Albanian National Team [General topic]

[ReyM9]

Can you please explain why the Albanian league plays just as slow and low scoring as the NT..?

The players are different, the coaches are different but the gameplay is the exact same..

Who cares? There are 0 Albanian league players in the NT.

Most of the NT is full of players who were raised abroad. They have 0 connection to the Albanian league. If the NT was based on the league you would have a point but they couldn't be further apart from each other..

I always said that the Albanian league should be a youth league like the Croatian and Slovenian. There is no point in in filling it up with foreigners and pretending that they are a professional league while accumulating no profit.

[Raketa]

Who cares? There are 0 Albanian league players in the NT.

Most of the NT is full of players who were raised abroad. They have 0 connection to the Albanian league. If the NT was based on the league you would have a point but they couldn't be further apart from each other..

I always said that the Albanian league should be a youth league like the Croatian and Slovenian. There is no point in in filling it up with foreigners and pretending that they are a professional league while accumulating no profit.

Notice how the countries with fast paced, high scoring domestic leagues tend to have fast paced, high scoring NTs..

Countries with slow paced, low scoring domestic leagues tend to have slow paced, low scoring NTs..

A majority of our players whether diaspora or not are based in slow paced, low scoring leagues..

If a majority was to be based in fast paced, high scoring leagues, then we could see a difference in gameplay..

[ReyM9]

Notice how the countries with fast paced, high scoring domestic leagues tend to have fast paced, high scoring NTs..

Countries with slow paced, low scoring domestic leagues tend to have slow paced, low scoring NTs..

A majority of our players whether diaspora or not are based in slow paced, low scoring leagues..

If a majority was to be based in fast paced, high scoring leagues, then we could see a difference in gameplay..

Not really. Based on what? What are some examples?

Kosovo plays fast. Are we supposed to believe that the Kosovar league is fast?

Turkey plays fast but watching Muci for trabsonspor I don't feel like they play fast. They are a slow league.

Nowadays Greece plays fast but have a very slow league. Same with Croatia...

Let me guess.. your examples will be England and Germany??

[Raketa]

There are plenty of examples..

Scandinavian nations like Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland tend to have high scoring leagues and NT..

Western European nations tend to have higher scoring leagues than Eastern European nations. England, Germany, and Netherlands are obvious examples..

USA and Mexico in North America..

Israel who has beaten us in 4 straight matches..

Albania has the lowest scoring league in Europe..

Kosovan league may not be considered fast but definitely faster than Albania’s. 4 Kosovan teams (Ballkani, Malisheva, Drita, Pristina) scored over 50 goals in 36 games. 0 Albanian teams did.

Kosovo gets a lot of talents from Western Europe as well..

Albania relies mostly on Albania, Greece, Italy for talents..

Can there be exceptions? Yes.. but it is generally a good rule of thumb that the countries with higher scoring leagues will also have a higher scoring NT.

Albania certainly is no exception to the rule.

[Raketa]

We have a couple players who can keep up a fast pace..

Mehmeti from the Championship and Uzuni from MLS who I believe should be locks in the formation..

You need a majority like this to see a difference though..

[ReyM9]

Kosovan league may not be considered fast but definitely faster than Albania’s. 4 Kosovan teams (Ballkani, Malisheva, Drita, Pristina) scored over 50 goals in 36 games. 0 Albanian teams did.

Kosovo gets a lot of talents from Western Europe as well..

Albania relies mostly on Albania, Greece, Italy for talents..

Can there be exceptions? Yes.. but it is generally a good rule of thumb that the countries with higher scoring leagues will also have a higher scoring NT.

Albania certainly is no exception to the rule.

Kosovars have been a huge part of the Albanian NT for over a decade. Why didn't they make it faster?? Or they get the slow Albanian league DNA when they wear the jersey?

In De Biasi's time full of Kosovars it was the slowest NT in Europe and the only one who was trying to play fast and direct was ironically an Albanian leaguer (Roshi).

Fun fact: Albania played much faster and direct when it was 95% Albanian league products on the field. I'm talking about pre De Biasi eras like the generations of Skela, Lala, Duro, Bogdani, etc. It was all fast attacks, combinations, A LOT of chances and decent amount of goals but they used to concede a lot of goals too because the defenders were shit.

It was the rise of professionalism and influx of diaspora players (especially from Kosovo) that made the team extremely slow and cautious. Before that it was more free flowing.

[Raketa]

Fun fact: Albania played much faster and direct when it was 95% Albanian league products on the field. I'm talking about pre De Biasi eras like the generations of Skela, Lala, Duro, Bogdani, etc. It was all fast attacks, combinations, A LOT of chances and decent amount of goals but they used to concede a lot of goals too because the defenders were shit.

Nah dude nonsense..

Albania never scored many goals not even in that time..

2000 Euro Qualifiers 8 goals 10 games
2002 WCQ 5 goals 8 games
2004 Euro Qualifiers 11 goals 8 games
2006 WCQ 11 goals 12 games
2008 Euro Qualifiers 12 goals 12 games
2010 WCQ 6 goals 10 games

That’s the golden pre-De Biasi era..

We were struggling to score yet eating tons of goals..

We score this much or more now too..

Albania has always struggled to score..

[ReyM9]

Nah dude nonsense..

Albania never scored many goals not even in that time..

2000 Euro Qualifiers 8 goals 10 games
2002 WCQ 5 goals 8 games
2004 Euro Qualifiers 11 goals 8 games
2006 WCQ 11 goals 12 games
2008 Euro Qualifiers 12 goals 12 games
2010 WCQ 6 goals 10 games

That’s the golden pre-De Biasi era..

We were struggling to score yet eating tons of goals..

We score this much or more now too..

Albania has always struggled to score..

It's not all about goals. I thought we were talking about play style. They obviously couldn't finish for shit. Albania never had a good goal scorer but they used to create a shit load of chances. If you were following the team back then you know what I'm talking about.

Passing the ball around the back was unheard of back then. It wasn't even possible because the defenders were horrific on the ball. When the team had the ball they had no other option but to attack.

[SugarRey]

I think you guys are over thinking it. It's the tactics and player selection.

Syvlinho really made an emphasis to defend and not get exposed. That means packing the midfield, having defensive wingers, don't get beat by a counter by putting too many men forward, etc.

I think it's clear that Albania values playing conservative and not eating goals. It's not the wrong approach for a country our size but the player selection has always been an issue. Broja and Bajrami seem like they're done being professional players. Then there's the amateur players that Albania seems to love.

[Raketa]

Hoxha, Uzuni, Bajrami up top for Albania..

Mehmeti out with virus..

Sucks.. I wanted to see more of Mehmeti