[Friendly] Albania vs Norway - 26 march 2018

With memories of the golden years (80's) of the albanian football still fresh on her mind, Albania is now attempting to recreate its strong football legacy. As young players start making their names abroad, the future is looking bright for Albanian football!

Moderators: ZenMaster, Shpati

Dallku
Posts: 4933
Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2015 3:26 pm
Has thanked: 115 times
Been thanked: 412 times
Contact:

Tue Apr 03, 2018 10:29 pm

Only Mavraj will be a loss. Since he came to the NT in his debut vs Iran he changed the Albanian defense and a new era begun. He made what was an amateur defense to a more solid one and professional. For Albanian standards he's a world class defender because we never produce players like him.. Literally ever.

You can always find midfielders/attackers. Even Albanian leaguers can compete nowadays if we're honest. It's defense the biggest hole because we don't produce defenders.

As long as you have a solid defense you can always be competitive against anyone.
User avatar
Aurora Bulkualis
Posts: 5063
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2015 9:24 pm
Location: Bulkustan
Team: Fc Bulku
Has thanked: 257 times
Been thanked: 263 times
Contact:

Wed Apr 04, 2018 3:22 am

The biggest blow was Skenderbeu being idiots. A lot of youth was coming through their ranks, and they've made the EL groups twice at this point. They looked better than ever. They took all that progress and threw it down the drain because Takaj wanted to make some quick cash.
"Cheap things you can buy in bulk, but Bulku is priceless" Ervin Xhevahir Bulku
User avatar
Plako
Posts: 3857
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2015 5:21 am
Location: NYC
Team: Partizani
Has thanked: 79 times
Been thanked: 164 times
Contact:

Wed Apr 04, 2018 5:15 am

Dallku wrote: Tue Apr 03, 2018 10:29 pm Only Mavraj will be a loss. Since he came to the NT in his debut vs Iran he changed the Albanian defense and a new era begun. He made what was an amateur defense to a more solid one and professional. For Albanian standards he's a world class defender because we never produce players like him.. Literally ever.

Dinamo used to produce some decent defenders back in the day but yeah you got a good point there, he's one of a kind. We have stopped producing any decent talent in the league for years now. The last one was Roshi.
User avatar
artan
Posts: 3082
Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2015 4:08 am
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 183 times
Contact:

Thu Apr 05, 2018 3:48 am

Aurora Bulkualis wrote: Wed Apr 04, 2018 3:22 am The biggest blow was Skenderbeu being idiots. A lot of youth was coming through their ranks, and they've made the EL groups twice at this point. They looked better than ever. They took all that progress and threw it down the drain because Takaj wanted to make some quick cash.

Skenderbeu would be nowhere without all the match fixing they've done over the past 8 years. They've fixed over something like 100 matches over that span, it's more than just quick cash.. They don't even produce any players, they just poach up cheap Kosovar talents and sell them..
User avatar
Aurora Bulkualis
Posts: 5063
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2015 9:24 pm
Location: Bulkustan
Team: Fc Bulku
Has thanked: 257 times
Been thanked: 263 times
Contact:

Fri Apr 06, 2018 5:36 am

artan wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 3:48 am Skenderbeu would be nowhere without all the match fixing they've done over the past 8 years. They've fixed over something like 100 matches over that span, it's more than just quick cash.. They don't even produce any players, they just poach up cheap Kosovar talents and sell them..
How is that a bad thing? They get much more exposure that way. They're selling another dude to Spain soon.
"Cheap things you can buy in bulk, but Bulku is priceless" Ervin Xhevahir Bulku
User avatar
Simboli i Diellit
Posts: 5416
Joined: Thu Mar 05, 2015 3:26 am
Location: Milan
Team: AC Milan
Has thanked: 369 times
Been thanked: 211 times
Contact:

