Image via @FifaWorldCup on Twitter
Sadly most of the week since Poland’s World Cup journey ended against France has been mired in the bonus scandal. I’ve covered that fairly thoroughly, and will continue to do so should further developments emerge. Supposedly a decision is going to be made on whether Michniewicz stays as Selekcjoner or whether his contract is not renewed today.
However, in this bumper article I decided to concentrate simply on the performances of the players in Qatar; who was best, who pleasantly surprised, who was okay and who under-achieved. It's also worth saying that not every player who played will be mentioned.
The best:
Wojciech Szczęsny
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Hardly a surprise this one was it? Had Poland gone further in the tournament, you’d have thought Szczęsny would have been a leading contender for the Golden Glove, given he made some decent saves against Mexico, was heroic against Saudi Arabia and Argentina (not just in those penalty saves) and managed to prevent a number of chances in the France game.
Szczęsny was long overdue the respect he has earned, particularly for his time in Italy, so it was pleasing to see almost every pundit in Poland, England and beyond rate him Poland’s best player of the World Cup.
Bartosz Bereszyński
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Probably the biggest surprise of the tournament from a Polish perspective. Bereszyński has played right-back for a struggling Sampdoria side in Serie A so far this season, and coming to the World Cup most assumed he would be a back-up option for Matty Cash in a right wing-back role. Michniewicz opted to use a back four instead, and with no natural left-backs in the squad Bereszyński was put in that position, and played superbly in all of Poland’s four games in Qatar.
Bereszyński’s performances at the World Cup have led to reported interest from Roma, and what a treat it would be for Polish fans to see Bereszyński and Nicola Zalewski operating in the wing-back roles for one of Italy’s most famous sides.
The over-achievers
Kamil Glik
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Glik came into what was probably his last tournament with serious question marks over his ability, even if he will go down as one of Poland’s best players in the years to come. He looked unsteady in his matches for Poland in the autumn and wasn’t playing regularly for his club ahead of the World Cup.
Despite this, he defended far better than any of us were expecting. His reading of the game was crucial in stopping French counter-attacks many times last Sunday, even if he was somewhat exposed in the first French goal, and he did have momentary lapses in both the Argentina and France games where he let strikers run off the back of him when he was drawn to the ball.
However, Glik’s overall contributions to Poland in the World Cup were a really pleasant surprise in my opinion. This might be because our expectations were low, but I prefer to see it as a once-great defender having his last moments in the sun.
Jakub Kamiński
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Coming into the tournament, I wasn’t sure how much we were going to see of Kamiński since Michniewicz seemed almost allergic to giving him a chance in the autumn matches. Despite this, he played in every game and was a big part of Poland’s counter-attacking threat in the second half of their sole win against Saudi Arabia.
Kamiński was getting better and better by the week for his new club Wolfsburg, and it was nice to see that kind of form carry over into the World Cup. Hopefully he will be even better by the time qualifying for Euro 2024 rolls around in late March.
Could’ve been better, could’ve been worse
Matty Cash
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Cash played perfectly well in every game, and perhaps more was expected of him given his reputation and what we’d seen of him in a Poland shirt up to this point, but given he only properly recovered from injury a fortnight or so before the tournament began it’s hard to properly judge.
You’d have to say the tactics in the Mexico game held him back, and despite being lucky to remain on the pitch against Saudi Arabia, he was okay in that match too. The display against Argentina was poor for many reasons and he generally acquitted himself well despite the stifling tactics and he defended superbly against Kylian Mbappe for 70 minutes against France.
I’m confident there’s more to come from Cash in a Poland shirt, and hopefully we’ll be able to see him again in the spring for Euros qualifying.
Jakub Kiwior
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There was a lot expected of Kiwior heading into the World Cup, given the reported transfer interest from clubs like AC Milan, Juventus and Napoli, and it would be fair to say he didn’t really live up to the hype. This is not to say he under-performed; he is still the best centre-back in the Poland squad, not least because of his age but also his passing ability.
He showed his nerves at times, which was completely understandable, but he also showed ability in dealing with opposition strikers on a number of occasions. There were of course times, particularly in the Argentina and France matches, where his opponents got the better of him but it was a relatively solid first tournament for Kiwior overall.
