Image via @LaczyNasPilka
Don’t take the title in a literal sense; what I’m trying to say is which players have impressed, and which players have had the training camp derail their form or haven’t had enough minutes. This, of course, is highly subjective. Let’s get to it:
The winners
Wojciech Szczęsny
Szczęsny earns his place in this section for his outstanding performance in the victory over Wales. As Robert Lewandowski pointed out afterwards, perhaps we shouldn’t be praising someone so much for doing their job, but without Szczęsny’s interventions we wouldn’t be celebrating a win on Sunday. As others have said, it might well have been Szczęsny’s best game in a Poland shirt, as not once did he look like he might make a bad decision or a mistake. He looked confident and assured throughout, which has not always been the case in his career.
Jakub Kiwior
Kiwior came into the international break as one of the most underrated young centre-backs in Serie A, at least in my opinion. It’s telling that in the summer he had an offer from West Ham, but chose to stay at Spezia in order to get more first-team football. Just as the break for the Nations League started, reports in Italy claimed that AC Milan had made an offer to sign Kiwior for next season. His great form continued for Poland, as he was the best defender in the loss to Holland, and played a big part in the goal against Wales. Lewandowski himself was singing the praises of Kiwior, and Selekcjoner Czesław Michniewicz also confirmed that Kiwior was now the first-choice centre-back for Poland.
Bartosz Bereszyński
I, like most, was a bit disappointed to see Bereszyński in the starting line-up on Sunday evening. I personally would’ve taken someone with more offensive threat, but Bereszyński set about proving everyone wrong. He was solid at the back for the most part, and was perfectly capable going forward. No-one expects him to be challenging Matty Cash for the right wing-back position, but it’s nice to know there is a capable back-up there in Bereszyński.
Nicola Zalewski
Zalewski was coming off the back of a muscle injury when the training camp began, although he showed no signs of fatigue in either of the matches, both of which he played in from the start. He was one of the better players against the Dutch, and was again a strong performer against Wales, frequently getting space down the left-hand side. His final product still needs some work, but at only 20 years-old he’s got plenty of time on his side.
Piotr Zieliński
Zieliński was another player coming into the break in great form, and that continued in his performances for Poland. He was the best player in the loss to Holland, and he was arguably man of the match against Wales. Zieliński has started being able to influence games without registering a goal or assist, which is a talent the Polish squad desperately needs more of. He’d often been criticised for not playing well with the national team, but it seems like that notion might have finally been put to bed after this latest round of games.
Karol Świderski
Świderski has been in electric form this year in the MLS, and this has carried over into his displays for Poland. He’s often been a player who has been good in the national team, even if he doesn’t play at a level as high as the other strikers in the squad, and he always seems to pop up with a goal. It’s for this reason that I likened him on Twitter to Darius Vassell, who was frequently a goalscorer for the England team in the early to mid-2000s despite playing at a level below the other players in the side.
The losers
Przemysław Frankowski
I personally think that Frankowski is exactly the kind of back-up wing-back that Poland need. He’s proven his quality since his move to Lens, where he has consistently been a good performer, registering plenty of assists from the wing-back position on either side. Unfortunately, his first half against Holland was one mostly spent defending, and when he was a threat early in the second half, his fantastic ball into the box was blazed over by Arkadiusz Milik. After that, Holland scored again and he was again limited mostly to defending and making good runs that weren’t seen by his teammates before he was replaced in the last five minutes, and he was left out of the squad entirely against Wales. Disappointing as this was his chance to prove to Michniewicz what he has been proving since his move to France, but it was not to be.
Karol Linetty
Where to start? He was at fault for the first Dutch goal, and then he did absolutely nothing else before being replaced at half-time. Considering all the problems facing the Polish midfield, to have Linetty basically rule himself out of the running for a spot in the World Cup squad was the last thing needed. A particularly poor showing, it has to be said.
Mateusz Klich
How Klich wasn’t chosen to start over Linetty was a little baffling. He’s been playing well for Leeds, albeit off the bench mostly, and although he wasn’t great when he came on against Holland, to be left out of the squad entirely against Wales was another strange decision by Michniewicz. With the midfield issues, you would have thought an experienced player like Klich would be a valuable option in an area of the field in which the team is struggling from a lack of quality options.
Jakub Piotrowski
Piotrowski has been in good form, both domestically and in the Europa League for Ludogorets. Given the midfield problems, you would have expected he might get some time on the pitch, but no. Disappointing.
Jakub Kamiński
Kamiński is one of the hottest young prospects in Polish football, and having recently moved to Wolfsburg, he is on an upward trajectory. His manager at Wolfsburg, Niko Kovac, has been alternating between starting him and bringing him off the bench. It was therefore a surprise that he didn’t get any playing time at all in either of Poland’s games this past week. It was another of Michniewicz’s interesting decisions, especially considering Kamiński will most likely be in the World Cup squad, given Poland have few wingers of Kamiński’s quality at their disposal.
Arkadiusz Milik
Milik came into the break in great form. His move to Juventus has been a real revelation, and it’s great to see someone who has often been the butt of a joke perform well for a top club like Juve, especially after his injury problems. It was unfortunate then that Milik’s sole contribution from his appearance in the game against Holland was to absolutely sky the ball from six yards in Poland’s best chance of the game. It was a harder chance than it looked given the ball was rising as he met it, but a striker of his quality, especially in the form he has been in should be scoring.
Special mentions
I wasn’t sure where to put these four players, but I wanted to write about them anyway.
Kamil Glik
Glik is now looking like a 34 year-old, Serie B centre-half. That’s not a slight on his ability, but it is obvious that he is not getting any younger and is not the player he once was. Glik is still the vice-captain of the side however, and those leadership qualities can’t be understated. Despite that, he didn’t cover himself in glory in the goals conceded against Holland and he had a few uncertain moments against Wales. However, he was also able to defend with the physicality that he always has and this is a valuable quality for a Poland team that still loves to defend deep at the end of a game to grind out a result.
Jan Bednarek
Bednarek has been getting some criticism after the two games, which I think is a little unfair. Next to Kiwior, Bednarek and Glik don’t look particularly great, and the second goal against Holland was due to Bednarek getting caught out by a simple one-two. Despite these errors, he was perfectly solid for the most part in the game against Wales and I personally wouldn’t be overreacting and talking about dropping him from the first team.
Grzegorz Krychowiak
Another person coming in for criticism regardless of the level of his performance. Yes, he was poor in the second half against Holland and he was completely absent in the first half against Wales. However, he was able to relieve pressure and win fouls and did his job well enough in the moments that mattered, particularly that second half against Wales. Depending on the fitness of Krystian Bielik, we might not see Krychowiak start at the World Cup, but we can only hope that if he does have to start he can have more of these good moments that he’s shown he can still produce.
Szymon Żurkowski
The game against Wales was on Żurkowski’s 25th birthday, and it was a great opportunity for him to place a claim for a spot in Poland’s midfield. He had a good chance when he was played through one-on-one, but the ball was stuck under his feet and he was caught by the defender. Again, Żurkowski was nowhere near as bad as some people are claiming, but given he hasn’t been getting as much time as he or Michniewicz would like at Fiorentina, he may well miss out on a World Cup place even with the problems in the midfield. Personally, I’d be taking Żurkowski anyway, given he has boundless energy for both defending and attacking.
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