Road to France Euro 2016 : Albania

[Aurora Bulkualis]

There was also bad karma from the fact the fans were screaming Messi, Messi. Without humility = no results.

Both the fans and the players are either insecure as f***, or cocky and arrogant. They don't know the meaning of confidence.

[Plako]

So, I'm not sure who to assign blame to.

It feels like these guys don't practice in training on what to do when they have possession. Wouldn't be surprised if that's the case considering De Biasi is a defensive extremist and gives the impression that that's the only thing he cares about. Even Cikalleshi after the game said that his main assignment was to defend the Portuguese defenders from going forward....!

Considering that defense is such a major priority the players panic when they have the ball on their feet and seem unsure on what to do with it. But IMO it also has a lot to do with the individual quality of certain players. For example someone like Basha doesn't really panic.. He will lift his head and pick a pass as opposed to Abrashi who will shit his pants and either pass it back to the defense or hoof it to no man's land.

The chemistry is pretty bad though. It's a combination of tactics, individual (lack of) talent and lack of confidence in themselves and their teammates.

C'mon you make it sound as if Albania is the only team playing this way. You have the likes of Chelsea, or more specifically Mourinho, who has perfected this type of football. And he plays that kind of football with teams assemble for hundreds of millions of dollars.

I watched Armenia vs Denmark and holy crap Armenia was the exact opposite of Albania in terms of passing, movement, chemistry.. they looked like a mini Spain.

Armenia is out dude, they have nothing to lose. Armenia at Albania looked completely amateurish.

[artan]

We haven't done much offensively this whole campaign. Our little offensive success was through quick counter attacks on the flanks with speed (Lenjani and Roshi). When we bunkered this past weekend it was really bad because Gashi was sitting deep and we know he doesn't have the pace to beat opponents. Instead of trying to take on opponents like Roshi or Lenjani he just cuts it inside and passes it back.. Noticed how the game opened up when Roshi was inserted. That's why I like Lenjani because he's able to go the distance with the ball and he has very good right foot.

Also Agolli looked non existent this weekend. He normally has a big role in our offense with his crosses but I guess Denmark and Portugal don't give him the time/space like those FC Vardar defenders for Armenia did.

[Albanian Damien]

So, I'm not sure who to assign blame to.

It feels like these guys don't practice in training on what to do when they have possession. Wouldn't be surprised if that's the case considering De Biasi is a defensive extremist and gives the impression that that's the only thing he cares about. Even Cikalleshi after the game said that his main assignment was to defend the Portuguese defenders from going forward....!

Considering that defense is such a major priority the players panic when they have the ball on their feet and seem unsure on what to do with it. But IMO it also has a lot to do with the individual quality of certain players. For example someone like Basha doesn't really panic.. He will lift his head and pick a pass as opposed to Abrashi who will shit his pants and either pass it back to the defense or hoof it to no man's land.

The chemistry is pretty bad though. It's a combination of tactics, individual (lack of) talent and lack of confidence in themselves and their teammates.

C'mon you make it sound as if Albania is the only team playing this way. You have the likes of Chelsea, or more specifically Mourinho, who has perfected this type of football. And he plays that kind of football with teams assemble for hundreds of millions of dollars.

This is exactly what I'm trying to say (and I think you are also). I don't think it's the philosophy, I think its the fact that we haven't been playing up to that philosophy the way we should which I think unfortunately is because we're lacking talent. Especially with Mavraj out and Kace feuding with DB. Chelsea and Italy have won major tournaments playing like this and even fucking Greece has of all people. The only difference is that Chelsea and Italy have quality players upfield who can punish a defense that doesn't get back quick enough. Xhaka is the only one in our midfield and up who has any semblance of skill set with the ball. Balaj hasn't played. Gashi needs to be crossed into play which has been difficult for no reason the last few games. Cikalleshi runs a lot but he has no skill set. Lenjani is... I don't even know how to describe him because he's actually pretty decent at crossing but it's when he shoots for goal that I've always been disappointed, which is peculiar for a striker. All in all, the reason we've been so pessimistic if because our lack of talent has shined the last couple of games whilst it was hidden very well the first half of the campaign due to our cohesiveness. I think if we came out with a tie vs. Portugal we would have been much more confident. Especially since we played our best half in two games vs them. However, that last minute goal is the type that can deflate a team and unfortunately we've grown up accustomed to that happening to us. Let's hope this truly is a new generation with a new mentality. A champ is only born once he faces adversity, and rises up to meet it. This is the adversity we are facing. Let's see how they respond.

[Aurora Bulkualis]

C'mon you make it sound as if Albania is the only team playing this way. You have the likes of Chelsea, or more specifically Mourinho, who has perfected this type of football. And he plays that kind of football with teams assemble for hundreds of millions of dollars.

