Albanian National Team [General topic]

[engineer123]

Probability by group to have 3 teams qualify for the #EURO2024     knockout stage through Georgia/Czechia

Group A: 60.8%
Group B: 38.6%
Group C: 60.6%
Group D: 96.9%
Group E: 92.1%
Group F: 51.1%

Huge increase for Groups D and E to get 3 teams following that draw.

Why is group B so low? There are 2 teams which, if they win could go to 4 points. One of them also is playing a team which has already secured 1st place and has nothing to play for.

[Shpati]

Lol at the Russians trying to be politically correct for sympathy points

But I will be surprised if UEFA show Daku any mercy...

https://x.com/NationalIndNews/status/18 ... _&ref_url=

He needs to get out of there tbh. He might get the Britney Griner treatment.

[Simboli i Diellit]

Sylvinho's interview:

https://www.youtube.com/live/kNLjWCN6oY ... w-Dn9qPgJi

[RedFootballs]

Sylvinho emphasising how the team will learn from these experiences against top opposition.

And I totally agree. These top teams show you how you have to play at a high level, organised, high intensity, focused, fast, and quick on the ball. Even a team like Poland or Czechia is far off the level of Spain.

You don't score with luck against Spain.

I feel we will go into WCQ a much stronger team, and hopefully we also get a decent group we can qualify from. Will expanded format be there next time? I hope not, I kind of feel like less spots makes it more prestigious and more valuable, more of a dream.

[artan]

I’ve said this before but this is the most talented generation Albania has had. But if Sylvinho continues to play his amateurs and doesn’t develop a clear identity we won’t qualify for the World Cup.

[Aurora Bulkualis]

My evaluation of our players

Defence

Strakosha - Clearly showed his quality. Time to keep Berisha as a backup.
Hysaj - At most should be a sub. Balliu is outright the better RB.
Mitaj - Very talented but still raw. Still makes some dumb mistakes. Needs to move to a top league to iron out them out.
Ajeti - So many awesome interceptions game after game. Not perfect but very solid. No complaints.
Djimsiti - Nothing special but he was solid. None of the goals were his fault.


Midfield

Asllani - Similar to Mitaj. Very talented, but rough around the edges. Needs to improve defence and finishing product.
Bajrami - Can't call to bench him when he keeps pulling miracles out of his ass every few games. But he's not a winger.
Laci - Meh
Ramadani - Invisible. Not bad, but I can't remember anything he did this tournament. Better than Gjasula at least.
Gjasula - Meme player. Thank you for the goal, but he doesn't belong anywhere near this NT.

Forwards

Hoxha - Very good dribbler. It's a pleasure watching him play. Needs to improve final product, but he even started the 2-2 equalizer action.
Asani - Similar to Bajrami. Pulls something out of his ass and then disappears. But Bajrami at least has basic on the ball ability. Need to stop using him as a crutch if we have to move on to the next level.
Seferi - Should not be anywhere near the NT.
Muci - Barely played
Broja - Needs to improve his finishing, but he is clearly a class ahead out of anyone else around him. Him linking with Asllani will be a deadly duo in the future.
Manaj - Should only start if Broja tears his ACL again. Otherwise shouldn't even get a sniff of the starting lineup.

Sylvinho

The only thing I'll commend him for is starting Strakosha and Ajeti. Apart from the first half 45 minutes against Croatia, everything else was a shit show. Hysaj straight up cost us this tournament. Manaj is a waste of breath. Terrible favoritism with amateur players.

He is better than Reja but that's not saying much.

[Shpati]

Great analysis AB

I thought Ajeti + Dijm were solid. They both read the game very well.

I would like to see Balliu more, but at 32, will he get his chance? I feel the federation screwed up calling him up so late. I also feel they have to do some player agent favors by starting him as much as possible.

I'm going to give Sly some slack because this was his first campaign and he got #1 in his group. He's got to learn to break the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" thinking. It's obvious he went into this tournament hoping that guys like Asani and Seferi can pull miracles again.

I also think the Broja timing was unlucky. Playing him 90 minutes for all 3 games might have been risky and could have put his club career in jeopardy. While I respect his competitive nature, I'd hate to do that to the kid (ruin his club career at 22). I'd like to see him get into club form before asking him to go 100% for the NT.

[artan]

Pros:
Asllani - The talent and class is there. He's shown potential to be an attacking threat. He just needs more confidence but he will be the future captain and might go down as the best to represent Albania
Strakosha - He reinvented himself and finally showed up for the NT. It could have got ugly in some of these matches if not for him.
Hoxha - Looks like he can be a rotation play for us and his width/pace can make him a valuable super sub
Laci - I think he has improved alot offensively. I remembered him being a headless chicken offensively under Reja but his positioning and IQ seems so much better now. Reminds me alot of Taulant Xhaka

Okay:
Mitaj - the talent is there but I wish we could have saw more of his attacking talent. Sylvinho needs to find a way for him to get more involved offensively.
Ajeti - I like Ajeti. Dude can come off the couch and put in a decent shift for Albania any given week.

Bad:
Seferi - No explanation
Asani - Take away that left foot and he is useless
Manaj - Useless
Hysaj - We understand offensively he will suck but the professionalism defensively is what we want.
Broja - I thought he played well against Spain and had a poor game against Italy. But you can't use your spot to Sugar Rey. I get the manager is stupid for dropping you but you have to be a professional and win your spot.

[Aurora Bulkualis]

Hysaj - We understand offensively he will suck but the professionalism defensively is what we want.

We make the mistake of thinking if a player is shit offensively he must be good defensively. Hysaj's defence was exactly the problem. He gets beaten way too easily. He's cowardly in his challenges.

The only thing he has over Balliu is height, since Balliu is rather short. Everything else Balliu is better. That's why he's a starter in La Liga, and Hysaj is a benchwarmer even under Sarri.

[Dallku]

I think everybody can agree that Sylvinho made some pretty bad decisions in all 3 games...

but we have to be fair and point out the positive decisions he made too:

- Strakosha over Berisha! Thomas didn't disappoint. He was always the better gk of the two but club situation, favoritism, etc prevented him from being the undisputed #1 for Albania. Glad that Sylvinho went for talent here. That saved Albania from uglier results.

- Ajeti over Ismajli. This was a risky one but Sylvinho was proven right. Ajeti had a solid tournament.

- Going to a 3 CM lineup. Asllani and Ramadani can't handle the midfield on their own and Bajrami couldn't help them. They looked more solid when Laci was inserted.

- Giving Medon Berisha minutes instead of an older player. Medon has decent potential and even in the Spain game he showed some good signs. Albania needs more CMs.