Poland’s first of two Nations League games took place last night at a packed Stadion Narodowy, but two goals from Cody Gakpo and Steven Bergwijn extinguished any hopes of a positive result. Poland have lost their last three matches in the National Stadium, and although Holland would always pose a threat, the lack of a response was a touch disappointing.
Much of the aftermath has resulted in worries for potential embarrassment at the World Cup, but I wouldn’t go that far. It is worth remembering that Holland are one of the best teams in world football, although they never really got going last night. Neither did Poland though, their best chance coming from a Przemysław Frankowski cross into Arek Milik, who blazed the ball over from six yards. The ball was rising as it came to him, but with the score only 1-0 and the kind of form he has been in, you would expect him to put the ball in the net.
I thought I’d take a more detailed look at the positives and negatives from last night, starting with the positives.
The positives
Jakub Kiwior had a good performance on the left side of the back three, and Nicola Zalewski was a threat for all the time he was on the pitch. Frankowski had a decent second half, until he was replaced, and Grzegorz Krychowiak had a good first half. Sebastian Szymański, Piotr Zieliński and Robert Lewandowski all looked like they were capable of making something happen, and the formation Poland played in the second half with two strikers looked far better than the 3-4-3 they had deployed in the first half. Skóraś and Łęgowski made debuts, although neither was particularly influential in the short time they had.
The negatives
Jan Bednarek was probably the defender most at fault for the second Dutch goal, although Kamil Glik didn’t cover himself in glory for either of the goals. Frankowski’s first half was a fairly incognito performance, and Krychowiak’s second half undid any of the goodwill earned by his first 45 minutes. By far and away the biggest disappointment was Karol Linetty, who was culpable for the first Dutch goal and did pretty much nothing else. He could have no complaints about being taken off at half-time.
I think what we saw was what could’ve been predicted before the match; but it was disappointing that there was little in the way of challenging Holland, apart from a couple of spells here and there. I think it goes without saying that Krychowiak and Glik are now past their best, and whilst I wouldn’t want to see them start in the World Cup, Poland may have no choice but to take them anyway.
In the end, individual mistakes cost Poland and there was a pervading rustiness throughout the whole Polish performance. Things have to improve for the game against Wales in Cardiff on Sunday, and they most probably will. There has been plenty of negativity following last night, but as I am keen to point out it wasn’t all bad, Zieliński in particular playing well.
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