Albanian National Team [General topic]

[Dallku]

Sylvinho gifted Broja a starting spot in EURO after about 2 years of inactivity/injury problems..

Manaj ate his lunch!

If not Manaj, who you starting at striker here?

By the way, what is happening with Vrioni?

9 goals in MLS this season but seems to be forgotten..

How did Manaj eat his lunch??

The standards for Manaj are so low that he gets praised for missing a golden chance (vs Italy) and winning a few fouls in the first half vs Croatia. It was because of Manaj's constant diving and losing the ball that the Croats scored and probably should've won that game. Against Spain with Manaj as a starter Albania couldn't even get out of its own half.

Do you guys know about the story of Zlatko Dalic going into half time and telling his team to stop guarding Manaj at all because he's not Broja and can't do anything? That's why that second half flipped.

[Dallku]

I found it


“Çfarë po bëni, kë po mbroni, është Manaj jo Broja”! Zbulohet çfarë i tha trajneri i Kroacisë lojtarëve

Shqipëria e ka mbyllur rrugëtimin e saj në Europianin e Gjermanisë. Pengu më i madh i shqiptarëve është padyshim ajo ndeshje kundër Kroacisë për faktin që dolëm vetëm me një pikë ku në fakt me pak më shumë përqendrim dhe me disa vendime ndryshe nga Silvinjo, me më shumë guxim, mund të kishim fituar. Një prapaskenë vërtet e bukur është zbuluar në ditën e djeshme nga Alban Xhihani në emisionin Kampionët që transmetohet në “Klan”.

“Nga burime shumë të afërta duhet të japim edhe meritën e Silvinjos që formacioni nuk i zbulohej dot. Madje në ndeshjen kundër Kroacisë, kroatët ishin të bindur që luante Armando Broja nga minuta e parë. Në bazë të informacioneve të tyre, luante Broja dhe ndeshjen e kishin përgatitur me Brojën në formacion. Për këtë arsye mbrojtja e tyre ishte shumë e fiksuar me sulmuesin tonë, por në atë rast ishte Manaj dhe jo Broja. Kur u mbyll pjesa e parë, me informacionet e mia të sigurta, Dalic ka shkuar në dhomën e zhveshjes dhe i ka thënë lojtarëve: “Cfarë po bëjmë, kë po mbrojmë aty?”. Pra si të thuash frika duhej të ikte pasi ishte Manaj në sulm dhe jo Broja. Pastaj kur filloi pjesa e dytë, Kroacia nisi të na sulmonte dhe po bënte të njëjtën situatë siç na e bëri Italia”.

E gjitha kjo tregon qartësisht gabimin e Silvinjos. Trajneri i Shqipërisë përgatiti gjithçka në perfeksion, por nuk e lexojë drejt situatën. Teknikut tonë i erdhi situata e artë në dorë, por për fatin e keq nuk e shfrytëzoi. Pikërisht në momentin kur Kroacia nisi të qetësohet në mbrojtje për mungesën e Brojës, aktivizimi i këtij sulmuesi do të kishte mbyllur ndeshjen ose të paktën, do të rikthente frikën e tyre për të qenë më të tërhequr dhe për të mos e sulmuar Shqipërinë me të gjitha forcat.

[Princ]

How did Manaj eat his lunch??

Took his job brother..

Relegated him to the bench.

What more is there to say?

[RedFootballs]

Sylvinho gifted Broja a starting spot in EURO after about 2 years of inactivity/injury problems..

Manaj ate his lunch!

If not Manaj, who you starting at striker here?

By the way, what is happening with Vrioni?

9 goals in MLS this season but seems to be forgotten..

How did Manaj eat his lunch??

The standards for Manaj are so low that he gets praised for missing a golden chance (vs Italy) and winning a few fouls in the first half vs Croatia. It was because of Manaj's constant diving and losing the ball that the Croats scored and probably should've won that game. Against Spain with Manaj as a starter Albania couldn't even get out of its own half.

Do you guys know about the story of Zlatko Dalic going into half time and telling his team to stop guarding Manaj at all because he's not Broja and can't do anything? That's why that second half flipped.

