Two days after Group C concluded on Wednesday night, we have had time to celebrate and also analyse the Polish performance against Argentina. The 2-0 scoreline was probably just, and I’ll delve into more detail with five of my observations.
There are two notable positives, but these positives come with three fairly sizeable negatives unfortunately. Czesław Michniewicz’s approach to the match was understandable but also at times nonsensical, and that I will be going into in particular detail.
1: We’re through!
Image via @FifaWorldCup on Twitter
By far and away the biggest positive we can all take from Wednesday night is that Poland are through to the knockout stages for the first time since the World Cup in 1986. They were knocked out in their round of sixteen tie against Brazil, but they passed the group stage nonetheless. It pains me to say there could be a similar occurrence this time around, but I’m not going to be defeatist as we should look ahead to the France game with optimism, even if we come away from the Argentina game feel a little less than thrilled by the performance.
I’m incredibly pleased that this group of players were able to break such a terrible streak, and hopefully that will give them confidence in the next game as well as qualifying for the Euros in 2024, a process which starts at the end of March.
2: Szczęsny has had the best group stage of any goalkeeper
Image via @FifaWorldCup on Twitter
This isn’t just conjecture on my part: statistically speaking, Wojciech Szczęsny has had the best group stage of any goalkeeper competing at the World Cup, having saved the most xG. This statistic is obviously boosted by his very impressive penalty stops in the last two matches, but even without that the saves he made in all three matches are probably the biggest reason Poland are through to the last 16.
3: The substitutions
Image via Mikolaj Barbanell/Shutterstock
I’m taking this issue separately from the tactics, because they deserve a rambling few paragraphs to themselves. I was pleased to see Karol Świderski in the starting line-up, but as the first half progressed I was thinking that if Arek Milik was playing Poland might’ve been better off. Likewise I was pleased to see that Jakub Kamiński and Michał Skóraś were warming up intensively at half time, assuming that one or the other would’ve replaced Świderski. As it happened both wingers were introduced, with Przemysław Frankowski making way. He’d had a really solid first half, so I was surprised to see him taken off, unless there has been an undisclosed fitness issue.
Personally I think that had Frankowski stayed on the pitch longer, Poland would’ve stayed in the game longer. It was also a pretty clear indication that Michniewicz was playing for the smallest possible loss when he brought on Damian Szymański and Artur Jędzrejczyk. I was almost at the point of alarm when Michniewicz brought on Krzysztof Piątek for Grzegorz Krychowiak, as I was sure this would leave the team pretty unbalanced heading into a very nervy ending to the game. Fortunately that wasn’t as big an issue as I felt it might’ve been at the time and Poland scraped through (with a little help from Saudi Arabia).
4: The tactics
Image via Mikolaj Barbanell/Shutterstock
There was a lot of Michniewicz-bashing after the first game, and none after the second game, and now we’re back to somewhere between the two: grateful that we’re out the group, but fairly appalled at the spectacle Poland offer.
As I’ve said many times on this website and on Twitter, I don’t mind defensive football so long as there is a bit of life in the attack, and on Wednesday night the attack was virtually dead on arrival. To me this is such a shame that Michniewicz instructs this Poland side to play in such a timid manner, afraid of the opponent. Poland have top-quality players, playing for big clubs in some of the best leagues in the world, so there is really no need to keep this scared mentality.
I completely understand the need to be as defensive as possible in a game like this, but Argentina were nothing special, particularly in the first half. It looked like there was a sense of giving up after the first goal went in, and that feeling was doubled when the scoreline was doubled by Argentina.
Hopefully the game against France puts some life in the attack. The players have said they will play better, and I hope this is the case. Poland will have to be as defensive as possible for large portions of Sunday afternoon’s clash, and I am completely fine with that so long as they can counter with a bit of intent.
5: Krychowiak giveth, Krychowiak taketh away
Image via Mikolaj Barbanell/Shutterstock
I enjoyed the thankless task Krychowiak performed against Saudi Arabia, which was probably his most complete performance in a Poland shirt for quite a while. Unfortunately, the second half in particular against Argentina showed that he is still prone to switching off defensively, as he let Alexis MacAllister stroll unmarked into the penalty area to sweep home the opening goal.
Had that goal not been just 90 seconds into the half, there might have been a bit more attacking guile than we saw from thereon in. It’s disappointing as Krychowiak’s performances are something of a yardstick for this Poland side under Michniewicz, as when he plays well (even if it’s just for one half) Poland tend to get a good result, be that a win or a close-fought draw, but when he switches off Poland tend to be on the losing side of a scoreline. Hopefully he gets back to the decent performance levels he showed he is still capable of earlier in the group.
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