Image via @LaczyNasPilka on Twitter
Late last night, Michał Probierz named his first Poland squad ahead of the European Qualifiers against the Faroe Islands and Moldova. In what has been a qualifying group for more open than anyone expected, Poland now find themselves in a tough spot and will likely have to head to a play-off to advance to the tournament in Germany next summer.
Probierz has made some big decisions with his first squad, and I have to say not all of them immediately make sense or I agree with. Read on as I attempt to dissect and discuss some of the more left-field names in the squad.
We start on the defensive end, and namely with the goalkeepers. I’m not suggesting for one moment that Łukasz Skorupski and Bartłomiej Drągowski are not fine players, but if you’re merely choosing on current form it’s hard to understand why Marcin Bułka has been completely overlooked. At this moment in time, Bułka is playing better than both of the more senior options that find themselves in the squad.
As for the defence itself, I think it’s good to see a fresh face in Patryk Peda, and I am personally overjoyed to see Tymoteusz Puchacz return given his great performances for Kaiserslautern. However, Jan Bednarek and Michał Helik should feel hard done by not receiving call-ups. Bednarek has been a liability in the past, and Helik has largely floated under the radar, but both are putting in far better performances in the Championship than Sebastian Walukiewicz and Mateusz Wieteska are in Serie A at present.
In the midfield, it’s a great moment for Patryk Dziczek to be called-up after he’s had to rebuild his career following health issues, and he has been playing to a standard that means the inclusion is probably not based on emotion alone. There’s experience with Kamil Grosicki, an inclusion apparently due to Robert Lewandowski’s absence, and the Legia Warszawa duo of Bartosz Slisz and Paweł Wszołek certainly deserve more of a chance given their form to start the season. I do worry, however, that the balance of the midfield errs more towards packing the centre of the pitch with more defensive options. That being said, there’s enough attacking momentum and another new face in Filip Marchwiński that means it hopefully won’t be a return to a Poland team that bypasses the midfield when building attacks.
Then we come to the front line. Obviously, the big story is that Lewandowski is likely out for the month of October after sustaining an injury in Wednesday’s Champions League clash between Barcelona and Porto in Portugal. For what it’s worth, you feel that Adam Buksa would’ve been included anyway given how well he’s doing in Turkey, and now this means he should get more of a chance than perhaps he otherwise would’ve.
Lewy’s absence does open the door to all sorts of overreaction in many different ways obviously, Skorupski’s return being one of them. If Poland do well without Lewandowski, pundits will claim the national team has no need for him anymore, he is a hindrance and a bad captain. If Poland do badly without him, suddenly the national team will have no identity and we face years in the wilderness waiting for a talent like him to come along again. I thought it prudent to point this out now before we read one of these two narratives in a week’s time (possibly from myself).
One thing is certain about Probierz’s appointments, and that is a clear desire to build for the future. In an ideal world I’d have liked there to have been space for Adrian Benedyczak, and maybe Kacper Kozłowski, but the players named should be eager to impress to the point where these qualifiers see Poland get back on track after a poor 2023 so far.
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