What we learned from Denmark vs Albania

[liti1144]

1. Gashi is not suited to play on the wing. He's a poacher type player, similar to Salihi. Roshi should play instead.
2. Cikalleshi is great stricker, very slick with the ball at his feet. Yes, he made a pretty bad mistake when he slowed down the game, when he should've passed the ball more quickly to Basha. It was pretty much the only mistake of the game if my memory serves me right though. Remains our main stricker.
3. Xhaka as a right defender. Djimisiti wasn't bad, but was a bit rusty, especially in the beginning. I think we should play it safe and introduce Xhaka in that position and give Gym time to adapt. Either Kace/Memushaj can replace him in midfield. (Hopefully, Hysaj will be back from injury)
4.Sadiku: No offence, but the moment he entered the game I knew he would make a mistake. And he immediately did. Sadiku is a poacher not a player who can play with the ball at his feet. Aliji would've been a much better choice.

Specifics about the game:
The players and coach said: "Do te bejm lojen tone qe e bejm gjithmone"

Not true however. This game was not a typical albanian game where they bunker with 10 compact defenders and move together as a team in attack, this was a team who was way too streched out. A team who tried to keep possession, and as I predicted, wouldn't turn out so well. The bunkering method is extremely effective and when used, Albania has always had more chances in attack (although this is counter intuitive) but it's the way it is. We produce much more in our bunkering formation then what we did tonight. That was the main mistake. Not defending as usual with all of our players. If we had done that, it would've been much easier to play.

Why the match with Portugal will be easier:

Your probably thinking "what?" But seriously Portugal will attack of from all positions and I love that. It will give us a chance to forget possession and use our special bunkering method which has ALWAYS proven effective against bigger teams, always. When we are in that 10 def position, we have never eaten a goal. The same should be done in this match. Since Portugal will be attacking though, we have no choice but to bunker, which is again good. If we wan't to win this match, bunkering is a necessity. Keep it tight, 10 players when defending. When this happens, the momentum of the game always adds on our favor and our chances should come by themselves with perfect timing. That's how it was proven to work in the past.

A further analyses on defending vs attacking: Why is hard defending more effective?

Defending with all of your players is easier then attacking. When you have possession and you decide to attack, once is suddenly confronted with too many possibility of play. This causes confusion and overthinking. Only high caliber players can handle this.
But, when one defends, one is generally reduced of any possibility and simply does the most simple obvious thing possible, which is to defend. When the counter breaks it will usually be clear which passes to make since the players will be in quite obvious positions. Again, you can see how we counter with other teams in the past. It was obvious which passes should've been made, and all that was necessary was usually a simple pass. This method of play takes the most out of out players and compensates pretty well for the lack of quality that bigger teams have.

Verify what I've said from watching this game: Against Denmark we were not bunkering. We had fewer chances, and our defence was much more exposed. The team was very stretched, and the players were isolated at times. Not a good choice. This is the number 1 mistake we can do as a team. Try to hold possesion. I think it's all about the path of least resistence. Doing what you can, and doing it 100%. And usually defending is done easiest.
Sorry if you guys think I sound incoherent. It's my first time writing my thoughts about this. Feel free to ask for any questions/disagreements.


Who I think should play against Portugal: 4-1-4-1

Berisha
Xhaka Cana Ajeti Agolli

Basha

Roshi Memushaj Kace Lenjani

Cikalleshi

I think it's best to surprise them with a fresh midfield look. These players have played enough together and have known to be very effective together. The centrel midfielders I've chosen are slighly more offensive minded and will look to make more long passes. This will compensate for the heavy bunkering we will probably do. Plus, the game is in two days and it's good to play with rested players. Probably, the formation will be completely different, but these are my two cents.

[Simboli i Diellit]

Wellcome liti1144 , Basha-Kaçe-Memushaj trio probably won't be lineuped by De Biasi cause he usually doesn't make radical changes to the formation. Your deep analysis through makes sense, that midfield has more fantasy and could create tons of chances but on the other side they can't defend well . I hope Hysaj gets back on form and i could raller put Xhaka as RW with the trio you proposed than have him as RB , also Hysaj can offer a lot with his crosses and could switch with Xhaka on the right side when going forwards. I would like to see Alijii too but Lenjani-Agolli partnership has been ok so no chances for Alijii to start . As for our striker they are our doom, Balaj is playing in a Superliga level championship and scoring against teams like the Croatian Bylis doesn't make him better than he was, same with Cikalleshi. We need Donis Avdiaj and hopefully the FA will find the way to get him.

[artan]

Great first post!

As for Xhaka I think he needs to stay in the central midfield because he has too big of an impact there as he's the engine of the team. He's the one pressing relentlessly, fighting for possession, drawing fouls, etc. Put him at fullback and you kinda limit him in ways imo. I like Gymcity(if Hysaj is unavailable) because he's big and is great in the air. Gym struggled a bit early but you can tell he looks comfortable with the ball at his feet. Maybe in the future Hysaj moves to RW? Or Gym as a defensive midfielder?

