It’s been a very mixed 12 months in the world of Polish football when you consider what’s been going on domestically, internationally and around Europe. Whilst this isn’t going to be a conclusive summation by any means, I’ll do my best to round everything up and give my opinions on the year 2023 has been, and the year 2024 might be for Polish football.
Domestically, it’s been refreshing to see Raków Częstochowa’s rise under Marek Papszun rewarded with the Ekstraklasa title they so deserved, and it’s been equally pleasing to see Śląsk Wrocław having an unbelievable start to this season’s Ekstraklasa. It’s really reaffirmed my feeling that the Ekstraklasa is the most competitive it has been for a while these past few seasons. Rising stars like Szymon Włodarczyk and Michał Skóraś understandably moved abroad in the summer, but we continue to see top talent developing in the form of Bartłomiej Wdowik.
Thanks in large part to Lech Poznań’s Europa Conference League adventure, of which we saw some cracking knockout ties this calendar year, Polish football has developed an increased positive reputation in the game. The Ekstraklasa has jumped in the UEFA co-efficient to being on the border of Europe’s top 20 leagues, and if you consider that they were far closer to dropping out the top 30 this time last year, it’s made a world of difference.
Legia Warszawa have also made a great start to the Conference League this season, beating Aston Villa and coming through one of the hardest groups to reach the knockout stages. Of course, Molde will be tough opposition in February, but Lech also had to overcome one of Norway’s top teams on their European adventure and they managed it so why can’t Legia?
Without a doubt the biggest disappointment of 2023 in the world of Polish football was the national team. The failed experiment of Fernando Santos has probably set the Polish national back some way, as evidenced by Michał Probierz struggling to get a tune out of the same players when he took over, although there has been notable improvement in the way they play at least. Failure to automatically qualify to Euro 2024 out of a qualifying group where Poland was the strongest team on reputation is nothing short of dismal, but 2024 could yet bring play-off victories which bring a more positive mood around Poland, were they to win those two games and make it to the tournament in Germany next summer.
Around Europe, it has been a largely positive year for Polish players at club level. Robert Lewandowski was yet again crowned a league champion and top scorer for Barcelona, the club’s first since the departure of Lionel Messi. Piotr Zieliński helped Napoli to achieve a first league title in 33 years as they romped to the Serie A title, and Sebastian Szymański was one of the standout players for a Feyenoord side that won the Eredivisie, even if they ultimately chose not to permanently sign him.
Also pretty pleasant to see was Polish talent succeeding around the continent. I’ve been very surprised by how well Jakub Kiwior and Mateusz Łęgowski have adapted to their new clubs, and actually think they haven’t been used enough comparative to the level of performance they have shown. Adrian Benedyczak and Marcin Bułka, after waiting in the wings for so long both at their clubs and at national level, are now starting to put up serious numbers and put in seriously good performances. Call me sentimental, but it’s also been nice to see slightly forgotten players like Tymoteusz Puchacz and Przemysław Płacheta coming back into form, even if they may not be rewarded with consistent chances with the national team.
Finally, in the last month we have seen the return to Premier League pitches of Jakub Moder, after the horrible knee injury that kept him out for over 18 months. This sort of good news we can only hope will continue as we head into 2024. Whether or not Poland can make the European Championships in the summer is pretty 50/50 at this moment in time, but a player like Moder returning would be a real boost for both morale at the talent at the Selekcjoner’s disposal.
Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku!
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