Czesław Mihniewicz is still fighting to retain his position as Poland coach, but there are many signs that the President of the Polish Football Association will not decide to extend the cooperation. Candidates are already pouring in, including from abroad. However, who knows if a Pole, Jan Urban, will turn out to be the best candidate in this situation. It has advantages that its foreign-language competitors do not.
- Please do not drag me into this talk about running for breeders, - Jan Urban himself cut himself off from speculation in a statement to TVP Sport. No wonder the coach is so far away. A year ago, he was also mentioned among the potential successors to Paulo Sousa, when the Portuguese decided to leave the Polish national team. Finally, in January 2022, Cesariy Kulesza chose Czesław Mikhniewicz as coach, but it is no secret that the president of the Polish Football Association was negotiating with Jan Urban almost until the last moment.
At that time he was the coach of Gornik Zabrze, the team from Silesia was at the training camp in Turkey. It was there that, before making a final decision, Kulesha went and probed Urban. The matter was then complicated by the fact that the coach had a valid contract at the club. Of course, if the president of the PZPN decided, it would not be an insurmountable problem, but in the end Kulesha (for reasons known only to himself) did not choose either Urban or Adam Navalka.
Whether the subject of hiring Urban will return this time around we’ll see soon, but it’s certainly worth noting that he’s a coach who would have a lot of advantages in the current situation.
He knows big football
Firstly, Urban is a Polish coach and at the same time… He is not a Polish coach. This is its disadvantage and advantage.
Apparently, Cesary Kuleša, in his last interview for Interia, argued that the nationality of the coach does not matter and he is not required to speak Polish or Russian (the president of the PZPN speaks fluently in this language). The union employs people who can help the authorities in translating conversations, but it is clear that it is better to communicate directly. Hence Kulesha’s pressure - at one time - on the personality of Andriy Shevchenko. At present, the candidacy of a Ukrainian is rather out of the question, since he himself has plans related to the presidency in his native federation. President Kulesha always had direct contact with Urban, almost at any time of the day or night.
Urban, on the other hand, is not a Polish coach in the sense that he built his training workshop in Spain. There he was introduced to professional football, first as a player for CA Osasuna, Real Valladolid and CD Toledo, and later as a coach in the former team. He started working with youth groups, led the second team, and eventually became the coach of the first team. Then she was in the Segunda division.
The fact that Urban is a Spanish coach is evidenced not only by his UEFA PRO license obtained in the Iberian Peninsula. The coach prefers bold, offensive and combinational football. With retention of the ball, with the advantage of game actions. Urban’s teams, even if they did not have offensive potential, were never limited to one defense. One thing is certain: Jan Urban’s Poland team would never play with a “bus” located in their own penalty area.
It is also almost certain that Urban will find common ground with players who want to play spectacular, attacking football. That is, one that better matches the skills of players such as Robert Lewandowski, Piotr Zielinski, Sebastian Szymanski, Nikola Zalewski, Jakub Kaminsky and many others. After the match with France, it was Lewandowski and Zielinski who demanded a more courageous attitude. It’s also safe to assume that this style of play will appeal to fans tired of Mikhnevich’s ultra-defensive approach to football.
Three goals scored against Real Madrid
It is worth adding - which is very important for building relationships with the stars of the team - that Jan Urban has a fruitful football career. He was a great striker, scoring three goals against Real Madrid in one match at the Santiago Bernabéu in the Spanish league. Members of the national team also look differently at someone who played in one of the strongest leagues in the world and was its star than at a coach who, like Mihnevich, was only a substitute goalkeeper for Amika Wronka.
Source: Wprost
