Albanian National Team [General topic]

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

User avatar
CanaYouDoIt
Posts: 3394
Joined: Tue Jun 11, 2019 10:56 pm
Has thanked: 635 times
Been thanked: 158 times
Contact:

artan wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2019 3:17 am
Simboli i Diellit wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2019 3:13 am De Biasi started from the goalie, replacing Ujkani with Berisha was a huge upgrade and even today i’m sure Berisha is better than Strakosha (comming out of the Goalie and clearing crosses in the area).

Hysaj and the stability of our trio of cbs Cana-Mavraj-Ajeti allowed us to get some clean results althrough boring games with 4:5:1 or 5:4:1 . I remember we didn’t even had a shot on target against Spain and Italy for like 70-80 minutes...
Also the pressing of the midfield. Abrashi, Xhaka, Lila and Lenjani would press relentlessly in the midfield. Credit to GDB because he really made such a strong defensive unit considering the subpar talent he had.

I miss the guy. :(

Everyone’s trying to play nice football nowadays , we can’t do that and wasted a few years under Panucci trying that crap . Reja did a good job these last 6 months , but I don’t see it getting better with the new talents
User avatar
RedFootballs
Posts: 1944
Joined: Sat Nov 12, 2016 11:12 pm
Location: England
Team: QPR - Albania
Has thanked: 162 times
Been thanked: 201 times
Contact:

CanaYouDoIt wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2019 4:28 am
artan wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2019 3:17 am
Simboli i Diellit wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2019 3:13 am De Biasi started from the goalie, replacing Ujkani with Berisha was a huge upgrade and even today i’m sure Berisha is better than Strakosha (comming out of the Goalie and clearing crosses in the area).

Hysaj and the stability of our trio of cbs Cana-Mavraj-Ajeti allowed us to get some clean results althrough boring games with 4:5:1 or 5:4:1 . I remember we didn’t even had a shot on target against Spain and Italy for like 70-80 minutes...
Also the pressing of the midfield. Abrashi, Xhaka, Lila and Lenjani would press relentlessly in the midfield. Credit to GDB because he really made such a strong defensive unit considering the subpar talent he had.

I miss the guy. :(

Everyone’s trying to play nice football nowadays , we can’t do that and wasted a few years under Panucci trying that crap . Reja did a good job these last 6 months , but I don’t see it getting better with the new talents
Why would you miss him? We're doing better under Reja IMO. Better football, scoring goals/creating many chances, beating actual rated teams, should have beaten a resurgent Turkey who are looking amazing.
Take away what happened with ballisti and we would never have qualified for that euros.
User avatar
CanaYouDoIt
Posts: 3394
Joined: Tue Jun 11, 2019 10:56 pm
Has thanked: 635 times
Been thanked: 158 times
Contact:

RedFootballs wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2019 11:42 am
CanaYouDoIt wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2019 4:28 am
artan wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2019 3:17 am

Also the pressing of the midfield. Abrashi, Xhaka, Lila and Lenjani would press relentlessly in the midfield. Credit to GDB because he really made such a strong defensive unit considering the subpar talent he had.

I miss the guy. :(

Everyone’s trying to play nice football nowadays , we can’t do that and wasted a few years under Panucci trying that crap . Reja did a good job these last 6 months , but I don’t see it getting better with the new talents
Why would you miss him? We're doing better under Reja IMO. Better football, scoring goals/creating many chances, beating actual rated teams, should have beaten a resurgent Turkey who are looking amazing.
Take away what happened with ballisti and we would never have qualified for that euros.

Yeah why would you miss the man who took our nation to our first major event ever . Stupidness
User avatar
Migjeni
Posts: 652
Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2015 4:09 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

De Biasi built a team, as we didn’t have any superstars. So we were in need of a team. A collective force.

After him we’ve been shit. I don’t think, that Reja is the right guy either, but it’s still early to say. But the guy is 74 years old. We need someone who can revolutionize our entire FA and system. Not a dude who’ll be with us for 3-4 years (max).

