Kerry are well positioned for an All-Ireland tilt ahead of this weekend's Allianz Football League final date with Mayo, but Pat Spillane says there are areas of concern for the Kingdom.
The final outing in Division 1 saw Jack O’Connor’s side taste defeat for the first time in the competition when Tyrone left Killarney with the win, but the hosts still finished on top of the standings with the best defensive and offensive record.
They face Mayo in Croke Park on Sunday with early season silverware on offer and many have them as favourites to claim Sam Maguire later this year.
Speaking on the RTÉ GAA podcast, eight-time All-Ireland winner Spillane outlined a number of "little failings" that he feels the Kingdom need to address if they are to reach the summit in July.
First up is the ongoing rotation of Shane Murphy and Shane Ryan between the sticks.
"Kerry need to settle on a goalkeeper, no doubt about it," he said.
"Shane Murphy is regarded as the best shot-stopper, Shane Ryan more composed under the high ball. Shane Murphy considered the better kick-out, but last Sunday had a bad day."
The middle of the field, where David Moran is still working his way back to fitness and has yet to feature, is another area where Spillane feels Kerry need to address.
"We have two great athletes that have mainly played during the league in Jack Barry and Diarmuid O’Connor.
"Joe O’Connor was introduced last week, a great athlete and a powerful runner, but none of them are traditional ball winners. We need a ball winner. We are in trouble at midfield."
As far as the nine-time All Star is concerned, those two areas feed into one when analysing the kick-out strategy, which has come under pressure at various stages during the league.
"Kerry lost 40% of kick-outs against Armagh. That is sacrilegious."
The Templenoe man says that as impressive as the Kerry attack has been, he feels there is still an overreliance on David Clifford, and Seánie O’Shea when fit, to provide the bulk of the scoring.
Spillane was pleased with the home win over Mayo, played in wretched conditions in Tralee, as it represented something Kerry have often been accused of failing to do in the past - coming out on top in a close contest.
Unfortunately from a Kerry perspective, Sunday’s loss to Tyrone was further evidence there is more to be done when the game is in the melting pot.
"What Kerry very rarely do is come from behind to win a close game. The last couple of minutes last Sunday, there was a bit of a groundhog day feel. They had possession. It reminded me of the 2019 All-Ireland final, the loss to Cork in the Munster Championship in 2020.
"They were playing the ball over and back, there was no penetration, a turnover by DC, a foul hand pass by Tadhg Morley. There was no-one showing leadership, taking responsibility, turning and having a go.
"Those little things worry me."
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