Shkendija beat Bashkimi 4-1; Polozhani: "Happy with victory, not with how we got it"
Coach Artim Polozhani praised the win but criticized long pauses in his team's play and called the upcoming three-week break useful.
Shkendija recovered after a difficult stretch and beat Bashkimi 4-1 in Gostivar on 18 September 2026, but the victory did not erase concerns about the team's level of play following recent slip-ups.
The Tetovo side arrived at the match after a loss to Tikvesh and a draw with Arsimi, and while the scoreline looked comfortable, coach Artim Polozhani said the performance left much to be desired.
"I am happy about the victory, but honestly I am not very happy with the way we achieved it. Because I did not like those pauses that appear in our play. From the 20th minute there was a 10-minute period in the first half, and then another 10-minute period in the second half; we shouldn't look like that. This is something that needs to change. This relates to what we talk about in the maneuvering, because a team like Shkendija that claims it wants to be champion cannot look like that. Honestly, the tempo was low, the ball did not circulate and panic arose. The opposite to this, for example, was that we started the game with a high tempo. In those first 30 minutes we had a lot of chances which, if we had taken them, for example, the result would have been more convincing," Polozhani said.
Three-week pause
Shkendija now faces a three-week break in the schedule, a pause the coach judged useful given the club's injury problems.
"The break certainly comes at the right time because we had problems with injured players. But also the fact that we started preparations earlier, I think that should not affect the training process. What helps us a lot is that the players who were not in good condition are coming back. And this three-week break, for example, is positive, because it is different when a player returns from injury but has missed a lot of training and lost in terms of physical capacity. Now this three-week break will serve to increase the physical aspect of these players," the Shkendija coach concluded.
Despite the win, Polozhani warned that the team must eliminate the mid-game lapses if it truly intends to compete for the title.
Photo: press material from the event