Grzegorz Krychowiak
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A controversial choice this perhaps, but I would say that truth be told Krychowiak had two good games and two poorer games at the World Cup. Against Mexico he decided to take a shot from 35 yards with the clock running down and Matty Cash in open space on the right, and against Argentina he let Alexis MacAllister run unmarked into the box to score, but he did the dirty work effectively against Saudi Arabia and was surprisingly good for large parts of the France game.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this ends up being Krychowiak’s last tournament, and if it isn’t then it certainly should be his last tournament starting. His career is somewhat petering out, so we’ll have to see what kind of shape he is in should Poland qualify for Euro 2024, and if he would still be a useful midfield option.
Piotr Zieliński
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There was a lot expected of Zieliński given how great he has been for Napoli, but there were lots of times he just didn’t have the support around him. I’d put this mostly down to Michniewicz’s tactics, but as we saw in the game against France if he had taken the very presentable opportunity he had with the score at 0-0 then who knows how the rest of the match would’ve panned out.
Zielu scored against Saudi Arabia and was misused in the Mexico and Argentina games, but that France game really showcased his ability. If only he had been properly utilised all tournament, then things might’ve been so different.
Robert Lewandowski
Image via @FifaWorldCup on Twitter
An up-and-down tournament in lots of ways for Lewandowski and thus also for Poland. The missed penalties against Mexico and his first attempt against France cast a cloud over his general performances, as does the way he was forced to play in the Mexico and Argentina games, but his goal and assist against Saudi Arabia and his overall game against France were still pleasing to watch.
I’ve seen some Polish fans and pundits questioning Lewy, particularly on the back of the France game, for not sacrificing himself for the team. I have to say, I disagree completely. There were large periods where Lewandowski was operating far out of position in an attempt to retain possession or spark an attack, so to accuse him of not putting in the effort seems far fetched to me.
The under-achiever (singular)
Nicola Zalewski
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I am a huge fan of Zalewski. I think he’s been a revelation at Roma since Mourinho discovered his wing-back abilities and has often been amongst their best players so far this season. Unfortunately, he came into the World Cup as his club form was dipping slightly, he had a very poor first half against Mexico and became completely invisible when he was introduced against France.
Hopefully this is just a blip and he can produce better showings for Poland in European qualifying in the spring.
The players who didn’t get enough of a chance (in my opinion)
I would argue that Sebastian Szymański and the three strikers (Arek Milik, Krzysztof Piątek and Karol Świderski) were not used nearly enough. Szymański was for some reason the scapegoat after the Mexico game, but he was good in the France game until he was substituted. Milik was actually really decent in the Saudi Arabia game and Piątek worked pretty tirelessly when he was introduced in matches. Świderski less so, as he struggled badly in the 45 minutes he played against Argentina, but this is understandable given his lack of club football in the weeks leading up to the World Cup.
Michniewicz and his tactics
Regular readers of this website will be familiar with my thoughts on Czesław Michniewicz and his brand of football. I’m not going to go into all of those things again but there are a few comments I would like to make.
Firstly, let’s ignore the bonus scandal for a moment, given that we are feeling more antipathy than we already had been because of this issue. It’s only right that he should be facing the prospect of not having his contract renewed just for that matter alone, never mind the style of Poland’s play at the World Cup.
Secondly, his whole plan was to make Poland tight and the back and effective on the counter. Poland’s defence was breached multiple times in all of their games, and required Szczęsny’s heroics frequently. I’m not a moron, I know that the opposition will get chances but the ease with which Saudi Arabia were able to cut through Poland seemingly at will was particularly disconcerting. Poland weren’t particularly effective on the counter either, except for the first goal against Saudi Arabia and the first half against France.
Thirdly, think about where Poland were 18 months ago at the Euros under Paulo Sousa. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Sousa either, but Euro 2020 was not great for Poland as a team, although Sousa’s style of football was of great advantage to Lewandowski. This World Cup squad was undeniably better than Sousa’s squad at the Euros last summer. Imagine if Sousa had Cash as a right wing-back instead of Kamil Józwiak, or if he had Milik and Piątek free of injury. To be fair to Michniewicz, if he had Jakub Moder and Jacek Góralski at his disposal maybe he would’ve been a touch less defensive at the World Cup.
Football has always been a game of “what if?” questions, and thus it remains when weighing up the last sentences of that paragraph. I don’t particularly want to see Michniewicz stay on as Selekcjoner, not least because his football is largely uninspiring and he is a divisive figure, and we now also have the bonus scandal (that I wasn’t going to mention). I’m not sure Poland would’ve been better served with Sousa in this tournament, but I’m pretty certain Poland can be better when Euro 2024 qualifying starts, and that will probably necessitate a new manager.
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