Albanian Teams on Europe 2022-23

[Dallku]

Even in those highlights you can see how the Armenians demoralized them early with great pace and dribbling. Also pressing and stealing the ball which results in a 1v1 with the gk is a product of pace.

"great shooting"

Well first you have to get in positions to shoot great. The ball doesn't just randomly spawn in front of the goalkeeper for you to shoot. Why does Tirana struggle at creating those kind of chances in Europe but in the Albanian league it's easy for them? It sure as hell isn't because of height lol

[Princ]

Literally none of those goals were a result of pace and dribbling.

Visitor Pyunik showed good levels of strength and conditioning in pressing Dudelange through the 2nd half, leading to turnovers that were converted into goals thanks to great shooting on the night.

Goalscorers were not particularly fast either. Juricic 1.90m striker netted 2. CB Juninho, and CM Otubanjo scored the others.

[Dallku]

Their attackers were clearly very rapid with good technical ability.

When someone like Broja steals the ball high up the field he's likely to put himself in a good scoring situation against the gk. We saw this many times last year.

When someone like Cikalleshi or a Manaj steal the ball high up the field(which is already rare because they are not quick enough to press&steal), the ball is likely to get returned backwards. That's why we never see this from slow attackers.

Why? Pace. #1 ingredient for an upset followed by dribbling and defensive backbone.

[Princ]

Shooting is always the most important part of the game offensively, and Broja is a great shooter.

How many times has Uzuni worked his way in on goal, only to miss by a mile? Macedonia did not win World Cup in Palermo due to pace/dribbling..

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5Nbfh12nbD4

[Dallku]

So your recipe for success is scoring some crazy long distance supergoals?

Even the man himself Trajkovski would probably admit that he can score a goal like that once in 100 games.

[Princ]

So your recipe for success is scoring some crazy long distance supergoals?

Even the man himself Trajkovski would probably admit that he can score a goal like that once in 100 games.

Recipe for success as an underdog is to hold the opponent scoreless..

When given the odd chance, hit the target with as much power and accuracy as possible. Fielding tall players helps defensively, as well as making your squad more dangerous aerially.

Trajectory of headers is less predictable compared to shots with feet. Attacking down flanks, pumping in crosses is easier/takes less creativity/harder to defend than going straight up the middle.

[Dallku]

^ That used to be the meta years ago. That's how Albania used to play during Tare/Bogdani era but it was an ineffective method. The game has evolved and that's why there are more upsets now. Now if you've notice everyone is playing from the back too. Back then only very few teams used to do it. Now even CBs are required to be comfortable on the ball.

This "play 11 donkeys and pray" method has never worked. You just making life much easier for the superior team. You're bailing them out basically.

[Princ]

Take a look at how underdog Maccabi Haifa ran through Olympiacos today in Greece.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8VQ1Tz0nyis

Great shooting, strong aerial play, strength and conditioning top notch as they banged in 3 goals second half. That’s how it’s done..

[CanaYouDoIt]

Why are you celebrating those Macedonian losers. What happened in the next game ?

Secondly , why are you using a single game that features two teams at a similar level . Olympiakos and Macabi are around the same, not the difference between Albania and France is it. It’s like comparing Albania and Greece, not exactly an upset .

And finally, why do all the best teams Play the exact opposite way you propose. Football has moved on the 4-4-2 lump it to the big guy era.

[Jari]

Not exactly, Olympiakos have a much higher transfermarkt value than Maccabi and take part in CL or EL's group stage every year. Maccabi have acheived that only a few times in their history.

And yes if an Albanian team knocked out a Greek one it would be a huge upset, if you are talking about club level and not the NT one, basically Albanian team knocking any team out from let's say top 30 leagues in Europe would be a fluke.