Many people are injured in Mane and after missing this World Cup, they believe that Senegal's quality will be greatly reduced, and it will be very difficult to qualify from the group. But judging by Senegal's 1-0 defeat to the Netherlands, this is by no means the case.
Two aspects of the attack against Senegal are noteworthy.
First point: set-pieces
What I've said over and over again in various World Cup tours of Senegal: Senegal have a very strong demand for set-pieces and will constantly threaten the opponent's goal with long-range shots that are not very good in order to create corner chances. That's why, despite poor accuracy, Senegal tried six shots (only one on target) in the first 30 minutes.
At the same time, they will also use the individual ability of the wingers to form corner kicks on the wing – if they are fouled by the opponent, they are also well-positioned set-piece opportunities. From this point of view, Ismaila Saar's advance on the left wing also has a good effect, not only frantically torturing the in-form De Ligt but also constantly creating corners and set-pieces.
The second point: quick counterattack
Perhaps in this game, we also saw that Senegal is different from the "simple and rough" attacking method of the previous World Qualifiers and the African Cup of Nations, where long passes at the back find strikers, but in general, this Senegal is still the kind of team we are familiar with, implementing the basic tactical ideas of Aliou Cisse: quickly counterattacking and killing opponents with speed.
When counter-attacking, Senegal did not have an overly complicated passing routine, basically still pulling the side after obtaining the ball at the back, and then seizing the opportunity to directly hit the opposing defender directly behind the ball.
At the same time, Koulibaly still plays a good role as the "core of the backfield organization". In the right-centre-back position, he still tries to send the ball directly to the front (he has almost half of the team's long passes), and he will also use his skillful ball control skills to insert it near the halfway line and then accurately distribute the ball to the wing.