Image via @LaczyNasPilka on Twitter
Put it this way: was it more satisfying to see Poland suffer their way out of a weak group at the World Cup in 2022 or go out fighting yesterday, playing genuinely attractive football at times? It might be weak editorialising to open with a question, but for me the answer should be very clear if we’re serious about how much this is a national side in transition.
With the loss to Austria there has been an understandable venting of the national spleen, as is wont whenever a football team loses. However, an attempt to rewrite how we’ve come to trust Michał Probierz’s tactical and personnel decisions in the aftermath of a 1-3 scoreline feels very unfair. There is no question that after playing really well for 80 or so minutes against Holland some of us expected Poland to really take the game to Austria yesterday, but it was always going to be a game where Poland were the underdog. The Polish performance was ultimately disappointing, particularly given Austria were not as good as they were in their first game, but neither were Poland and anything less than a top performance from the Polish was always going to cost them.
Of course, there is a fair amount of blame to be placed, or perhaps rather certain things individuals can be held accountable for: Paweł Dawidowicz started the game very aggressively, apart from letting his man wander completely free for the first Austria goal. Bartosz Slisz, for pressing at the wrong time just like Jakub Moder in Poland’s first game and conceding an extremely similar goal on Austria’s second. Probierz himself for starting Jakub Piotrowski, who looked sadly out of his depth, and Probierz again for making substitutions which didn’t really help Poland’s chances. Some people might look at Austria’s third goal, a penalty won by Marcel Sabitzer by kicking Wojtek Szczęsny in the head, as unjust. However, in a situation like that a penalty is more often given than not, but if it wasn’t given initially I’m not sure it gets overturned. Regardless, given how outplayed Poland were in the second half it would feel churlish to criticise the officials in this instance.
What I will happily do however is criticise the officials in the other group game between Holland and France. Xavi Simons scores a goal whilst Denzel Dumfries is in an offside position, not really interfering with play given that the ball flies into the net whilst French goalkeeper Mike Maignan is still on the floor, and it’s taken a slight touch off a French defender anyway. As it is, the goal gets ruled out on the pitch and then we have a four minute VAR check, which confirms the contentious on-field decision. Presumably the officials figure that Maignan would’ve been able to defy the laws of physics and reach the ball had Dumfries not been stood yes, between Maignan and the path of the ball, but still a good one and a half meters from either of the relevant parties. It’ll come as no surprise to learn that the officials concerned were English, and so far the two VAR checks at Euro 2024 that are most contentious and have taken the longest have both involved English officials. The reason I’m so irked by this is because had the goal stood, the Netherlands likely go on and win that game, meaning Poland would have their fate it their own hands going into the final game against France. As it is, Poland are out.
Anyway, back to what Poland and Probierz can control. It’s no secret this is a period of transition for Poland, one that really should’ve started after the 2018 World Cup and should definitely have been underway by the time Jerzy Brzęczek lost his job as Selekcjoner. There appeared to be some appetite to start that transitional period under Paulo Sousa, Czesław Michniewicz killed that transitional element stone dead, and the terrible Fernando Santos seemed to try and bring that shift toward younger players back for all of one and a half international breaks. Probierz is really the only Selekcjoner who has tackled this transitional period head-on, and tackled it well at that.
Not only has Probierz done this, he’s shown it can be good to watch and relatively successful, at least in terms of being competitive against teams as good as or better than Poland. Imagine where we might be in terms of the progression of this side had Probierz taken charge when Santos did. The next step for him is likely to be phasing out some of the older players in this side perhaps, we already know this is likely to be the last tournament for Szczęsny and Robert Lewandowski, but there are some other names that might not be required for the next internationals in September.
We should also keep in mind that Poland were part of Group D, arguably the strongest group at the tournament, and had they been drawn in a different group it’s quite possible they’d be preparing for the knockout stages.
All in all, it is too simplistic to say that Poland were the last team to qualify for Euro 2024 and the first one to go home. What Probierz has accomplished in the time he has been in charge of Poland is really positive stuff, and I look forward to the Nations League and World Cup qualifiers to see how he works on making Poland even better than he already has in the relatively short time he’s had.
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