Albanian Football Forum

Princ wrote: ↑Sat Sep 12, 2020 12:16 am

Hysaj in midfield? That’s wack.. we don’t have any midfielders who are as good on the ball as Djimsiti or have the size and defensive ability he brings to the table. By inserting him at CDM, we gain a huge size advantage and solidify our defense. Kukeli wasn’t all that mobile either but made a huge difference for us when he was in the lineup.

Djimsiti and Kukeli are like night and day and you could see that when they both played at Zurich. Kukeli had a great first touch and you could give him the ball even in pressured situations and trust him to make the safe pass. Gjasula is similar that's why he easily took over that position. Djimisiti has a horrendous first touch and nothing about him suggests that he could play in midfield. Even his partners(Ismajli, Kumbulla) are more suited for midfield but even they have no place there.

artan wrote: ↑Sat Sep 12, 2020 1:19 am I don't think the central midfield is the problem. Technical ability wise they've been decent and the trio of Gjasula, Abrashi and Bare seems to be decent combination.

What hurts them is the balance of the team is off. Our fullbacks are poor offensively which results in no width or pace. Our forwards are awful technically and don't come back to help with possession. The result is this narrow formation where alot of stress is placed on the central midfielders who aren't technical to begin with. I think a change is needed to play a 3-4-3 or even a 3-4-1-1 where we insert an attacking mid or supporting striker.

I think 1 of the 3 cm's is a problem. It's always Gjasula, Bare, and that third one. I loved Abrashi, but I think he's useful only against big teams as he can't create at all...We need a third cm who is more technical, can create, and who doesn't have to worry defensively as much as Bare and Gjasula can cover him.

Dallku wrote: ↑Sat Sep 12, 2020 1:30 am Djimsiti and Kukeli are like night and day and you could see that when they both played at Zurich. Kukeli had a great first touch and you could give him the ball even in pressured situations and trust him to make the safe pass. Gjasula is similar that's why he easily took over that position. Djimisiti has a horrendous first touch and nothing about him suggests that he could play in midfield. Even his partners(Ismajli, Kumbulla) are more suited for midfield but even they have no place there.

Trust Gjasula in pressure situations? We saw how that played out against Lithuania the other day.

Djimsiti doesn’t have a horrendous first touch, I don’t know where you got that information from. He’s valued near 17 million for a reason and the improvements he has shown in recent years have been notable.. if anyone deserves our trust to make the switch, it’s him. I gave multiple examples(and can give more) of similar CBs who also play CDM but you seem to be ignoring them.

You brought up a victory of Albania 1-0 against France the other day.. do you remember who De Biasi had playing CDM that game? It was none other than Andi Lila. Why was he playing there? Not that he was a great passer or had a sick first touch, but due to his size and defensive ability.

Dallku wrote: ↑Sat Sep 12, 2020 1:30 am Djimsiti and Kukeli are like night and day and you could see that when they both played at Zurich. Kukeli had a great first touch and you could give him the ball even in pressured situations and trust him to make the safe pass. Gjasula is similar that's why he easily took over that position. Djimisiti has a horrendous first touch and nothing about him suggests that he could play in midfield. Even his partners(Ismajli, Kumbulla) are more suited for midfield but even they have no place there.

To be honest, I haven't paid much attention to Djim's passing, but Kumbulla is a fantastic passer. Not sure if that qualifies him to be a DM, but he could certainly fulfill the basic pass role Gjasula has in front of defence.

Juventus does with Bonucci as well. He plays in back 3, but he's a good distributor (frankly not a very good defender imo). Sometimes even gives assists.

Aurora Bulkualis wrote: ↑Sat Sep 12, 2020 9:48 am

To be honest, I haven't paid much attention to Djim's passing, but Kumbulla is a fantastic passer. Not sure if that qualifies him to be a DM, but he could certainly fulfill the basic pass role Gjasula has in front of defence.

Juventus does with Bonucci as well. He plays in back 3, but he's a good distributor (frankly not a very good defender imo). Sometimes even gives assists.

Even Mihaj looked way more comfortable on the ball than Djimsiti tbh. Djim is clumsy but he can get away with it at Atalanta because he's surrounded by technical players.