Fri Apr 06, 2018 9:19 am

Mavraj sent to train with Hamburg U21.
User avatar
plisi
Posts: 200
Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2018 11:26 am
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Sat Apr 07, 2018 12:52 pm

artan wrote: Tue Apr 03, 2018 3:24 am
plisi wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 12:05 pm Basha became a part-time player for us once we started playing well. Kukeli on the other hand even with his random brainfarts has always been The standout and hasn't been replaced properly. Then there we're Cana, Lenjani and Agolli also essential to The success under GDB. Back then we had good players and a good team. Now we still have good players, but Panucci hasn't managed to get yet a team of the players he has.
The way I see it is that we peaked around the two France friendlies in 2014 and early 2015.We are pretty much using the same exact players we used then with the exception of Grezda who's the only player that broke through. We are still using the same squad that GDB built. Panucci is trying with new guys like Qaka, Ajdarevic, Lika, Gavazaj, etc, but these guys are second rate talents. He can't really recruit with the same effect as all the diaspora players are going to Kosova. We are gonna have a talent crisis in 2-3 years when guys like Mavraj and Xhaka retire.
Not really. Cana, Agolli, Kukeli, Gashi, Lenjani, Ajeti, and Basha made it a different team and eventhough some of the overmentioned are still playing their level has dropped. We still have a good team though, the likes of Hysaj, Strakosha, Berisha and Abrashi are playing at a higher level club-wise than what we had then and Grezda is a solid player, this is a different team though, but Idk if the current team is suited to how Panucci wants it to play, we're leaking more goals than we were used to with GDB and that's a big problem going into the next qualifiers. It's good to keep in mind that the current side beat Israel 0-3 and could've challanged for that 2nd spot in the wcq, had it not been for the dumb home loss vs Israel.

All I'm saying is that, we shouldn't get blinded by Panucci's more attacking tactics, give him time, but the team should defend better and if he can't fix that. Go for a more pragmatic and tested coach.

Oh, and FSHF will do FFK so much dirt if they manage to cap Ardian Ismajli, the guy looked like a young Cana vs Germany u21.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax0xJStQgSo
User avatar
artan
Posts: 3082
Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2015 4:08 am
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 183 times
Contact:

Tue Apr 10, 2018 1:31 am

Panucci is okay. I don't get why he calls up so many new faces and doesn't even test them like Abazaj and Gavazaj.

But he's in a difficult situation. It's unfortunate that we couldn't get Rashica or someone like Avdijaj as we need a creative offensive player to put some pressure on the defense. We are still relying on the same below average players since 2014 but we don't have the same defensive structure and grit the 2014 - 2015 teams had as they were able to bunker against the best of them, those players are declining or have retired. That team from September 2014 to June 2015 were just amazing to watch defensively. The backline was tremendous (Cana and Mavraj had a great pairing) and Xhaka was a warrior in the midfield (he hasn't put in the same effort since). I also wouldn't be surprised if Mavraj retires soon.

My thoughts on some of younger "talents" (under age 24)..
Ndoj can be a decent Serie A player. He has some skill
Bare will probably be a second division player, He's too much hype at this point
Abazaj and Gavazaj are Swiss Super league players at best,
Manaj is a flop,
Veseli actually looks like he can have a long career in Serie A for a lower - mid tier team (and he's the one that we shitted on the most),
Ajeti has regressed and he's probably a Serie B defender which is a shame as he has such natural skills for a CB,
Djimshiti is a Serie B defender
Grezda looks like he can be a Serie A player


I think a 3 CB formation will be best for us going forward. Have a CB paring of Mavraj, Ajeti and Veseli with Djimshiti and Ismajli as alternatives. Lenjani and Hysaj as wingbacks. Grezda and Sadiku as forwards (both will put in effort defensively) and a midfield trio of Xhaka(Qaka), Abrashi, Ndoj.
User avatar
Aurora Bulkualis
Posts: 5063
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2015 9:24 pm
Location: Bulkustan
Team: Fc Bulku
Has thanked: 257 times
Been thanked: 263 times
Contact:

Tue Apr 10, 2018 1:46 am

I think a 3 CB formation is bad tbh. I know it's intuitive to just place more people defensively, but you're taking away from the midfield/forward line where we need all the man power we can get. All 3 CBs is going to do is invite pressure, until we inevitably choke in the 78th minute or something. It's better to pressure play higher up, and prevent chances from being created in the first place rather than just hoping an extra defender will save us.

3 CBs could maybe work when we're defending a lead in the last 5 minutes or something. But for the rest of the game, it'll just destroy our gameplay by taking away an extra forward/midfielder, and invite unnecessary pressure. Not to mention those players will dose off because they'll have less responsibility than usual.
"Cheap things you can buy in bulk, but Bulku is priceless" Ervin Xhevahir Bulku
Post Reply
  • Information
  • Who is online

    Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests