– Let’s remember how much we admired Robert Lewandowski in the last few years. Not only with his goals, but also with the way he works on the field and sacrifices himself for the team. So let’s slow down a bit with criticism of our captain, because for many players of the national team his level is still out of reach, - says the former striker of the Polish national team Dariusz Dziekanowski.
Dariusz Tuzimek (“Wprost”): After the match in Prague, where Poland lost 1-3 to the Czech Republic, you said that if a player wants to play in the national team, he must be able to show his opponent on the field… fangs. Have you already seen these fangs on our players in the meeting with Albania in Warsaw?
Dariusz Dziekanowski: So far I have seen sprouts (laughs). This statement said that in Prague the Poles failed when it came to such issues as stubbornness or aggression in the good sense of the word. However, one cannot reduce the whole meaning of playing football only to strong-willed elements. I got the impression that after the first two matches of the team under the new coach there is more than just a struggle in every match.
What are your findings?
It seems to me that what we saw both in Prague and Warsaw is the result of the fact that Fernando Santos is just getting to know Polish football players. He is studying this command. He checks what each of these players can bring to the team. He tries to get the most out of them. For some this test is positive, for others it is negative. It is important that it is more or less clear that the Portuguese coach has a specific idea of playing the white-reds and consistently implements this plan.
There were many things that surprised him about this first training camp. He probably should have included this in the costs ahead of time, because a new trainer always needs a minute to get to know the human material he will be working with.
I am glad that after this first match, Santos drew conclusions and made the right personnel decisions. They defended themselves against Albania. Of course, I am far from being overly optimistic, because the match in Warsaw was not played very recklessly by our team, but it turned out at least decently. Sometimes it is worth appreciating even such simple solidity.
I think none of the Polish fans expected that Santos would turn out to be a miracle worker and that the touch of a magic wand would change the national team overnight. Rather, we expect from the new coach that he will think logically, that his personnel decisions will be rational, that he will be consistent in realizing his vision. It was different with the previous selectors.
Quite unexpectedly, one of the strongest players in our team in the match with Albania was Bartos Salamon. Centre-back Lech was recalled to training camp later when several other defenders were sidelined due to injuries. Do you think that Fernando Santos should follow suit and look for more players in Ekstraklasa for the team?
Our league, there is nothing to hide, is at a low football level, so it will not be easy to find applicants for the national team in Ekstraklasa. Solomon seems to be the exception. Stopper Lech is almost 32 years old, he is an experienced player who spent most of his career in Italy. There he grew up and matured. Now he had a chance to play for the national team, and he took advantage of it. Do we have more Salmon in Ekstraklasa? I doubt…
However, of course, someone cannot be excluded just because they perform daily in our league. In my opinion, Ben Lederman from Rakov-Czestochowa, who was already called up for the March training camp, but still managed to make his debut, has the potential to play in the adult team. The only question is whether he can adapt to the style of play that Santos expects.
Source: Wprost
I have worked in the news industry for over 10 years. I have been an author at Daily News Hack for the past 1 year. I mostly cover sports news, but I also have a keen interest in current affairs and politics. In my spare time, I enjoy playing tennis and spending time with my family.
