Images via Mikolaj Barbanell/Shutterstock
Szymon Żurkowski has been coming in for some deserved criticism after a lacklustre performance in Wednesday’s friendly against Chile. It’s hardly surprising that he would have a poor game given he played more on Wednesday night for Poland than he had all season so far for Fiorentina.
Żurkowski is not a bad midfielder; he works tirelessly for the team and he’s got a decent strike and weight of pass on him. However, this has been understandably lacking given he has played so little football since August, and there were a few moments when I was sat in the stands on Wednesday night when I was convinced it must have been the worst game I’d seen Żurkowski play. Admittedly he was slightly better in the second half but still cost the team with poor passes throughout.
His place in Czesław Michniewicz’s 26 for Qatar does now look like a decision not completely thought through. That being said, I criticised Damian Szymański’s inclusion in the squad but he proved his abilities when he came on against Chile and I’m happy to admit I was wrong on that front. I’d love Żurkowski to put in some performances to prove us wrong at the World Cup, but after Wednesday I’d be surprised to see him get significant playing time at the tournament.
Mateusz Klich was in exactly the same position as Żurkowski, and yet Klich finds himself outside the 26-man squad and Żurkowski is in. A decision that gets stranger the more you think about it, given Klich has more experience, has played slightly more frequently (although still not often) for Leeds this season and has played at a higher level of competition in the Premier League for the past two seasons.
It could also be argued that one of Poland’s in-form younger players could’ve been a better option than Żurkowski, such as Michał Karbownik or Kacper Kozłowski (although Kozłowski is currently in the Maldives nursing a minor knock he suffered). I think Karbownik’s omission was a poor choice to begin with, and now it looks even more glaring considering his versatility in central midfield and as a left wing-back or left-back.
As much as this article has been a lot of Żurkowski-bashing, there is no reason to believe he can’t play himself into form, albeit he will most likely not earn that chance at the World Cup. He will likely move to a different Serie A club following the tournament, and hopefully this will allow him to rediscover the kind of form he was displaying last season at Empoli.
I think it’s worth mentioning some two other players in the squad who look like they’re shaking off the rust of not playing regularly for their clubs, in the shape of Jan Bednarek and Kamil Glik. Time has been catching up with Glik for a while now, and whilst he was once a fantastic centre-back we can all admit his moment has passed, and he is not featuring that regularly in Serie B for Benevento. Bednarek hasn’t been playing regularly for Aston Villa either, and if Poland do decide to go with a back four, which looked promising in the second half against Chile then it will be one of Glik or Bednarek that slots in alongside Jakub Kiwior at the heart of that defence. More on the potential benefits of a back four tomorrow.
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