Albanian Football Forum

CanaYouDoIt wrote: ↑Mon Jun 06, 2022 5:13 pm

artan wrote: ↑Mon Jun 06, 2022 4:27 pm Albania is the only European nation to purposely bench their best players for amateurs. No other nations would bench Balliu for Trashi, Balaj/Seferi/Cika for Broja, and the benching of Bajrami and Asllani for scrubs. Reja even benched Kimbulla initially for Dermaku when Kumbulla first broke out.

It’s one thing for a team like France or Spain to bench star players because they have endless pool of professional and quality players to pick from but for Albania the difference is massive. You go from a quality player in a big league (ex Balliu) to a semi pro player in Trashi. No wonder we consider a 1-0 defeat to Poland a “victory”. You don’t see Macedonia, icleand, etc, doing this and these nations have been competitive.

As for the nepotism of domestic players it has always existed. I suspect guys like Bushi and other former domestic players have a big say in calling up the lists and they have close relationships to those owners (essentially Halili and Olsi Rama) and I doubt Reja has a say or even scouts players. They want their guys called up and they give handouts to their buddies. A guy like Cikaleshi is an untouchable and a mutiny was had when he was disregarded under Panucci. Notice the guys who never get replaced are former superliga players like cikaleshi, Balaj, Roshi, lila, Bulku, etc. it never mattered about their form because they would be called up and even starting.

It’s a shame because it’s gonna be a wasted generation. Someone like Asllani should have waited for Italy.

I agree with what you're saying but to say Asllani should play for Italy is wrong, he's Albanian. Why make ourselves weaker.

Dallku wrote: ↑Mon Jun 06, 2022 5:48 pm So the odds have moved so much that it's pretty much even now, with Albania even being very slight favorites in some places.

That's normal because most people are betting on Albania after comparing both squads. The public always leans towards the better team to "play it safe". What's bizarre is that Iceland opened as such big favorites.

artan wrote: ↑Mon Jun 06, 2022 5:20 pm

CanaYouDoIt wrote: ↑Mon Jun 06, 2022 5:13 pm

artan wrote: ↑Mon Jun 06, 2022 4:27 pm Albania is the only European nation to purposely bench their best players for amateurs. No other nations would bench Balliu for Trashi, Balaj/Seferi/Cika for Broja, and the benching of Bajrami and Asllani for scrubs. Reja even benched Kimbulla initially for Dermaku when Kumbulla first broke out.

It’s one thing for a team like France or Spain to bench star players because they have endless pool of professional and quality players to pick from but for Albania the difference is massive. You go from a quality player in a big league (ex Balliu) to a semi pro player in Trashi. No wonder we consider a 1-0 defeat to Poland a “victory”. You don’t see Macedonia, icleand, etc, doing this and these nations have been competitive.

As for the nepotism of domestic players it has always existed. I suspect guys like Bushi and other former domestic players have a big say in calling up the lists and they have close relationships to those owners (essentially Halili and Olsi Rama) and I doubt Reja has a say or even scouts players. They want their guys called up and they give handouts to their buddies. A guy like Cikaleshi is an untouchable and a mutiny was had when he was disregarded under Panucci. Notice the guys who never get replaced are former superliga players like cikaleshi, Balaj, Roshi, lila, Bulku, etc. it never mattered about their form because they would be called up and even starting.

It’s a shame because it’s gonna be a wasted generation. Someone like Asllani should have waited for Italy.

I agree with what you're saying but to say Asllani should play for Italy is wrong, he's Albanian. Why make ourselves weaker.

Because our national team doesn’t care about winning or else they will be playing their best players. In no world does a 33 year old Abrashi, a 31 year old second division German player and a mediocre Turkish league player deserve to start over a rising star in Serie A.

Dallku wrote: ↑Mon Jun 06, 2022 5:48 pm So the odds have moved so much that it's pretty much even now, with Albania even being very slight favorites in some places.

That's normal because most people are betting on Albania after comparing both squads. The public always leans towards the better team to "play it safe". What's bizarre is that Iceland opened as such big favorites.

Princ wrote: ↑Mon Jun 06, 2022 6:13 pm

Dallku wrote: ↑Mon Jun 06, 2022 5:48 pm So the odds have moved so much that it's pretty much even now, with Albania even being very slight favorites in some places.

That's normal because most people are betting on Albania after comparing both squads. The public always leans towards the better team to "play it safe". What's bizarre is that Iceland opened as such big favorites.

Albania to win jumped as high as ~37% a couple hours ago on 1xbet. Currently stands around 35% but super exciting to see that we are now slightly favoured to bring 3 huge points back home.

via Bet365:
Over 2.5..
Yes ~36%
No ~64%

Both teams to score..
Yes ~42%
No ~58%

Player to score..
Broja +250
Fridjonsson +275
Cikalleshi, Vrioni, Uzuni, Gudjohnsen, Gudjohnsen +300
Balaj, Sulejmanov +333
Gudmundsson +350