Image via @LaczyNasPilka on Twitter
Tonight sees Poland kick off their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign in Prague against the Czech Republic. Also marking the first game of Fernando Santos’ tenure as Selekcjoner, it’ll be sure to indicate what kind of football he plans to shape his version of the national team into playing.
Despite a reputation for staid, lifeless football when he was Portugal manager, Santos has spoken consistently in the past few months in his new job about the need for Poland to dominate possession, something to which the previous Selekcjoner seemed allergic to.
This isn’t the only positive Santos is bringing to the table when compared to his predecessor. Clearly bringing a more positive mindset, he stated the aim of this international break as being six points from the two matches. Compare this to just before the World Cup, when senior dressing room figures publicly stated they already assumed they would lose to Argentina before a ball was kicked in the whole tournament.
Furthermore, and in my opinion the best thing about Santos’ actions so far, is that he has spoken frequently about the need for young players in the senior side, something for which he was criticised for not integrating in his last job.
Adding younger players just for the sake of it hasn’t been the case here either, which would’ve been a valid criticism. With Grzegorz Krychowiak having certainly been below par for some time, having not included the midfielder at all certainly comes as a shock to domestic pundits but from my personal, slightly more detached viewpoint is a welcome breath of fresh air.
Santos has the CV, and quite frankly the authority, to put in place changes like dropping Krychowiak and the blanket media ban (until tomorrow, at least) without it causing a stink in said media or amongst the camp (to our knowledge).
We also tend to forget that results-wise Poland are coming off a fairly decent World Cup. Where that falls down is beyond the results, in the mood and the actual football of the squad that participated in the tournament. This should garner greater belief that Poland can kick off a new, hopefully more modern era of the national team after the sorry end of the Biało-Czerwoni in the last calendar year.
Of course, this is all very hopeful and placing a lot of emphasis on the fact Santos will hopefully stick to his word when it comes to Poland playing with the ball rather than without it, but he has shown so far in his actions to be approaching it in a slightly detached manager, and given Czesław Michniewicz seemed too involved (in a negative fashion) this can only be seen as a clean slate.
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