Facts vs Feelings: Senegal are not as good as you think

The Teranga Lions of Senegal have gotten a lot of praise recently and hailed as the best team in African football which is high praise for a team that has never won the Africa Cup of Nations.

This is why we will now explore the legitimacy of this claim and go beyond the surface by presenting the facts as a counter to the feelings behind this notion.

The driving force behind Senegal being perceived as an all-time great team is their stacked team of players in top clubs around Europe.

Led by star player, Sadio Mane of Liverpool who is legitimately one of the best wingers in the world right now and loaded with many other superstars.

They have Edouard Mendy of Chelsea in goal, the best goalkeeper in the world according to FIFA and team captain Kalidou Koulibaly who has been a defensive stalwart for Napoli and Senegal for nearly a decade now.

Their AFCON 2021 squad also includes the likes of Idrissa Gueye and Abdou Diallo who both play for French giants, Paris Saint Germain. Fode Ballo-Toure of AC Milan, Buona Sarr of Bayern Munich, Nampalys Mendy of Leicester City, Chekhou Kouyate of Crystal Palace.

Other notable players include Watford’s Ismaila Sarr, Villareal’s Boulaye Dia and Pape Gueye and Bamba Dieng who both play for Marseille.

The point is Senegal are clearly stacked which has led to them being falsely tagged as the best team on the continent. Senegal are ranked number one in Africa by CAF and 20th in the world by FIFA.

The cold hard truth beyond the big names and high rankings is that Senegal look nothing like the best team in Africa when they play.

It is one thing to look good on paper but another thing entirely to look good on the pitch which is where Cisse has constantly failed as the head coach of the team.

Senegal have struggled going forward at AFCON 2021, they have only scored three goals in four games so far and are desperately lacking creativity.

Two of those three goals came in a 2-0 win against nine-man Cape Verde in the Round of 16 of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, they were Senegal’s first goals from open play at the tournament.

This issue goes beyond AFCON 2021 as well, Senegal’s performances have been underwhelming for a while now which has led to widespread whispers for Cisse to lose his job. The Teranga Lions under the former captain have no established mode of attack which is terrible for a coach in his seventh year in charge.

Senegal rely on fast breaks and when that does not work they turn to individual brilliance to bail them out. Their shoddy Group Stage campaign at the ongoing AFCON is a prime example of that.

They played against Zimbabwe, Guinea and Malawi, three teams that sat back and gave nothing away on the break. In the absence of counter-attacking room, Senegal lacked the creativity required to break down a low block which is why Sadio Mane’s penalty against Zimbabwe was the only goal they scored in the Group Stage.

In the Round of 16 against Cape Verde, Senegal faced similar issues, failing to create chances despite the fact that their opponents were two players short.  

Eventually, they were bailed out by a moment of brilliance by Sadio Mane to open the scoring before Bamba Dieng scored the second goal.

That is a noticeable trend in Senegalese football lately, eight of Mane’s last 11 goals for Senegal have been either opening goals or winning goals or both in some cases.

That over-reliance on individual quality is dangerously predictable and discredits Senegal in their claim as the best national football team in Africa and the 20th-best in the world.