Manaj has been a career flop for 2 reasons

1) Can't finish against good goalkeepers
2) Lazy and unprofessional

His success in Turkey is down to two reasons, one, the goalies in that league are poor, so his bad finishing didn't limit him too much, and the 2nd is his coach publicly stated he removed Manaj from the lineup until he started running in training because his running numbers were so bad (he got sacked now). Without that push from the manager I doubt he scores double figures in last season.

He's good at fashioning chances for himself and his movement is pretty good, but he has never been able to finish against good goalkeepers, which is his biggest weakness, he always flubs the chances against good opposition. He set himself up nicely against Italy and missed, then missed a huge chance against Croatia.

Then his physical performance is awful in terms of running, he's so lazy and can't press or move much, so in intense games where the opponents don't allow much space and you have to be quick he fades out of it.

I had hopes for him to become a good player but it looks like he will never fix his laziness, at least if he'll never improve in finishing, he needs to start running more, but he's always so lazy and out of shape and disappoints me every time it looks like he's getting better.

We need to move on from him and start focusing on a striker who actually can be in physical shape to be able to run and press, because I'm tired of watching Manaj stand still and shout at teammates for not passing. The two managers who got the most out of him are the ones that really ripped into him for his laziness and refusing to run (Motta and Sivasspor guy).

[Dallku]

Took his job brother..

Relegated him to the bench.

What more is there to say?

Took his job because of corruption and nepotism. Same reason Agim Zeka is in the team today.

I'd rather trust Zlatko Dalic. A proven winning coach who believed otherwise.

[RedFootballs]

His friends Manaj, Asani, and Seferi will betray him.

Sylvinho gifted Broja a starting spot in EURO after about 2 years of inactivity/injury problems..

Manaj ate his lunch!

If not Manaj, who you starting at striker here?

By the way, what is happening with Vrioni?

9 goals in MLS this season but seems to be forgotten..

Manaj might be a logical choice on paper but I'm sick of watching him be so fucking lazy every single game. Sylvinho should tell him if you don't run I'm never calling you up again.

This player is so lazy and even as someone who defended him a lot I'm so tired of seeing his laziness. He needs to improve and Sylvinho needs to push him to do so.

[Princ]

Took his job because of corruption and nepotism. Same reason Agim Zeka is in the team today.

I'd rather trust Zlatko Dalic. A proven winning coach who believed otherwise.

So after what Broja did in Dortmund, you would just keep on starting him the rest of the way..?

[Dallku]

So after what Broja did in Dortmund, you would just keep on starting him the rest of the way..?

For sure.

Broja should be on the Asllani/Djimsiti/Mitaj tier of guaranteed starter no matter what. Not because he's flawless or doesn't make mistakes but because Albania simply doesn't have anyone close to his level. Daku can be decent but he's a better spark off the bench. At the bare minimum Broja is a threat from counter attacks.

Broja in Dortmund was still winning fouls and holding up play (things Manaj got praised for). He just wasn't pressing at all... but neither was Bajrami and Manaj never presses either. So punishing Broja for not being perfect is silly.

[RedFootballs]

Daku is likely a better striker than Broja at this current moment. Outstanding start to the season in Russia, I can see him going to a top5 league in his next move, or maybe a big Turkish club.

[Princ]

For sure.

Broja should be on the Asllani/Djimsiti/Mitaj tier of guaranteed starter no matter what. Not because he's flawless or doesn't make mistakes but because Albania simply doesn't have anyone close to his level. Daku can be decent but he's a better spark off the bench. At the bare minimum Broja is a threat from counter attacks.

Broja in Dortmund was still winning fouls and holding up play (things Manaj got praised for). He just wasn't pressing at all... but neither was Bajrami and Manaj never presses either. So punishing Broja for not being perfect is silly.

Broja in Dortmund did nothing at all..

Manaj did more in 10 minutes than Broja did all game.

Manaj was getting the better of Croatian CB while we played our best game of the tourney!

Asllani isn’t the best or even 2nd best CM (Ramadani and Laci are better).

Djimsiti and Mitaj are just average players..

For this team, nobody is irreplaceable other than Ramadani, and arguably Laci/Bajrami.