Albanians abroad

[CanaYouDoIt]

Who in your mind are the best midfielders of the last 15 years?

Xhaka, Abrashi and Kukeli no doubt..

Basha and Lila were also pretty good at the role, with the last one being more of a versatile utility player type.

Non albanian. Also two of those guys mentioned are like 5'7

[Princ]

Short, but strong physical players who were good defensively.

Xhaka was a defender at Basel, and Abrashi a real pitbull in midfield.

[CanaYouDoIt]

Short, but strong physical players who were good defensively.

Xhaka was a defender at Basel, and Abrashi a real pitbull in midfield.

And Bare for the most part is that type of player, I'd just say he has a bit more quality on the ball compared to those two.

but its very funny how all you ever talk about is height and strength then name two guys under 5'7 as the best Albanian midfielders of the last decade. But still twerk for Ramadani for now

[Princ]

And Bare for the most part is that type of player, I'd just say he has a bit more quality on the ball compared to those two.

Did you ever see Xhaka or Abrashi passing the ball to the opponent in front of our goal?

Did you ever see them losing the ball in final third to send the opponent in on a dangerous attack?

[Princ]

but its very funny how all you ever talk about is height and strength then name two guys under 5'7 as the best Albanian midfielders of the last decade. But still twerk for Ramadani for now

Top Albanian players who did the most damage..

From Tare, to Bogdani, then Roshi, and now Broja were all bigger than the others. Are you suggesting that smaller players are better than taller ones?

[CanaYouDoIt]

but its very funny how all you ever talk about is height and strength then name two guys under 5'7 as the best Albanian midfielders of the last decade. But still twerk for Ramadani for now

Top Albanian players who did the most damage..

From Tare, to Bogdani, then Roshi, and now Broja were all bigger than the others. Are you suggesting that smaller players are better than taller ones?

No , I'm suggesting player height doesn't correlate to player ability. In a perfect world you want a team full of 6'10 , 150kg monsters who move like Messi but that's not realistic.

In fact, I'd say in this sport the best players of all time are in fact smaller ones (messi).

If we look at the best midfielders of the last decade, guys like Modric, Xavi, Iniesta, Kante, list goes on are not tall guys like you are suggesting. Unless you disagree that they are not world class ?

Again, I ask, whats the obsession with taller, bigger guys, are you insecure about something else ?

[CanaYouDoIt]

And Bare for the most part is that type of player, I'd just say he has a bit more quality on the ball compared to those two.

Did you ever see Xhaka or Abrashi passing the ball to the opponent in front of our goal?

Did you ever see them losing the ball in final third to send the opponent in on a dangerous attack?

I can't remember anything off the top of my head, but I do remember they played in a 451 and were more protected in their scheme than this 352, they also had each other to rely on rather than Gjasula and Ramadani as partners.

[Dallku]

Top Albanian players who did the most damage..

From Tare, to Bogdani, then Roshi, and now Broja were all bigger than the others. Are you suggesting that smaller players are better than taller ones?

Valdet Rama was also very good in his short spell with Albania. (shame we didn't get him sooner). Why? Because of dribbling.

Speed and dribbling. Those two attributes create numerical advantage and are the main ingredients for breaking a defense, especially on the counter attack.

Players like Ervin Skela, Alban Meha, Salihi, etc were ok but they couldn't be more because they lacked those two main attributes.

Bogdani and Tare were great holdup players and Bogdani especially had a great mentality and had more technical ability than his frame suggested but their lack of speed is the reason their goal scoring records were pretty poor in comparison to their caps.

[Princ]

Speed and dribbling. Those two attributes create numerical advantage and are the main ingredients for breaking a defense, especially on the counter attack.

Speed is a big deal for sure..

Dribbling to a lesser extent. Go watch Armando Dobra, he dribbles like Messi but might be out of football soon.

[Princ]

If we look at the best midfielders of the last decade, guys like Modric, Xavi, Iniesta, Kante, list goes on are not tall guys like you are suggesting. Unless you disagree that they are not world class ?

Here are players for top countries who hold the ball most of the match..

Albania is an underdog, and needs players who are strong without the ball. Taller and stronger men will usually be better in that regard.