Images via Mikolaj Barbanell/Shutterstock
I could have picked any two images to illustrate my point, but happened upon Szymon Żurkowski and Sebastian Szymański. They are very different midfielders with very different play-styles, and this is sort of the point I am getting at.
Most pundits in Poland were pretty okay with Czesław Michniewicz’s squad announced for the World Cup yesterday, and despite reservations over a couple of selections, so am I. There is no debate over what the starting line-up will be, and if predictions are correct, the below image will give you a good idea of how Poland will line-up against Mexico:
It’s a very strong team, even bearing in mind the fact that Kamil Glik has looked like age is catching up with him for some time now, and the most consternation is over him and Jan Bednarek being in that starting line-up, given Glik has looked like the 34 year-old Serie B defender that he is and Bednarek has barely played since joining Aston Villa on loan. In their defence, Glik has only looked really poor in the game against Holland in Warszawa back in September, and Bednarek has played well on the rare occasion he has asked to for Villa.
Anyway, back to the main point of this article, which is trying to be more of a positive one than my initial thoughts on the squad yesterday. The XI as illustrated above is actually quite strong, and I do feel optimistic about Poland’s chances of getting out of Group C. However, in my opinion it is the other 15 players going to Qatar where most of the discussion lies. Some of the selections are really solid and cannot be faulted, like Przemysław Frankowski and Robert Gumny, both in good form for their clubs in France and Germany respectively. Unfortunately, picks such as Artur Jędrzejczyk and Kamil Grosicki have caused widespread debate, and it’s not hard to see why. It does feel like they’ve been taken on the basis of “they played at Euro 2016, and Poland did well at that tournament”.
There’s disappointment that the Fortuna Düsseldorf duo of Dawid Kownacki and Michał Karbownik have not been taken, and I share that disappointment. They are two of the most in-form players in the 2. Bundesliga (as I was in the process of writing this article, Karbownik scored his first goal in senior football) and in my opinion definitely deserve a place in the squad, particularly Karbownik as there is little cover for Zalewski at left wing-back, with Frankowski the only real option. Michniewicz defended his choice as saying that if Karbownik would’ve been chosen, it would have been to play central midfield. Yet again a baffling statement by the Selekcjoner, given that Karbownik is the finest left wing-back in the 2. Bundesliga (the words of Kicker, no less).
Michniewicz defended some of his choices of older players by stating that he is taking a squad for the here and now, not for the future. I can understand this, but if you look at the Euro 2016 squad (since as I said that is the last time Poland have performed well at a tournament) Bartosz Kapustka was one of the tournament’s breakout stars and at that time he was still 19 years old. Kacper Kozłowski is a year younger than Kapustka was, is playing at a higher level and is probably a better player than Kapustka was then. They’ll be an article on that topic tomorrow morning, so I’ll keep my powder dry for now.
For more, follow @ekstraklasaexp on Twitter and @ekstraklasaexports on Instagram to know when new posts go live.
Comments