Brutal clash with Polish football reality. Conclusions after the first training camp of Fernando Santos

We started with great hopes and ended with great disappointment. The last grouping of the Polish national team, the first during the reign of Fernando Santos, brought more questions than answers, although, unfortunately, it is not difficult to conclude that there are more minuses than pluses. Before the next matches, the Portuguese will have to answer a number of important questions, and he has enough time, because only three months are left until the next meeting of the white-reds. But let’s focus on what’s behind us.

1. Violent collision with Polish football reality

An hour before kick-off against the Czech Republic, most of the Poles’ eyes lit up when they saw the eleven who entered the field from the first minutes. Front: Lewandowski, Szymanski, Frankowski, i.e.: leader, although out of shape, excellent Dutch league footballer and Ligue 1 footballer who has flashes of time Midfield: Zelinski, Belik, Linetti - respectively: one of Europe’s best midfielders the 2022/23 season, the ups and downs of an English second-tier and mid-range Serie A player appearing less and less for the full 90 minutes in club matches.

Defender: Karbownik, Bednarek, Kivior, Cash, i.e.: a promising player in the 2nd Bundesliga, a footballer who has the documents to become a team leader but cannot become one, the future of Polish football and an up-and-coming Arsenal player and Aston. Villa’s main player. And behind the support Wojciech Szczesny. At the pre-match press conferences, the coach spoke little about what was happening in training, although he did not hide the fact that the team had potential.

Effect? The match against the Czech Republic started at 20:45, actually ended for us at 20:47, as we were losing 0:2. Probably no one expected such a cold shower, the final result of which is 1:3. The Czechs taught the Poles a real football lesson, and Fernando Santos understood the difference between a team consisting of players who know each other from the same backyard, and a team consisting of players of different classes scattered around the world who meet from time to time.

2. The image of the game from Qatar is far from being erased

It is unlikely that anyone expected the arrival of a new coach and lubrication of the game image from the World Cup in Qatar. And rightly so, although the problem is that it is reproduced worse than Fernando Santos himself probably thought. In the game with the Czechs, the defense looked at least partly as expected. Bednarek showed that he was out of shape, Kivior made mistake after mistake, which proved the lack of play at the highest level, Karbovnik failed to the end, although he shines at the club, and Cash, despite being on the field for seven minutes, was circled around Yurasek’s finger, which Cech repeated later with Gumny.

Rising higher, Belik again failed the exam, Zelinsky was the best of the Poles, but what if he had no one to play with? Linetti could stand in front of the mirror after the game and ask himself - what did I even want to achieve? And the front one? Robert Lewandowski was left out of the game because the defenders of both opposing teams were expecting who we would want to play with the most, Sebastian Szymanski lost so much in the eyes of the manager that he spent a perverted five minutes against Albania, and Frankowski wanted to do a lot in the first match , but just like “Zil”, he could not, because both he and his friends were excluded from the game.

The conservative defensive play only worked in the second installment, but Fernando Santos’s attempts at bolder attacks cannot be denied, but this can only be said about the match against Albania. Having left Prague, the Portuguese already knew that this team lacked, first of all, a leader who would put a firm hand on this team. In the past, such a person was Kamil Glick, but, as you know, an experienced defender could not come to the training camp due to injury. So the coach trusted someone else.

3. Non-obvious leaders

After the blam with the Czechs, Fernando Santos had to react quickly. In the match against Albania, he refused the services of several players and made a bet, among others, on Nikola Zalewski (who gave a bad deal in Prague), Bartosz Salamon, Karol Swiderski and Jakub Kaminski. Most importantly, the coach changed the formation, giving Frankowski and Kaminsky more space on the flanks and focusing on three central defenders, although Kivior often ran down the left flank. The midfield consisted of two people: Zelinski, Lynette and Lewandowski, with the aforementioned Swiderski running in front.

Well, okay, we won 1-0, but we can’t say that it was the match we would like to see at the European Championship. Too conservative play, fear of risk and lack of aggressiveness and pugnacity combined to create not the best picture of the meeting played by the white-reds. The only goal scorer, Karol Swiderski, and Bartosz Salamon, who took the place of Kamil Glik and led the entire team, deserve the greatest praise.

- I tried to do my job as best I could, I think I can do a lot more with a margin, but I also helped the team in many moments and I am pleased with this fact, - the Lech Poznań defender assured in a post. -Match interview.

However, the first was named MVP of the second game, which is not surprising, because he worked well both in attack and in defense. At the moment it is difficult to imagine his absence from the starting XI in the next game. He himself was very pleased with his achievement.

4. Yes, the problem is in the mentality

After the game against the Czech Republic, Fernando Santos openly admitted that this team is mentally ill. But is it amazing? The most important thing for Cesarii Kulesha and the rest of the PZPN staff was to erase the image of the scandals and problems that arose during the reign of Czesław Mikhnevich. And then suddenly an interview with Lukas Skorupski pops up, during which he returns to the bonus scandal that arose after the match with Argentina at the World Cup and the return of the demons.

