High hopes were surrounding the Maltese national team in the build-up to the highly-awaited Euro 2020 clash with the Faroe Islands.

Despite falling to seven straight qualifying defeats, the 2-1 victory back in March remained a reference point for Malta.

In Torshavn, it was imperative to clinch at least a point that would have boosted the Maltese chances of avoiding from finishing bottom of the qualifying group once again.

But most of all, it would have injected a lot of confidence into the team and would have justified Ray Farrugia’s project of trying to field a proactive side with lot of new faces.

Yet, once again the Maltese national team were handed a bitter reality check as Malta failed to produce any kind of spark when facing the Nordics.

Such result will clearly take the toll on the Maltese players who will once again be under heavy criticism for the display shown and for the consequential result.

“We are very disappointed with the result as you can see on the players’ faces,” Farrugia said in the post-match press conference.

“Nonetheless, I praise the players for their performance because I believe that they were tactically perfect – it was down to whether we capitalise on our gameplay or not.”

Against Sweden, coach Farrugia had spared some players for the Faroes game, in particular all-time top scorer Michael Mifsud.

Mifsud captained Malta on his 141st cap but rather than being deployed as a striker, his role was behind Nwoko, ending up playing in midfield for the majority of the time.

What helped Mifsud fulfil his talent were his speed and clinical finishing – situational plays that were difficult for him to perform in the role he was in against Faroe Islands.

We are also disappointed because yet again, we conceded a goal from set-piece and that is very worrying news

Asked about this tactical decision, Farrugia’s reply was that Mifsud could have given a helping hand there as he could aid Nwoko by attacking the spaces with Jake Grech.

“My idea was to put Michael Mifsud and Jake Grech together behind Kyrian Nwoko with the license to tuck in – both are regular scorers in our league so they have a good eye for goal,” he said.

“I feel that our tactical plan was executed in a very good manner in the first 45 minutes – we struggled in the second half, where we created some chances but failed to find the net.”

The game statistics reflect the similarities in both teams, as neither side has really chalked up some dominant stats.

However, the hosts had three big chances while the Maltese had none and this underlines the pragmatism by which the Faroe Islands were playing.

Despite having more of the overall possession, Malta were sterile and rarely proactive while on the other hand, Olsen’s team were very smart in overloading the flanks and whipping in inviting crosses that often created havoc in the Maltese penalty box.

If something came out from this game, it is that Malta are not a possession-based side and this showed whenever the defenders tried to impose the game from the back.

Only Dunstan Vella was trying to create opportunities from the midfield while the rest would be already congesting the penalty area. The Faroese were clever in occupying the vacuum left between the defensive and offensive lines.

Hibernians’ midfielder Vella was in fact praised by coach Farrugia, describing his performance as ‘great’.

He covered a lot of area in the midfield and his passing distribution was impeccable with 88% passing accuracy.

“With two difficult games left – Spain away and Norway at home – we have to carry on and at least there is still one thing that continues to give me satisfaction – the introduction of youth players,” Farrugia explained.

“Taking into account Dunstan Vella, he had a great game for us in the midfield but we are disappointed that such performances were marred by this result.”

Decision-making in the offensive end of the field remains a problematic situation for the team as the Maltese players often failed to make the most of the rare occasions created.

Set-pieces concern

However, there is a bigger concern which is giving coach Farrugia a headache – defending set-pieces.

“We are also disappointed because yet again, we conceded a goal from set-piece and that is very worrying news,” the Malta coach pointed out.

“We have conceded eight goals from such situations and we have to work on improving that.”

With a second straight defeat in the Faroe Islands between Nations League and Euro 2020 qualifications, Malta will have to step up their game big time.

The second edition of the Nations League is around the corner and should the Maltese fail to deliver results, concerns about the progress of the Beautiful Game here will only intensify.

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