Images via @LaczyNasPilka and @Inter on Twitter
On the back of what was a stunning European week for Poland’s two biggest stars, and a strong outing for the third in that pecking order, it occurred to me that there may just be an issue with the age profiles of Poland’s best performers in the national team.
Firstly, however, let’s deal with what was obviously the biggest headline, Robert Lewandowski scoring his 100th and 101st Champions League goals on Tuesday night for Barcelona against Brest. With only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo having scored more than him, Lewandowski has ensured a legacy which is unlikely to be bettered for some time. Given his age it is unlikely he will surpass Messi, who is second on the list and has 28 more goals in the competition, but depending on how many more seasons Lewandowski plays at the highest European level he could conceivably get another 10-15 on the number he already has.
Furthermore, Lewandowski sits at the top of the Champions League scoring chart for this current season with seven goals. Thanks to the inflated fixtures of the new league model for the competition, this means even if Barcelona face a tough knockout tie which sees them exit early, he could very easily reach double figures in this year’s edition.
Similarly on Tuesday night, Piotr Zieliński was awarded the official player of the match award for running the game for Inter Milan, as they triumphed 1-0 over RB Leipzig. We know Zieliński is not an all-action type of midfield player, but his ability and calmness on the ball reminded me of Thiago Alcantara, such was the effortlessness he displayed. A good individual highlights reel was clipped together by an Inter fan and posted online, as can be seen below.
Then comes Thursday night, and Europa and Conference League action. Nicola Zalewski found himself starting the most attractive fixture of the night, Tottenham vs Roma, on the bench. However, as Roma sought to chase the game he was introduced with 25 minutes to go. Instructed to work from the right wing-back role by Claudio Ranieri, Zalewski succeeded in helping to push Spurs’ late outlet in Timo Werner back towards his own penalty area, and the pressure eventually told with Mats Hummels scoring a stoppage-time equaliser.
Zalewski was by no means instrumental to Roma’s leveller, but he was part of a really good team performance in a late period of a game where they definitely deserved at least a draw.
It was the combination of these three performances, from the three players who are almost certainly Poland’s most high-profile stars of the national side, that made me realise something quite pertinent which doesn’t seem mentioned of late.
Those who are the most consistent and often most reliably good performers for Poland in the past year tend to either be born before 1995, like Lewandowski and Zieliński, or post-2000 like Zalewski. In theory, those born between 1996 and 1999 should be in their prime, but it doesn’t seem to be the case.
Let’s look through the players who fit into that age range, and realistically it’s hard to say that any of them have been consistently good over the past 12 months for Poland. You’ve got Jan Bednarek, who much as I like and who has been better than given credit for, still comes in for routine criticism and even I have to admit some of it can be fair.
In midfield there a whole host who fall into this age category. Bartosz Slisz does, in fairness, seem to be slowly but surely coming good but perhaps not to the level it was once hoped and similarly Jakub Moder has hit a brick wall and regressed since his terrible injury. Bartosz Kapustka has only just been welcomed back into the fold after eight injury-riddled years away and is really just an emergency back-up, and Jakub Piotrowski can be capable of good moments but has also had some poorer performances.
Sebastian Szymański remains inconsistent in the national side considering he is such a good player, and in these past two months he did score important goals for his country, so maybe Szymański will continue this form on a more regular basis.
Up front you have Karol Świderski and Adam Buksa, who whilst solid strikers aren’t really proving themselves starting material. Once upon a time it seemed to be that Świderski was more prolific for Poland than his clubs, but this hasn’t been the case over the last 12 months. Buksa, much like the aforementioned Piotrowski, has his moments but not often enough to start in my opinion.
Matty Cash fits into this age bracket too, but given we haven’t seen him since a cameo in March it would be unfair to categorise him.
Of all these players mentioned, I’m of the belief that Bednarek and Szymański, and perhaps also Slisz can really prove that they are in the prime of their careers (at least on the international stage) between now and the next World Cup, were Poland to get there.
My point isn’t necessarily that these are bad players, but they’re all of the age where they should be at the apex of their careers, but we don’t necessarily see this reflected in their displays for Poland. They are all capable of playing to a good level, but not as well (consistently) as the older or younger members of the squads.
In 2026, most of Poland’s more reliable older players will very much be the “wrong side” of 30 years-old, and those younger players will theoretically be at the start of their best years or soon approaching them. All those “in-between” don’t seem to quite be at the level of those either side of them age-wise, and perhaps this adds to the lack of direction that has been sensed with Poland in these last couple of months.
I asked with the headline whether Poland suffers from a potential generation gap, and it does feel a little bit like this could be the case. It has been more pronounced in the past, but that’s no reason to ignore the fact that Poland more often than not continue to rely on their older stars and their youngest prospects, because the alternatives who are in-between aren’t quite measuring up.
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