Robert Lewandowski openly apologized for what happened, but it’s still impossible to dispel the impression that the team has more problems off the field, which then reflect on the image of the game. The silence of the media, which the Portuguese coach was supposed to bring, allowed us to draw several conclusions, and also gave hope that a similar situation would not happen again. I hope, although it is not known what will happen in, say, two weeks, when the players will return to the clubs in full force.

What this squad really lacks are players who will fight for every ball like a lion for loot. We want to see players with a claw who, realizing that they are playing with an eagle on their chest, will give blood, sweat and tears for it. In the matches against the Czech Republic and Albania, we did not see this, although one can single out Karol Swiderski in this respect, who clearly likes to play in white and red colors and is not afraid to take risks.

5. Piotr Zelinsky does not lift everything alone

The Napoli midfielder after Robert Lewandowski is the best player in this team, but these two games have clearly shown how Fernando Santos wants to act. The key to this is Piotr Zielinski, who, while doing well in his role, has no clear replacement to replace him. Karol Linetti played better against Albania than against the Czech Republic, but still not at the level we expected. We are still waiting for the return of Jakub Moder, who was a great national team player. Then Peter Zelinsky can be relieved of several duties, especially defensive ones.

Sooner or later everyone will notice that our game is no longer based on the famous Roberczyk bet, but primarily on the game for Ziela. The previous grouping very negatively verified the personality of Sebastian Szymanski, who is also perceived as an “eight out of ten” player, although it is difficult to say something positive about his contribution to the team’s game. His potential cannot be denied, but looking at this Seb from the Eredivisie and the one who came to Warsaw, one might get the impression that we are dealing with two different players.

Against Albania, we played without the typical “six”, which did not work in favor of Petr Zelinsky and, which may be somewhat controversial, he played worse in this match than in the meeting with the Czechs. This was reflected in the previously mentioned best game of Karol Lynette, who knew how to play with the ball, fight for it and even shoot. But is this still the game we expect? Not necessary.

6. How much can you count on Wojciech Szczesny?

We are used to the fact that Wojciech Szczesny is the hero of this team. This time it was the same. But how long will we live with the knowledge that the result is mainly dependent on the goalkeeper? There is no point in mentioning the game with the Czechs, because there was practically no such game, although it could have ended in an even greater disaster if not for Shchen. As it should be, let’s hope that this cold shower will do Fernando Santos a favor, and in the next matches we will see a much more interesting picture of the match.

However, in the meeting with Albania, if the first half in the game of the Poles was very calm and textbook, then in the second there were much more chances to score a goal, but not only from our side. Let’s be honest, attackers with a class above the Albanians would definitely better use the gaps that appeared in the defense of the white-reds, and Wojciech Szczesny would have more work to do. There will be matches with Moldova (with the Czech Republic tied 0-0) and the Faroe Islands, so Porugal will not be tested at the level of a top opponent, and it would be useful to draw final conclusions about who should play in the national team and who should not.

7. Where is Robert Lewandowski?

When we talk to players, coaches or staff of the teams that will play against Robert Lewandowski, we hear that it makes no sense to say what form he is in, because he can decide the result in one moment. It may be true, but after the recent matches of the Polish national team, we may have concerns about whether we will see this RL9 again, who had a great action against Scotland and then finished it with a goal.

The 34-year-old has clearly lost his unpredictability, often getting lost in duels with Albanian and Czech defences. He himself admitted in post-match interviews that he was surprised by what the opponents’ defenders showed. Only we didn’t play against teams at the top of the FIFA rankings. Robert was given two band-aids that he couldn’t get off. He came close once after a beautiful move against Albania, but ended up missing the net.

And finally, we are talking about the captain of the Polish national team. A leader who is tasked with taking responsibility. There were many such matches, but now there are too few such situations, and we emphasize that we are talking about a top-level striker. The Poles can, but should not be content with what the leader of our team showed at the last training camp.

8. Let’s not write off Fernando Santos

And at the end of this debate, we emphasize that yes - Fernando Santos had a brutal encounter with the Polish football reality. He understood that he was in a team that had big problems and, despite even bigger names, needed a firm hand. He has several weeks ahead of him to find answers to important questions, but let’s not expect miracles. In two matches, he fielded two other elevens, and it cannot be otherwise in the duels with Moldova and the Faroe Islands.

Now the Portuguese need to relax and think about who to put on the list of “tested” and what players to replace them with. Today it is difficult to unequivocally point the finger at such players, because those who at the same time can become heroes, like Wojciech Szczesny, have failed. Let’s see. Let the experience of Fernando Santos prevail and be embodied in the image of the game and, above all, in the glasses.