Kosova are planning to keep Challandes until he retires. He’s not that young either (68), but he’s more involved in everything with Kosova. It doesn’t seem so with Reja. But Fr Biasi was as involved with Albania back then. We should have kept him.
Kafshatë që s'kapërdihet asht, or vlla, mjerimi..
User avatar
Aurora Bulkualis
Posts: 5084
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2015 9:24 pm
Location: Bulkustan
Team: Fc Bulku
Has thanked: 259 times
Been thanked: 266 times
Contact:

artan wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2019 2:38 am Lets not overhype the 80's and 90's where we played "fearless" against Germany in a 3-2 defeat lol.
Comparatively speaking they were all bad, but you can't say Tare and Bogdani duo was worse than Salihi and Kapllani. Bogu used to bully top defenders. That was our lowest point offensively, and De Biasi came out of it by organizing some nice set pieces. Remember, we were begging Alban Meha to join us...we were THAT bad.

1C7wEW_VBEA

Anyhow, my point is we need some repetitive drills offensively, especially set pieces. That's how Greece won EUROs. We can't keep relying on individual skill and improv. We're not 90s Brazil or 80s Argentina.
"Cheap things you can buy in bulk, but Bulku is priceless" Ervin Xhevahir Bulku
User avatar
artan
Posts: 3087
Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2015 4:08 am
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 185 times
Contact:

Is that the goal that dribbled went through Lorris feet?

Bogdani really wasn't a good player either. There was a time from like 2009 to 2011 we were all calling for him to be dropped and saying how bad he was. And that's saying alot since in 2010 we were pretty fucking bad with no young talent coming in. He had some decent performances when Di Biasi first came in though.

I just think we need to stop romanticizing the past and glorifying the older generations. The only players that were really worth a damn in the 2000's was Lorrik Cana and Altin Lala. The NT has gotten so much better since 10 years ago at the point we are so disappointed that we didn't qualify and that we choked against Turkey, expectations have risen.

Edit: And we were begging Meha to join us because he was a good 2nd Bundesliga league player which was anything better than we had in 2012. He got dropped once Di Biasi got better players to fit his system.
User avatar
Princ
Posts: 2932
Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2016 3:36 pm
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 83 times
Contact:

artan wrote: Sat Oct 26, 2019 3:46 pm Is that the goal that dribbled went through Lorris feet?

Bogdani really wasn't a good player either. There was a time from like 2009 to 2011 we were all calling for him to be dropped and saying how bad he was. And that's saying alot since in 2010 we were pretty fucking bad with no young talent coming in. He had some decent performances when Di Biasi first came in though.

I just think we need to stop romanticizing the past and glorifying the older generations. The only players that were really worth a damn in the 2000's was Lorrik Cana and Altin Lala. The NT has gotten so much better since 10 years ago at the point we are so disappointed that we didn't qualify and that we choked against Turkey, expectations have risen.

Edit: And we were begging Meha to join us because he was a good 2nd Bundesliga league player which was anything better than we had in 2012. He got dropped once Di Biasi got better players to fit his system.
That was near the end of bogdanis career.. we would be lucky to have a big striker like bogdani these days. He’s miles better than anything we have now, it’s not even close
User avatar
Aurora Bulkualis
Posts: 5084
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2015 9:24 pm
Location: Bulkustan
Team: Fc Bulku
Has thanked: 259 times
Been thanked: 266 times
Contact:

artan wrote: Sat Oct 26, 2019 3:46 pm Is that the goal that dribbled went through Lorris feet?