To be a good DM:

1) Great first touch because opponents are usually close to you
2) Awareness of who's around you
3) Good passer
4) Know how to use your body to shield the ball
5) Always be ready to intercept and mark (physique helps here too)
6) Don't take risks by over dribbling and blind passing

Basically the most important thing in that position is to never lose the ball. Then comes the defending..

Dallku wrote: ↑Sat Sep 12, 2020 6:31 pm

Aurora Bulkualis wrote: ↑Sat Sep 12, 2020 9:48 am

To be honest, I haven't paid much attention to Djim's passing, but Kumbulla is a fantastic passer. Not sure if that qualifies him to be a DM, but he could certainly fulfill the basic pass role Gjasula has in front of defence.

Juventus does with Bonucci as well. He plays in back 3, but he's a good distributor (frankly not a very good defender imo). Sometimes even gives assists.

Even Mihaj looked way more comfortable on the ball than Djimsiti tbh. Djim is clumsy but he can get away with it at Atalanta because he's surrounded by technical players.

To be a good DM:

1) Great first touch because opponents are usually close to you
2) Awareness of who's around you
3) Good passer
4) Know how to use your body to shield the ball
5) Always be ready to intercept and mark (physique helps here too)
6) Don't take risks by over dribbling and blind passing

Basically the most important thing in that position is to never lose the ball. Then comes the defending..

Ylber Ramadani has all those qualities you mentioned and probably would started against Lithuania if he didn't had Covid19. Even if he would has done perfectly what Gjasula failed to do and we have won against Lithuania, he still would been considered "amateur" because he would misplaced two long passes.

ZenMaster wrote: ↑Sat Sep 12, 2020 7:41 pm
Ylber Ramadani has all those qualities you mentioned and probably would started against Lithuania if he didn't had Covid19. Even if he would has done perfectly what Gjasula failed to do and we have won against Lithuania, he still would been considered "amateur" because he would misplaced two long passes.

Ramadani does have the basic attributes, that's why he's Gjasula's replacement right now but is he good at them??

There is a reason he played in Denmark's 2nd division and Albania's midfield always got run over when he was in there(0-3 vs Kosovo, 1-4 vs Ukraine, 0-0 vs Jordan, etc)

Ramadani even struggled to get play time at Partizani at one point. I don't trust him

Dallku wrote: ↑Sat Sep 12, 2020 6:31 pm Even Mihaj looked way more comfortable on the ball than Djimsiti tbh. Djim is clumsy but he can get away with it at Atalanta because he's surrounded by technical players.

To be a good DM:

1) Great first touch because opponents are usually close to you
2) Awareness of who's around you
3) Good passer
4) Know how to use your body to shield the ball
5) Always be ready to intercept and mark (physique helps here too)
6) Don't take risks by over dribbling and blind passing

Basically the most important thing in that position is to never lose the ball. Then comes the defending..

Sounds like the traits of Andi Lila..

I don’t know which game you were watching but against Belarus, Djimsiti looked super comfortable on the ball and was the man of the match.

https://www.footballcritic.com/uefa-nat ... ts/1907791

You’re talking like he’s some scrub when in fact, he’s worth around 10 to 20x more than the next man at the position(CDM).

Princ wrote: ↑Sat Sep 12, 2020 8:58 pm

Sounds like the traits of Andi Lila..

I don’t know which game you were watching but against Belarus, Djimsiti looked super comfortable on the ball and was the man of the match.

https://www.footballcritic.com/uefa-nat ... ts/1907791

Your talking like he’s some scrub when in fact, he’s worth around 10 to 20x more than the next man at the position(CDM).

Andi Lila never played that role in front of the back 4. He played the "Abrashi role" when he played in midfield. Since you mentioned France, It was Migjen Basha who played that role in that game. Lila was doing the dirty work(Abrashi) and Kace helped Basha with the playmaking.


I never said Djim is a terrible CB.. he's decent. Just that he doesn't have any traits to play in midfield.

Dallku wrote: ↑Sat Sep 12, 2020 9:05 pm I never said Djim is a terrible CB.. he's decent. Just that he doesn't have any traits to play in midfield.

Unfortunately, we are not reaping the benefits of him at that CB position.

0-6 v Scotland (2 matches)
2-2 v Andorra
0-1 v Lithuania

It’s time to show the real value of his skin by inserting him in a position that will better help the team. Unless you want to carry on with results like the ones above..