Fernando Santos praised the Poles for one thing. He specifically identified what needs to be improved.

The Polish national team answered with a victory in the match against Albania after a very unsuccessful performance against the Czech Republic. This time our team won with a score of 1:0. Fernando Santos appeared at the press conference shortly after the final whistle and talked a lot about what the Poles did well and what needs to be worked on in the near future.

Fernando Santos praised after the match Poland - Albania

“The most important thing was the victory. Albania did not surprise us. We should have responded accordingly. We still have a lot to improve, for example in midfield and ball handling. We will work on this step by step,” he said, answering the first question.

What will he praise his students for? “I liked the approach to this game: dedication, solidarity on the field. Everyone helped each other. This was the basis of our victory. The audience also gave us a lot of support, and that was also important. Thanks to everyone present at the stadium and in front of the TVs. As a team, we can become even better and will improve in the future. The victory was important and fair,” said the Portuguese.

What else needs to be improved by the Polish national team?

“We controlled the game, we had more chances and good quality, but we still have a lot of work to do.” He went on to explain exactly what he meant.

“We can play attractively if we maintain this level of concentration, cohesion and dedication in the match. This is the basis on which we can work better. We have to work on the possession of the ball. I still see a lot of room for planning and building an action to make it look more impressive and solid. There must be strictness. At the next training camp we will have more time, a friendly meeting. We will plan training differently so that our team can develop in the right direction,” he admitted.

Fernando Santos explained the decision on Sebastian Szymanski

“My decisions today were also more related to how the players looked in training,” he later said at a meeting with the media. Thus, he emphasized that he is still at the stage of getting to know the team and he needs time to clarify his choice so that the tactics for individual matches best reflect the capabilities of our players.

As an example, Santos cited the case of Sebastian Szymanski, deployed against the Czechs on the right flank.

“Now I have more understanding and knowledge about the players, and thanks to this I will be able to better position them on the field. In the first game, Sebastian played closer to the right flank because I thought he had enough qualities to go inside, play and shoot. I had a lot of players who played the same way. Later, I realized that this space is very restrictive for him, and he feels better inside. It’s an evolution, I’ll learn it all and next matches will give more answers.”

Fernando Santos will reach out for Ekstraklasa players

Finally, Santos was also asked about the appointment of players from Ekstraklasa, which Paulo Souza did not want to do. It seems that the current breeder has a slightly different approach than his compatriot.

- If the players from Ekstraklas were not suitable, I would not appoint them. For example, on the bench was Lederman, who has very high technical qualities. I name those who play well. I’m not excluding anyone who plays in the Extraclass. However, foreign players are often the best in the most important Polish teams. But those who have been called have the right attitude to work. If in the future I find someone who can be useful to the team, like Bartosz Salamon, whom I watched, he will be called to the team, he summed up.