Bogdani really wasn't a good player either. There was a time from like 2009 to 2011 we were all calling for him to be dropped and saying how bad he was. And that's saying alot since in 2010 we were pretty fucking bad with no young talent coming in. He had some decent performances when Di Biasi first came in though.
Yes lol. Which is the period that I'm talking about. Our lowest point offensively. Bogu was on his last legs, but we kept calling him because we had no options. That goal was him at his lowest as a player.
artan wrote: Sat Oct 26, 2019 3:46 pm I just think we need to stop romanticizing the past and glorifying the older generations.
No one is "romanticizing" anything. These are facts. Bogdani was the best goalscorer of all time. That's not an opinion. Tare was around Salihi's goalscoring, but he was much physical and a way better target man.
artan wrote: Sat Oct 26, 2019 3:46 pm Edit: And we were begging Meha to join us because he was a good 2nd Bundesliga league player which was anything better than we had in 2012. He got dropped once Di Biasi got better players to fit his system.
Hence my point, we were at our lowest point offensively.
"Cheap things you can buy in bulk, but Bulku is priceless" Ervin Xhevahir Bulku
Dallku
Posts: 4951
Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2015 3:26 pm
Has thanked: 117 times
Been thanked: 414 times
Contact:

Bogdani was a very good target man. Not a great goal scorer but excellent at holding the ball, smart, bringing players into play, etc... There is a reason he had a long career in a tough, defensive Serie A where every game ended 1-0 or 0-0.

Back then the biggest problem for Albania was defense and MENTALITY(especially). We had 0 problems scoring goals and creating chances. Lala, Skela, etc were excellent players as well but we never gave them credit because of results.

Albanians asking for Bogdani to get benched is irrelevant. Albanians are asking for Hysaj to get benched right now... If we had Messi they would want him to get benched too. That's who Albanians are and how much they understand this game.. if we're honest.
User avatar
artan
Posts: 3087
Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2015 4:08 am
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 185 times
Contact:

Dallku wrote: Sat Oct 26, 2019 10:58 pm Bogdani was a very good target man. Not a great goal scorer but excellent at holding the ball, smart, bringing players into play, etc... There is a reason he had a long career in a tough, defensive Serie A where every game ended 1-0 or 0-0.

Back then the biggest problem for Albania was defense and MENTALITY(especially). We had 0 problems scoring goals and creating chances. Lala, Skela, etc were excellent players as well but we never gave them credit because of results.

Albanians asking for Bogdani to get benched is irrelevant. Albanians are asking for Hysaj to get benched right now... If we had Messi they would want him to get benched too. That's who Albanians are and how much they understand this game.. if we're honest.
No one is asking for Hysaj to be benched.. No one but maybe you? There was a time were Bogdani was put in the Lila, Dalku, Villa, category of players that should be benched. You can probably check out the old xtratime forums. I think at the time people were wanting other guys ahead of him. In hindsight those other guys weren't better than Bogdani because they were amateurs but to say Bogdani was a good player is a stretch. He was big, strong, decent help up play, decent at headers and not really much, very limited himself.

As for the goal scoring we are actually scoring more now than we did back then and that's even when you consider the groups were larger back them. Example:

2002 WCQ - 5 goals scored
2004 ECQ - 11 goals scored ( 8 matches)
2006 WCQ - 11 goals scored (12 matches)
2008 ECQ - 12 goals scored (12 matches)
2010 WCQ - 6 goals scored ( 10 matches)
2012 ECQ - 7 goals scored (10 matches)
2014 WCQ - 9 goals scored (10 matches)
2016 ECQ - 10 goals scored ( 8 matches)
2018 WCQ - 10 goals scores (10 matches)
2020 ECQ - 14 goals scored (8 matches)

So to say we were scoring at will back then is kinda hilarious. We were constantly one of the worst teams back then and offensively we weren't any good either even with the Serie A "bombers" in Tare and Bogdani. You are right that the defense and mentality changed and that's because the team doesn't have any Albanian based players in the lineup anymore. We went from amateurs to professionals playing in better leagues who can actually implement a scheme and somewhat defend. God bless the diaspora players or else we'll be like Moldova right now.
Post Reply
  • Information
  • Who is online

    Users browsing this forum: Ahrefs [Bot], Google [Bot] and 70 guests