Albanians abroad

[Princ]

Al Ittihad need to work on their conditioning..

Al Ittihad is known for their offensive output so I was counting on them to score in front of their home fans (especially after going down a goal in the first half).

After the 70th minute, they could hardly get up and down the pitch.

Just rolled over and accepted defeat..

Mitaj was mediocre got subbed off late..

[Dallku]

Mitaj wasn't even called up to the squad by Laurent Blanc before he got fired. He's not doing great there.

It's a bad league for him though. While he needs to be playing in high rhythm/intensity he's stuck in a situation with pensioners who don't want to run or try hard.

[artan]

Mitaj is probably making 3x more in Saudi Arabia than he would be earning in whatever league is his level in Europe (Netherlands, Fringe Serie A team, Good Serie B Team, etc).

Unfortunately, what's best for your development/career is not what's best for you financially. Can't say I blame him because I think most players would do the same. Add another player to the failed golden generation of Albania that could have been special (Broja, Asllani, Kumbulla, Mitaj, Muci, Bajrami, etc)

[Aurora Bulkualis]

Mitaj just turned 22. He's got plenty of time. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise for him, because he needs to go back to Western Europe.

[Redijupison]

Mitaj is probably making 3x more in Saudi Arabia than he would be earning in whatever league is his level in Europe (Netherlands, Fringe Serie A team, Good Serie B Team, etc).

Unfortunately, what's best for your development/career is not what's best for you financially. Can't say I blame him because I think most players would do the same. Add another player to the failed golden generation of Albania that could have been special (Broja, Asllani, Kumbulla, Mitaj, Muci, Bajrami, etc)

Broja and Kumbulla got very unlucky with horrible injuries, hardly anyone comes fully back in football after tearing their ACL. The others have made bad career choices, but their still very young and can turn their careers around.

[Princ]

Qarabag 2 for 2 with 6 points in UCL..

Qarabag and Skenderbeu were on pretty much the same trajectory back over a decade ago.

[Princ]

failed golden generation

I’m not sure that they failed..

Topped the group and qualified for EURO which is a big deal for Albania.

Did they have longevity?

No.. but still made history.

[artan]

Mitaj is probably making 3x more in Saudi Arabia than he would be earning in whatever league is his level in Europe (Netherlands, Fringe Serie A team, Good Serie B Team, etc).

Unfortunately, what's best for your development/career is not what's best for you financially. Can't say I blame him because I think most players would do the same. Add another player to the failed golden generation of Albania that could have been special (Broja, Asllani, Kumbulla, Mitaj, Muci, Bajrami, etc)

Broja and Kumbulla got very unlucky with horrible injuries, hardly anyone comes fully back in football after tearing their ACL. The others have made bad career choices, but their still very young and can turn their careers around.

Sure they can and they can still be productive players for the NT. But it seemed like the potential of some of these guys were supposed to be really high and something Albania has never had before. Regardless, someone like Kumbulla starting for a fringe La Liga team still makes him better than 80% of the defenders Albania has ever had so in a sense we should still be thankful we have some professional players. Someone like Asllani even if he isn't a Champions League player is still a very quality player and probably Albania's best player.

But that being said Albania needs to restart it's recruiting cycle. They need to start poaching up some players as the Under 21 list is not impressive at all. Try to poach Vata, see what Ibrahimovic has, etc. You can't be expecting guys like Maldin Kaccuri to be the new Gymcity.

[Dallku]

Broja and Kumbulla got very unlucky with horrible injuries, hardly anyone comes fully back in football after tearing their ACL. The others have made bad career choices, but their still very young and can turn their careers around.

It's all about mentality. Some athletes have bounced back even from multiple ACLs.

Kumbulla deserves props because he bounced back well from his ACL and played a full successful season for Espanyol. Now he's injured again though... but at least he showed tough mentality to come back.

Broja is the one who the injury completely ruined. He was never the toughest mentally even before the ACL, so it happening to him specifically was a killer.

[Princ]

Nobody ever comes back 100% after an ACL injury..

It’s easier for Kumbulla to look decent upon return because his game is not based on speed and explosivity like Broja’s is..