to build the squad back up, but they’re still missing a lot of players and trying to find new guys to fill in for six or seven household names.
“They’ve been found out a bit in the league, they’re too slow with the ball coming out; coming back and forward and sideways. For me, they just need to be more direct in their play.
"Look at Mayo against them the last day; two direct balls into the full forward line and it’s a goal. Similar against Armagh; a direct ball into the full forward line and goal or a big chance.
“Dublin don’t seem to kick that ball into the 14 spot, but then again they don’t have Con O’Callaghan there. Maybe when he comes back, they might have the longer option.
“But at the minute it’s just too static and they need a bit of ‘je ne sais quoi.’ This possession-based football worked for years, but most teams are happy to go toe-to-toe now and just drop one man back to sit in front of the back line, so Dublin need to come up with something new.”
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