Images via @BolognaFC1909en and @juventusfcen on Twitter
According to Roman Kołtoń, we’ve got approximately two weeks before Michał Probierz announces his Poland squad for Euro 2024 in Germany, supposedly on May 29th. With other squads being announced in the coming days, it’s a curious choice to wait but very much in keeping with Probierz’s style of squad selection.
What is more interesting, to me at least, is who won’t be in that 26-man squad despite playing a very good season, or is in fine form. Likewise, there are a few names who aren’t finishing the season playing as well or as often as would be desired. Probierz himself has already confirmed in an interview that Polish-Argentinian midfielder Santiago Hezze won’t receive a call-up, despite the fact he could potentially win Olympiakos their first ever European trophy in their upcoming Conference League final against Fiorentina. For me this is completely the right thing to do, but I would like to see him called up toward the end of 2024, just to see how he might fit in Poland’s side under Probierz considering we had weeks of being told by journalists and pundits that Hezze could be a potentially star defensive midfielder for the Biało-Czerwoni.
Then we come to another player who will likely get a call-up to the senior squad later this year in Kacper Urbański. Playing in such a high number of games for a Bologna side who are indisputably one of the fairytales of the European season, at just 19 years of age, you’d think that even as an option off the bench Urbański would be useful to Probierz. However, despite the fact I very much think that in any other time Urbański would be on the plane to Germany, there is an argument that the positions he has most consistently played in for Bologna this season don’t really feature in Probierz’s tactical set-up with Poland. Urbański is either on the wing, in which case Poland’s wing-back system would almost definitely not suit him, or he’s in the centre of midfield. I personally think that Urbański could be a great option in that central midfield position, not to start but certainly as more of a bench option. However, it’s more likely that Probierz sticks with a majority of the players that have got him to this point.
It’s for exactly that last reason I also probably don’t see Arkadiusz Milik in the squad. He’s had injury problems this season and was culpable for a few gloriously spurned chances the last time he played for Poland, but his club form off the bench for Juventus has been really solid in my opinion. Milik is the reason that Juve are going into a Coppa Italia final tomorrow and is the top scorer in that competition. Again, for me in any other year he’s probably done enough to be going to the Euros but with Krzysztof Piątek rediscovering himself in Turkey, likewise Adam Buksa, Milik is probably getting left out.
Then you’ve got Mateusz Bogusz hitting really good goalscoring and assist numbers in the MLS, but to me his case is similar to that of Adrian Benedyczak last autumn and Dawid Kownacki last season, where you’ve got someone in really great form for some reason getting called-up but not used or not being called-up at all. Again, if Bogusz carries on like this then I can see him called up in the autumn, but not for a major tournament.
You’ve also got people like Arkadiusz Reca coming back from injury and getting back into form, albeit at a lower level, but much like Karol Linetty or Kamil Jóźwiak it’s a bit of a case of “yesterday’s man”. At one time these would’ve been solid options to fill out a squad (indeed at the last Euros Linetty and Jóźwiak started the first game), but for Reca you would take Tymoteusz Puchacz, instead of Linetty there are a range of midfielders from which to choose and Michał Skóraś is by far the most in-form Polish winger given what must constitute about three months’ worth now of consistently decent performances for Club Brugge.
If you cast an eye over younger players, Kacper Kozłowski has had an alright season in a dreadful Vitesse side, Jakub Kamiński has been woefully underused at Wolfsburg as I wrote about the other week, and looking more Ekstraklasa-centric Dominik Marczuk has been so terrific that he did of course get a call-up in March, albeit very briefly before he was bumped back down to the U-21s. However, if Urbański isn’t making the squad then Kozłowski certainly won’t be, and as for Kamiński he should really be leaving Wolfsburg in order to get his career going again. Marczuk is a tricky one, as there is always an Ekstraklasa player in a tournament squad, but I don’t really see Marczuk being that player, especially considering the form of other wingers like Skóraś.
Speaking of the Ekstraklasa, I would fully expect to see veterans like Bartosz Salamon and Kamil Grosicki in the squad, Salamon for the very adept half-hour performance he gave in the play-off in Cardiff and Grosicki for those leadership qualities he brings to the table. It is worth remembering also that Grosicki is still a pretty decent player all things considered, so he’s not just there in a motivational capacity. As for the surprise of the March squad Taras Romanczuk, I’d be very surprised if he were called-up again.
Finally, looking at Poland’s top players, there is mild cause for concern when you see that Jakub Kiwior and Piotr Zieliński are barely playing club football since the last international break, but the flip-side is they should certainly be well-rested before June. The same can be said of Nicola Zalewski, who hasn’t really been used much by Daniele De Rossi at Roma and could be on his way out in the summer. Whilst normally you might not label Zalewski as one of Poland’s star players, he’s played at a level under Probierz deserving of that tag and it would be remiss not to mention that high standard he achieves in a Poland shirt.
Indeed, this article has ended being far more all-encompassing than I expected it to be, but when discussing who isn’t going to make a squad, there is far more certainty in some cases than others. What researching this article has provided me with is that Poland perhaps have a greater strength in depth than we think. Not just in the squads that Probierz has put together to this point, but Polish players in top European leagues, playing regularly and to a higher standard than you would have thought them capable of. Therefore, whose to say that some of the names mentioned even quite disparagingly here won’t be in future Poland squads?
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