Albanian National Team [General topic]

[Princ]

Who is gonna score against that defence... Alaba? You guys are underestimating just how close to a world class defence we are.

We can approach what Serbia was in 2010 with Vidic, Ivanovic and Kolarov, but they never had a keeper the caliber of Strakosha.

The question is who will score on them

[Plako]

Anybody else noticed that Rroca winger from Kukesi was kinda decent?

Yeah he impressed me the most out of all the Kukesi players.

[Dallku]

Who is gonna score against that defence... Alaba? You guys are underestimating just how close to a world class defence we are.

We can approach what Serbia was in 2010 with Vidic, Ivanovic and Kolarov, but they never had a keeper the caliber of Strakosha.

Ok you're overrating the the hell out of the defense right now lol

Hysaj is not world class and will be going to a smaller mid/lower level team if he wants to start. Djimisiti is nowhere near world class even though he had a good run at his club. We weren't even sure if he's good enough for Albanian starting lineup... how can he be world class? Kumbulla has potential but still hasn't proved anything at the highest level. We don't have a LB at all...

How is that defense world class potential?

For Albania it's definitely great though..

[Dallku]

Anybody else noticed that Rroca winger from Kukesi was kinda decent?

Yeah he impressed me the most out of all the Kukesi players.

Same. He really stood out.

[Aurora Bulkualis]

Who is gonna score against that defence... Alaba? You guys are underestimating just how close to a world class defence we are.

We can approach what Serbia was in 2010 with Vidic, Ivanovic and Kolarov, but they never had a keeper the caliber of Strakosha.

Ok you're overrating the the hell out of the defense right now lol

Hysaj is not world class and will be going to a smaller mid/lower level team if he wants to start. Djimisiti is nowhere near world class even though he had a good run at his club. We weren't even sure if he's good enough for Albanian starting lineup... how can he be world class? Kumbulla has potential but still hasn't proved anything at the highest level. We don't have a LB at all...

How is that defense world class potential?

For Albania it's definitely great though..

Yeah, I'm talking about the future (this Cepele is only 17, he might flop). The weakest links are Hysaj and Djimsiti who've played in Champions League knockouts. Djim got experience against Neymar and Mbappe. Hopefully Dermaku follows in Djim's footsteps as he was a starter for Parma at the end. Would be a great squad/backup player.

You're also forgetting Strakosha, who is a top 5 keeper in Serie A right now. And keepers hit their peak in their 30s.

The question is who will score on them

I never said anything about our offence

[artan]

For us yes it's a great backline and alot of depth as well. Ismajli may also move to a Serie A and then you have other guys in the ranks like Mesinaj, Kalaj, Bajrami who may be okay. But its definitely not world class.

And it won't matter how good the backline is if guys like Ramadani, Qose, etc, start in the midfield and the midfield is completely over run.

[Aurora Bulkualis]

Not just for us. Who are the best backlines in the world right now? That's as good of a backline that you're gonna get.

Look at Italy Di Lorenzo - Bonucci - Romagnoli - Biraghi with Sirigu in net. You guys talk about Hysaj, when I think he gets more minutes at Napoli than Di Lorenzo. Bonucci has been terrible lately.

[artan]

Not just for us. Who are the best backlines in the world right now? That's as good of a backline that you're gonna get.

Look at Italy Di Lorenzo - Bonucci - Romagnoli - Biraghi with Sirigu in net. You guys talk about Hysaj, when I think he gets more minutes at Napoli than Di Lorenzo. Bonucci has been terrible lately.

We don't even have a professional LB lol. Someone like Bastoni would probably be our best CB. Guys like Acerbi, Chellieni, Rugani, are probably better than all our CB''s as well. Hysaj pretty much lost his spot to Di Lorenzo..

Just because we have a position where we have players playing for some big teams doesn't mean we're gonna have a world class defense.

[Aurora Bulkualis]

Not just for us. Who are the best backlines in the world right now? That's as good of a backline that you're gonna get.

Look at Italy Di Lorenzo - Bonucci - Romagnoli - Biraghi with Sirigu in net. You guys talk about Hysaj, when I think he gets more minutes at Napoli than Di Lorenzo. Bonucci has been terrible lately.

We don't even have a professional LB lol. Someone like Bastoni would probably be our best CB. Guys like Acerbi, Chellieni, Rugani, are probably better than all our CB''s as well. Hysaj pretty much lost his spot to Di Lorenzo..

Just because we have a position where we have players playing for some big teams doesn't mean we're gonna have a world class defense.

Nah, with Gatusso he rotates RB between Hysaj and Di Lorenzo, and sometimes plays Hysaj in LB with Di Lorenzo in RB. We could play Hysaj in LB too. He scored a goal there recently IIRC.

Point being, defence is Italy's bread and butter and this is who they have... Most "defenders" nowadays are just good passers like Bonucci. He is their best defender and he is terrible. He's just a good passer.

[Dallku]

Not just for us. Who are the best backlines in the world right now? That's as good of a backline that you're gonna get.

Look at Italy Di Lorenzo - Bonucci - Romagnoli - Biraghi with Sirigu in net. You guys talk about Hysaj, when I think he gets more minutes at Napoli than Di Lorenzo. Bonucci has been terrible lately.

Italy has fallen but the likes France, Spain, Germany, Netherlands still have superior backlines.

Besides the top teams I think we have as good of a backline as anyone else. Greece has a pretty good one too. These are not world class though. Just solid (on paper at least)