Insane Paudie Clifford Stat Sums Up Massive Tactical Error From Donegal

While David Clifford will rightly receive a huge amount of plaudits on the back of Kerry's All-Ireland final triumph, it could be argued that his brother had an even bigger influence in their victory over Donegal at Croke Park.

Paudie Clifford has endured a difficult championship campaign, missing quite a bit of time due to injury. He has played himself into form over the last couple of games, starring off the bench against Armagh before producing another excellent performance in the win over Tyrone.

His impact in this afternoon's fixture was obvious, with Clifford acting as the link man in the Kerry forward line. It seemed that every attack from the Munster champions went through the 27-year old, with Donegal's failure to adapt to that proving to be a decisive factor in the match.

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Donegal's questionable approach to dealing with Paudie Clifford was puzzling to watch, with one particular stat showing just how much influence he had on the contest.

Clifford would have a scarcely believable 76 possessions in today's game.

While we do not have the stats in front of us, it would be a massive surprise if that figure did not prove to be a record for an All-Ireland final.

Judging by that stat, it's clear that Donegal were not properly set up to limit the impact that the Fossa man.

Speaking after game, Paudie Clifford said that he and his Kerry teammates felt 'disrespected' coming into this final.

We would have put a lot pressure on ourselves. We would be our own biggest critics, but like we did feel disrespected.

We felt disrespected for a long time, a team that were in three of the last four All-Ireland finals and have won two of the last four.

We felt very disrespected being called a one-man team when you have fellas like Joe O'Connor and Jason Foley who have worked all their lives to play for Kerry, and you're calling us a one-man team because we haven't won every All-Ireland?

We felt disrespected.

There will certainly be no question of any disrespect towards this Kerry team moving forward, with Paudie Clifford in particular having raised his standing in the game on the back of this performance.

They deserve all the plaudits that will inevitably come their way over the coming days.