Neither Colm Cooper nor Ciarán Whelan were impressed with how Donegal boss Declan Bonner employed star man Michael Murphy in their Ulster final defeat to Derry.
Despite going in as favourites, they were eventually toppled after extra-time in a raucous Clones.
It continues a pattern of provincial letdowns since they have now gone three seasons without lifting the Anglo-Celt Cup despite being almost everyone's pick alongside Tyrone at the start of each of those campaigns.
The game was a dour enough affair with both teams setting out with defensive-minded stalls.
While that's somewhat understandable from the upstart Oak Leafers, Donegal's approach annoyed many viewers, including Sean Cavanagh on the live broadcast, given they've so many talented forwards at their disposal.
And Murphy was a case in point of that as Kingdom great Cooper again stated that he feels the 32-year-old should be used strictly as a full-forward rather than wandering around the pitch trying to get involved in play as often as possible.
He said: "Look Des, I've been saying this for a long time - I think they're asking too much of Michael. They want him to go over around the field, catch ball in the full-back line, catch kickouts...
"I think there's a lot of miles on the clock as this guy's been playing senior Championship football since he was 18.
"I'd prefer to see him at the top of the square even if he touches the ball 10% less, I think that's where the danger is for him.
"Unfortunately Donegal's game has not developed in the last number of years because it's a flaw in their game. They want everything to go through him but Michael's at an age now where he can't deal with that anymore."
Dublin legend Whelan agreed as he highlighted how they should have stuck Murphy up top if for no other reason than to occupy Brendan Rogers who earned man of the match honours as he continually charged up the field and even scored three points as well as setting up Conor Glass for a critical insurance score right at the death.
He added: "It was a massive flaw tactically that they didn't see the impact Rogers was having on the game to put Murphy back particularly in extra-time."
Coincidentally, Murphy was also the subject of a separate heated debate pre-match between Colm O'Rourke and Cavanagh where O'Rourke bizarrely pushed back against the sentiment that the Glenswilly man is one of the best players of his generation.
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