October 14th: Albania vs Moldova

[plisi]

We lost years with Panucci, what a dumb move that was and we held onto him until it was to late.

[CanaYouDoIt]

Lol Reja was loving this.

That was very comfortable. Team looks good tactically despite the fact that the particular formation might not be the best suited for the players.

Thoughts:

Gjasula is better than Kukeli
Cikalleshi is frustrating. He might be done.
Abrashi still has a future in this team
Ismajli was actually good on the ball which surprised me
Manaj finally got his goal. He scored a backheel but missed a tap-in vs Turkey.. ok.
Roshi always produces
Trashi might be better than Lenjani but I have a feeling that he might struggle vs better teams
Capped Marash and the other kid.. can't take chances with Albanians lol. I would've liked to see Selahi play more minutes though. Game was already over...

Overall Albania clearly has good depth in defense and even midfield. Roshi is a great supersub and Manaj can contribute. Albania does lack 1-2 top class attackers to complete the team.

In other words , combine Albania and Kosove as it should be and our team is very good

Couldn't disagree more.

How so ? I think we have better defensive players than Kosovo , they have better attacking . Match made in heaven

[Aurora Bulkualis]

In losses I'd like to take some positives. Even with Kuzhe where we got nowhere in qualifying, we managed to break Top 50 Fifa rankings for the first time and got the most amount of goals ever in a single match (6-1 in Cyprus friendly).

We broke a few records this campaign:

- Most goals ever scored in a qualifying campaign (>= 14). Closest we came to was in mid-2000s where we scored 11-13 goals/campaign.
- First game ever to score 4 goals in an official match (Tons of triplets, but no quadriplets)
- Biggest away win for an official away match (we beat Turkey in a friendly 1-4 in the 90s).

[Dallku]

In other words , combine Albania and Kosove as it should be and our team is very good

Couldn't disagree more.

How so ? I think we have better defensive players than Kosovo , they have better attacking . Match made in heaven

I said we need 1-2 players and you're talking about combining with a whole damn team.. I think we're good and the chemistry/morale is so much better this way.

[artan]

I've been saying for 3 years that this NT needs a make over and injection of new players as we were still relying on that 2016 Euro qualifying squad for the past couple of years.

However, it finally seems like that makeover is complete. The core of Cana, Mavraj, Basha, Kukeli, Gashi, Lila, Agolli are gone. Memushaj and Lenjani will probably be out soon enough. Sadiku hasn't featured under Reja that much but that's one player I want to see back in the fold because he's the only forward that can score against clubs bigger than Moldova. We just need Cika/Balaj to be sent to Mars because for what ever reason the training staff and journalists seem to love him.

-Goal Keepr situation looks good
-Our backline is set. Maybe we can get away with playing make shift wing backs like Veseli, Abrashi or Xhaka going forward.
-Our midfield has improved significantly since last year, Gjasula is the holding mid that we've been missing since Kukeli, Bare is a nice technical player, Abrashi has actually gotten better and is a starter for a midtable German club and Selahi & Ndoj can be decent additions as well. The winger situation is still bad tho.
-Forward/Winger situation are still bad. We have to scout someone and cap someone else like Kemal Ademi, Margim Berisha, Andi Zeqiri..

[Aurora Bulkualis]

Our midfield is starting to shape up too. Gjasula/Bare/Abrashi is a good combo. Gjasula for controlling tempo, Bare for offense, and Abrashi for defence/running.

The one I'm the most impressed with is Bare. I thought he was going to be a wash, but even today he kept giving some great passes/assists and got a goal to top it off.

[artan]

Couldn't disagree more.

How so ? I think we have better defensive players than Kosovo , they have better attacking . Match made in heaven

I said we need 1-2 players and you're talking about combining with a whole damn team.. I think we're good and the chemistry/morale is so much better this way.

Rashica, Celina, Muriqi (even if he should have scored 4 today), Valon Berisha and Kololi would make this team complete.

-------------Muriqi
Rashica-Celina--Berisha
---------Gjasula-Abrashi
Kololi-Gym--Rrahmani-Hysaj
------------Strakosha

That team would be sooo good. Maybe have Kumbulla as LB.

[artan]

Our midfield is starting to shape up too. Gjasula/Bare/Abrashi is a good combo. Gjasula for controlling tempo, Bare for offense, and Abrashi for defence/running.

The one I'm the most impressed with is Bare. I thought he was going to be a wash, but even today he kept giving some great passes/assists and got a goal to top it off.

Bare is also good at pressing and aggression. There's a reason why Simeone liked him. Having Bare and Abrashi playing ahead of Gjasula reminds me of the 2014 lineups where Kukeli would sit behind Abrashi and Xhaka centrally while they (Xhaka and Abrashi) would press all day long.

I really want to see how our 4 CB formation plays against France because if they do well for France we should stick with that going forward. We have like 5 (6 if you count the Greek) capable centerbacks so why not.

[Dallku]

How so ? I think we have better defensive players than Kosovo , they have better attacking . Match made in heaven

I said we need 1-2 players and you're talking about combining with a whole damn team.. I think we're good and the chemistry/morale is so much better this way.

Rashica, Celina, Muriqi (even if he should have scored 4 today), Valon Berisha and Kololi would make this team complete.

-------------Muriqi
Rashica-Celina--Berisha
---------Gjasula-Abrashi
Kololi-Gym--Rrahmani-Hysaj
------------Strakosha

That team would be sooo good. Maybe have Kumbulla as LB.

You guys were dreaming about Shaqiri, Xhaka, Januzaj, Behrami and now you give me that shit with benchwarmers and 2nd division players.

[artan]

I said we need 1-2 players and you're talking about combining with a whole damn team.. I think we're good and the chemistry/morale is so much better this way.

Rashica, Celina, Muriqi (even if he should have scored 4 today), Valon Berisha and Kololi would make this team complete.

-------------Muriqi
Rashica-Celina--Berisha
---------Gjasula-Abrashi
Kololi-Gym--Rrahmani-Hysaj
------------Strakosha

That team would be sooo good. Maybe have Kumbulla as LB.

You guys were dreaming about Shaqiri, Xhaka, Januzaj, Behrami and now you give me that shit with benchwarmers and 2nd division players.

No that's you guys trying to convince me about Cikaleshi