Cikaleshi's work rate is the reason he's in the lineup. He'll chase down every long ball, press opponents and drop deep to defend. But Balaj had a great goal against Portugal last time around so maybe start him?

But I think most of us agree Roshi is the missing piece. That speed, physicality and ability to bomb forward on counters is what needed. Gashi not really a bunkering type of player/


BTW, Memushaj out for two months.

[liti1144]

Wellcome liti1144 , Basha-Kaçe-Memushaj trio probably won't be lineuped by De Biasi cause he usually doesn't make radical changes to the formation. Your deep analysis through makes sense, that midfield has more fantasy and could create tons of chances but on the other side they can't defend well . I hope Hysaj gets back on form and i could raller put Xhaka as RW with the trio you proposed than have him as RB , also Hysaj can offer a lot with his crosses and could switch with Xhaka on the right side when going forwards. I would like to see Alijii too but Lenjani-Agolli partnership has been ok so no chances for Alijii to start . As for our striker they are our doom, Balaj is playing in a Superliga level championship and scoring against teams like the Croatian Bylis doesn't make him better than he was, same with Cikalleshi. We need Donis Avdiaj and hopefully the FA will find the way to get him.

Yeah it probably won't, but I wish. Anyway, the reason I think memu-kace-basha would be good is because of their impressive display in Elbasan against france. Memushaj was dangerous, kace obviously was, Basha Mr. vision master. Yes they have great fantasy but NOT at the expense of defense. I've seen how they press and it's definitely not lackluster. Quite the opposite.
Again, you could see someone like Kace winning areal duels with the likes of Varane and Pogba... I think that compensates for Abrashi's natural pitbull physique. Just my observation though, I may be wrong.
As for Aliji, I meant I would like him instead of Sadiku on left MD. Lenjani-agolli partnership is great, I wouldn't change that.
I've seen Avdijaj play, great offensive abilities, a strong physique for a teenager. It's questionable how he'll perform with Albania's defense/pressure style game. I'd say get play a couple of friendlies, or the last qualifier games if we've confirmed our qualification.

[liti1144]

Great first post!

As for Xhaka I think he needs to stay in the central midfield because he has too big of an impact there as he's the engine of the team. He's the one pressing relentlessly, fighting for possession, drawing fouls, etc. Put him at fullback and you kinda limit him in ways imo. I like Gymcity(if Hysaj is unavailable) because he's big and is great in the air. Gym struggled a bit early but you can tell he looks comfortable with the ball at his feet. Maybe in the future Hysaj moves to RW? Or Gym as a defensive midfielder?

Cikaleshi's work rate is the reason he's in the lineup. He'll chase down every long ball, press opponents and drop deep to defend. But Balaj had a great goal against Portugal last time around so maybe start him?

But I think most of us agree Roshi is the missing piece. That speed, physicality and ability to bomb forward on counters is what needed. Gashi not really a bunkering type of player/


BTW, Memushaj out for two months.

Yes, Xhaka does give more in the center, I'm not sure if moving him in the right for Gym is the best option. I'm just skeptical of Gjimshitis inexperience with his team mates which I've seen in his debut. Lila or ajeti on the right I would say. Gym in the center. It makes more sense to me.
Is the memushaj news new? I thought he was back from injury from what I know. If he missed we still have plenty of centeral midfielders. So that wouldn't be a problem I think.
Cika is good. Balaj has a killer finish but just lacks that natural finesse and athetisism Cika has with his feet. I mean Balaj is good, but apart from his goal, I couldn't see anything too special. Maybe we'll see him as a second half substitute.

[Genti]

I think we should start with Cikalleshi then sub in Balaj. Roshi is needed against tougher teams especially since he can track back faster than Gashi. De Biasi will probably stick to his midfield as it got him the result, but I'm really hoping to see Kaçe at least get subbed on in the second half when its time we do our typical Roshi/Lenjani counter attack.

[Plako]

Welcome liti, great analysis and first post.

[Zemi]

Welcome liti, great analysis and first post.

Finally someone here who can challenge Eddie afc for his analytical posts


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[Plako]

Welcome liti, great analysis and first post.

Finally someone here who can challenge Eddie afc for his analytical posts


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I think the analysts in this forum are Artan, Eddie, Dallku. Aurora, Dragoi and now liti. I myself do not delve much into analysis I just enjoy watching the games and curse at the opposition players on TV

[ZenMaster]

We have tried Xhaka as winger against Armenia and we lost 1-0 in the first half. Xhaka played as central midfielder in second half and had fantastic second half. Hysaj does better job as right back than Xhaka so we should always play our players in their favorite positions. I don't like Agolli and i want Mavraj to be back soon as possible because we suffer without him in defense. We have better organization with him on field and we can keep the possession more longer, his passing accuracy is very high. I would like to see Djimsiti against Ronaldo and it would be amazing to have another clean sheet against Portugal.