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By wanting to change the playing system, in each match or in the middle of a match, Aliou Cissé seems to be searching in vain for his preferred system. Like the two Amiens matches. However, the Lions coach has often praised his favorite system: 4-3-3. What if “El Tactico” made a “return to the zone”!
Senegal returned from Amiens with two victories after their two friendly matches against Gabon (3-0) and Benin (1-0). A positive result for Aliou Cissé’s men who scored four goals and conceded zero. Figures which are reassuring for a Senegalese team which is used to dragging its inefficiency like a ball and chain, especially offensively. But as written in our edition yesterday, looking back at the results of Amiens, the content of the game served by the gang to Sadio Mané, against the Panthers and the Cheetahs, leaves a taste of unfinished business. And purists will not say otherwise.
However, it is not the quality that is lacking in this Senegal team. The problem is how to allow players to express themselves freely, by showcasing their talent in a better adapted and more productive system. And this role falls to the national coach.
But the problem is that recently, Aliou Cissé who, however, has often praised his favorite device, the 4-3-3, is trying other playing systems, such as a 3-headed defense. We won’t blame him, because with the evolution and demands of modern football, there is a need to adapt so as not to be dropped or surprised.
But we still need to give ourselves the means to get there! And this is precisely where the problem lies. In fact, it is as if Cissé had difficulty applying the tactical truth which says: “The system does not make the players, it is the players who make the system.”
We have nothing against the three-way defense or the 3-5-2 that the Lions are starting to assimilate as best they can. It is especially at the level of animation that this system poses a problem. Even if, in this chapter, Krépin Diatta and Ismail Jakobs have revealed themselves as interesting pistons. But it is true that our adversaries are watching us. Like Côte d’Ivoire which, during the last Can, foiled us by closing off our exterior corridors. And apparently, it is at this level that the limits of this 3-5-2 appear, adjustable to 3-4-3 or 4-3-3, with the absence of offensive alternatives.
The hybrid role of Pape Guèye, neither Abdou Diallo nor Nampalys… can do it
To blur the lines with his 3-5-2, Aliou Cissé played “Guardiola”, playing certain matches with a sentry in a hybrid role (Pape Guèye or Abdou Diallo as 3rd axial in the defensive phase). Surely forgetting that this hybrid role of Pape Guèye, neither Abdou Diallo nor Nampalys… can fulfill it.
Consequence: we do not feel the offensive impact when the Lions have the ball. Like the last match against Benin where the offensive transitions were non-existent, with a lack of rhythm and intensity.
Although having played with 4 defenders (Formose, Niakhaté, Koulibaly, Jakobs), in the animation, we mainly saw full-backs who played very high. Which also explains the difficulties encountered by Moussa Niakhaté, who found himself without support on the left flank, with the liveliness of the Beninese right winger.
The trio lined up in attack was also not an inspired choice, with Boulaye Dia, Habib Diallo and Sadio Mané a little lost and scattered in their positioning. The absence of Ismaïla Sarr was greatly felt in passing.
For a return to a classic 4-3-3!
But it was especially in the midfield that the team thwarted, with a Gana Guèye-Nampalys Mendy-Habib Diarra association far from being complementary. Moreover, it is not surprising when Cissé admits to the press that the Lions’ game “lacked verticality and depth”. Which raises the problem of this attacking midfielder profile capable of accelerating, breaking the lines and giving good balls to the attackers. A rare profile that the coach struggles to unearth, even if Lamine Camara tries to play repairman on this register.
Today, back from Amiens and with the important deadlines awaiting Senegalese football, Aliou Cissé, who still seems lost in his hybrid systems, would benefit from returning to the fundamentals, favoring this classic 4-3-3 which always successful. A way to allow players to better express themselves, in relation to their qualities and their preferred position. The animation of the game would only be better.
