Pape Thiaw dives! Successor to Aliou Cissé, the winner of the last Chan will make his baptism of fire against Malawi, this evening, at 7 p.m., at the Stade Abdoulaye Wade. A first outing which will be closely scrutinized by “Senegal of football” and which will revolve around four main challenges that the interim coach will have to face. Details.1 – Return to victory at home
The Lions’ last matches have been far from convincing. Worse, Sadio Mané’s gang has lost the habit of winning at home. However, this was the strength of the team. This is demonstrated by the two draws in a row conceded against DR Congo and Burkina Faso.
Today, we will have to restore confidence to the public at Stade Abdoulaye Wade by gaining respect at home and showing character, a quality also lost along the way.
Precisely, this is the first big challenge for Aliou Cissé’s successor, Pape Thiaw, and his deputy, Teddy Pellerin. And that means a success against Malawi, this evening at 7 p.m. GMT. A way to get back to the top of the ranking after Burkina Faso’s success yesterday against Burundi (see box).
2 – Preferential system
According to several observers, Aliou Cissé was lost by “his” 3-5-2. Even if such an explanation is debatable, it must still be recognized that the now ex-Lions coach pulled too hard in relation to such a system, leaving his favorite system, the 4-3-3, to the locker room.
With the arrival of Pape Thiaw, everything indicates that he will learn the lessons by returning to basics. And the shortest path is to return to a classic system – not to say 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 -, which seems most suited to the player profiles he has at hand. . Clearly, a 4-man defense with professional full-backs must be the basis of the system he will have to put in place this evening against the Malawi Flames.
3 – Men’s choice
Tacticians often like to repeat: “It is the players who make the system; the system does not make the players.” A tactical truth that Aliou Cissé has not always respected. Like the Lions’ last matches where we saw striker Ismaïla Sarr and midfielder Habib Diarra playing in a piston position. Which obviously impacted the fluidity of the team’s play. Against Malawi, it will be about putting players in positions where they can fully express their talent.
4 – Game animation
We often say: “only victory is beautiful”, when a team wins without convincing. Senegal has often been placed in this category due to not being able to produce fluid play; preferring realism. And this animation problem was especially felt when the team played in 3-5-2.
A regular at La Tanière recently before being appointed deputy to Aliou Cissé, Pape Thiaw is therefore on familiar ground. He is therefore well placed to combine the different profiles capable of producing a quality game.
By Hyacinthe DIANDY – [email protected]