No one is complaining solely about the defending. We're complaining that the team can barely get the ball past the halfway line. If you're not gonna play attacking football, and you want to play defend + counter, that's fine. But defend w/ no counter is a terrible tactic, that can only get you so far. You can't compare Fabregas and Hazard to Abrashi and Lenjani.

[Dallku]

Also Agolli looked non existent this weekend. He normally has a big role in our offense with his crosses but I guess Denmark and Portugal don't give him the time/space like those FC Vardar defenders for Armenia did.

Agolli obviously doesn't have the freedom by De Biasi to go forward. Only against Armenia he did and that's because we were losing and desperate to score. Since this is the case I'd rather have a stronger defender in his position like Djimsiti who doesn't have much of an offensive game or crossing but is a better defender than Agolli. Our fullbacks are not allowed to go forward so Agolli becomes kinda useless anyway.

PLako, there is no way we play like Chelsea, Atletico or even Iceland! Those teams play counter attacking football with an aim to dispossess the opponent so they can start attacks. They are not retarded with the ball, It's a totally different thing. Albania just plays to "survive". Whether we get some totally fluke goal is a bonus for Albania. We don't play to win but to stop the opponent from scoring. San Marino on steroids as Aurora said.

Now Albania is forced to win at least one of its next 2 games. I'm afraid that this is the time where we get exposed.

[Plako]

PLako, there is no way we play like Chelsea, Atletico or even Iceland! Those teams play counter attacking football with an aim to dispossess the opponent so they can start attacks. They are not retarded with the ball, It's a totally different thing. Albania just plays to "survive". Whether we get some totally fluke goal is a bonus for Albania. We don't play to win but to stop the opponent from scoring. San Marino on steroids as Aurora said.

Now Albania is forced to win at least one of its next 2 games. I'm afraid that this is the time where we get exposed.

Well until today that strategy has worked. And against Portugal we were missing our best two defenders and had to incorporate Gjimshiti, in our makeshift defense, who had never played before with us. We have absolutely no talent whatsoever to play any other kind of football. Our leading scorer right now is Mavraj. I don't understand why people don't get this.

You think Kace will make a difference? Didn't Kace and Roshi start versus Slovenia and Iceland away in the last campaign. Those were two of the most pathetic games we've played in ages against mediocre opponents. This is a phenomenon with Albanian players. When they are out of the lineup and we play like shit, all of a sudden these players who we thought were crap, become our saviours. Roshi playing for 10 minutes against a tired side is different from Roshi starting. Kace I agree that is good but I doubt he would have made a difference in either of the last two games.

[Aurora Bulkualis]

You seem to be mis-understanding the premise of the argument. We're not against playing defensively, but you can't just defend with 0 offensive threat. Otherwise the other team can throw 10 players forward without risking anything (i.e. Portugal, Denmark). When Portugal sends all their players forward, they put tremendous pressure on our defenders, and we cant punish them. By offering a countering threat, we actually relieve our defence. In reality weve only earned 8 points through massive luck this campaign, which is nothing special.

P.S. The Slovenia game was pathetic? They got 1 shot on target the entire game in their own home, and we missed like 50 sitters. How is it Kace's fault that our forwards can't finish one on one?

[ZenMaster]

Discipline level in NT team should be same as was during Enver Hoxha regime so i believe him is the right guy to make it happen.
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[Plako]

You seem to be mis-understanding the premise of the argument. We're not against playing defensively, but you can't just defend with 0 offensive threat. Otherwise the other team can throw 10 players forward without risking anything (i.e. Portugal, Denmark). When Portugal sends all their players forward, they put tremendous pressure on our defenders, and we cant punish them. By offering a countering threat, we actually relieve our defence. In reality weve only earned 8 points through massive luck this campaign, which is nothing special.

So where is this offensive threat going to come from? Cause all of you guys are complaining about the last of offense but please tell me one player who's a threat to the opposition in our team. Is Kace the saviour in your opinion? Cause I don't think so. Roshi? We've seen him suck game after game as a starter. He's best suited to come on in the last stage of the game like he did in the last two games.

I think you are putting too much weight to our one loss in this campaign. THis strategy worked very well in Portugal, against France, and almost worked against Denmark too. This is all we can offer with our current players. We don't even have someone like Mkhitaryan in our team.

P.S. The Slovenia game was pathetic? They got 1 shot on target the entire game in their own home, and we missed like 50 sitters. How is it Kace's fault that our forwards can't finish one on one?

So how is Kace going to improve things now then? This is the personnel we have. Most of our team are either bench players or without teams. Not sure where do most people get this idea that we should be playing Chelsea like counterattacking football.