Albanians abroad

[Plako]

List off some other players who scored 6 goals for Albania by the time they were 24..

Meanwhile his goals were against:

San Marino(2x)
Andorra
Kazakhstan
Belarus
Moldova

You could get a random striker from FK Gramozi and he would score on those amateurs.

Only reason Manaj has nearly 30 caps is because of blatant corruption.

This. Someone like Seferi would have been able to score those goals if given the chance. When he’s up against any professional competition Manaj is useless in all facets of the game.

Seferi has barely scored 6 goals in Superliga. While Manaj is not great, he does have potential and seems to have improved his work rate at least during his Spezia spell from a couple of highlights I have seen. He seems to have cemented a starting place when healthy which is huge.

[Plako]

Sadiku, Balaj, Salihi all scored important goals against professional teams. They weren't great but even they were capable of scoring against professionals. This only highlights how bad Manaj is.

Balaj is lucky to have scored that banger against Portugal. Besides that he's been garbage for us. Club career wise Manaj is already ahead of all of these guys who couldn't even make the bench in Serie A. I'm not a fan of his but this Manaj hate is completely unnecessary.

[Princ]

Sadiku, Balaj, Salihi all scored important goals against professional teams. They weren't great but even they were capable of scoring against professionals. This only highlights how bad Manaj is.

Not even part of the NT anymore, I meant currently active players.

Balaj has not scored a goal in over 2 years for Albania, and his only goal at a top 100 team came over 7 years ago.

[RedFootballs]

Sadiku is facing a lot of professional opposition riding the bench in Segunda. Like Balaj too who's benched for a newly promoted Russian team, those two are defo more professional.


Maybe it's difficult to understand but a striker is not only measured by their goals anymore, which are highly contextual. If he was shit he wouldn't have a starting spot in Serie A and bench Spezia's most valuable played.

[Dallku]

And Kapllani was a starter in Bundesliga. How did that go?

Emanuele Ndoj was a starter in Serie a. Now he's barely serie C level.

It's cool that they are starters (for one season) but actually proving yourself at that level and keeping it is a whole different thing. And keep in mind that Manaj is on loan there. Who after this season is going to sign a 1 goal per season striker?

And yeah, goals are not everything but Manaj's overall game doesn't exactly blow you away. Lets not kid ourselves.

[RedFootballs]

And Kapllani was a starter in Bundesliga. How did that go?

Emanuele Ndoj was a starter in Serie a. Now he's barely serie C level.

It's cool that they are starters (for one season) but actually proving yourself at that level and keeping it is a whole different thing. And keep in mind that Manaj is on loan there. Who after this season is going to sign a 1 goal per season striker?

And yeah, goals are not everything but Manaj's overall game doesn't exactly blow you away. Lets not kid ourselves.

Well see if Spezia are allowed to trigger loan options (they have a market block) if they can, then they will certainly sign him.

I think or hope at least he could get to 5 or 6 this season if he keeps starting and then next season can consolidate himself and try and push for the next level.

[Simboli i Diellit]

Spezia will never pay 3.5 million € for Manaj.

[Princ]

The argument about Manaj has nothing to do with club career. You have yet to list a player who scored 6 goals in official matches by the time they were 24.

There is something to be said about being a can crusher too. Manaj does it with consistency and is improving quickly. Put in a great performance at Poland, winning a huge penalty and threatening their goal a couple times as well.

[Aurora Bulkualis]

Manaj is definitely more skilled than Balaj or Seferi, but that's not saying much. A lot of people have played 1 season in top flights. Even Hyka played 1 season in Bundesliga. f***, even Andi Lila joined Parma when they were going bankrupt and scored a goal against Inter.

The most important thing is consistency.

[Skenderbeu9]

Berisha officially 3rd choice goalkeeper for Torino
Their coach preferred to give 21yo Luca Gemello his debut than playing that washed up useless stick
And the dinosaur who l hope won't coach us anymore has him not only as an undisputed started but also as captain