COMMENT: This week was an important landmark in the history of Albanian football. After many weeks of rumours and speculation about the different candidates for the new national team coaching position, the Brazilian Sylvinho's appointment was confirmed.
The former Manchester City, Arsenal and Barcelona defender was chosen ahead of fellow big names like Esteban Cambiasso, Marco Giampaolo and Luigi di Biagio.
The FA confirmed Sylvinho's appointment with a contract to 2024 and with the one objective: to qualify for the Euro 2024.
During his stellar playing career, Sylvinho worked with important coaches like Arsene Wenger, Pep Guardiola and Roberto Mancini. During his time as a player, he won multiple titles at club level and was a star with Brazil's national team.
On Monday, January 9, Sylvinho's presentation in Tirana was held. Also attending were two of his new staff, the former Argentina defender like Pablo Zabaleta and the former Brazil midfielder Doriva.
Significantly, also at the press conference was Sylvinho's predecessor Edy Reja. It was standing room only inside the press room with Tribalfootball.com in attendance.
This appointment was a big change in the philosophy of the President of the Albanian FA, Armand Duka. The most recent coaches of Albania have been Italian - Reja, Gianni De Biasi, and Christian Panucci. And now with Sylvinho, the general opinion is that the philosophy of the team will be transformed. This is expected to include a change of and a move away from Reja's 3-5-2 system.
While many are excited about Sylvinho's appointment, there are also critics. Doubts have been raised over his lack of experience and his failures as a coach at club level. He has managed Lyon in Europe and Corinthians in Brazil and has been the assistant coach of Brazil for many years, as he was with Inter Milan when Roberto Mancini was in charge in 2016. But his only two jobs as a head coach have been not positive with both experiences ending in him getting sacked in a matter of weeks or months.
But for the moment, Albanian football is excited about a first Brazilian in charge of the national team. It's now a question of results for Sylvinho and potentially a transformation of how Albania play.
