Mass melee blob is not that great against Malians historically. Their army is all ranged, even the Donso are ranged, and Donso have more effective HP than standard spears, so they don't die as quickly.

Against a Freeborn attack, keeping your TCs condensed is worse; having a spread out TC can provide smuggled economy that keeps you functional while your main base is being dove.

Building Camel Archers against an anti-range unit like Freeborn Warriors is comical.

Abbasid could potentially try three TC, but I feel like that just gives the timing Castle Age to Malians a little bit too much.

Ghulams are a perfect answer to archers, but they don't trade effectively against Sofas. Sofas have bonus melee damage against infantry, and with their high melee armor, they are nearly perfect against Ghulams.