Image via @LaczyNasPilka on Twitter
Late on Thursday night, via Twitter, Michał Probierz’s latest Poland squad was announced. There has been an element of controversy to some of the decisions, and I’ll be giving you my opinion on the squad Probierz has picked, with the biggest eye obviously being on the crucial qualifier against Czechia on Friday.
The big news is Probierz’s decision to completely leave Arek Milik out of the squad, less than one month since he made him the main man up front for the last round of qualifiers, and giving him huge public backing. We all know that Milik hasn’t been particularly clinical when it comes to the national team for some years now, but the fact is he is a valued player at Juventus and consistently plays well when needed for his club side.
You do feel that after the Moldova game there’s been an overreaction to Milik’s culpability in that draw, and indeed perhaps it would’ve been the case with Lewandowski or possibly Adam Buksa that it could’ve been a victory for Poland. I certainly don’t think that Milik is out of Probierz’s plans for good, as is evidenced with the next topic of discussion.
Jan Bednarek was, in my opinion, pretty unlucky not to receive a call-up ahead of the last international break. We all know that Bednarek hasn’t really kicked on when it comes to the national team, but he’s been having a superb season in the Championship with Southampton, and his club manager Russell Martin has been keen to state his importance to his team.
Personally I’m pleased that Bednarek is back in the frame for Poland, as I think it is now safe to say that experimenting with Tomasz Kędziora as one of a back three hasn’t really worked out. Bednarek gets a lot of criticism, but when he plays well there little doubting his ability.
Then, last night, we had the news that Adrian Benedyczak, Patryk Dziczek and Matty Cash were to be replaced by Mateusz Łęgowski, Karol Struski and Tymoteusz Puchacz.
I think the team for Friday will almost pick itself, with Tomasz Włodarczyk getting it spot on with his predicted line-up, obviously made before these latest changes were announced:
Image via @Meczykipl on Twitter
Obviously Frankowski will take Cash's place as the right wing-back, so perhaps Probierz will see fit to put Nicola Zalewski in at left wing-back, or even Puchacz or Bartłomiej Wdowik. He might have Jakub Piotrowski as the defensive midfielder, but otherwise this is almost certainly the strongest team possible. I think Frankowski has struggled to replicate his club form for his country, but there are many players who you can say that about.
Also, I’m happy to admit I was wrong about Wdowik, given he is the top scoring defender in the world so far this season, and perhaps if a free kick taker is needed late in a game he can provide some inspiration.
Looking to the future, it's a shame that Adrian Benedyczak won't get some minutes in this international break, but maybe Marcin Bułka gets the start against Latvia as reward for his great form.
Speaking of the future, it’s likely this will be the last international break that Poland are without Jakub Moder. Yesterday, Moder was an unused substitute for Brighton, but it was his first appearance in a senior matchday squad since the start of April 2022. In football, 18 months is an incredibly long time out, but you hope that Moder can return to being the often magical player he was prior to injury.
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