We were wondering which place we would take – first or second, and we lost the chance for direct promotion. We have the play-offs left. It was an embarrassing elimination for us. In the past, we were able to surprise in matches against strong rivals when we were not favorites. This time it was the Albanians and Czechs who gave us a football lesson, but not the qualitative one, but the mental and physical one. Even coach Jaroslav Šilhavi’s team, although broken from the inside, showed us how much we have to make up for.
In the match against the Czech Republic at the National Stadium, the result was worse than the game. When I saw the squad selected by coach Michał Probierz, I knew that the coach was building his team. A team that, above all, will be physically strong, because such players are Bartosz Slisz, Damian Szymański and Jakub Piotrowski, although if Piotr Zieliński was healthy, he would probably be in the first team. The coach managed to oppose the Czechs physically. At times our game looked really good. We certainly didn’t break, we stood up to our rivals and sometimes even had the initiative. Additionally, mentally we did not lag behind throughout the entire match. Unfortunately, these features are not the only ones at play. Above all, quality has been lost.
With this match, the players showed that they will not give up, which is good, because there are still play-offs ahead of us. It certainly won’t be easy, but I hope that we will advance to the European Championships.
The national team lost trust
Unfortunately, these qualifiers made fans distrust the national team. If people come to the National Stadium, whistle at the players and call them names, the frustration must be huge. This shows that everything that has been happening around the team since the World Cup in Qatar is heading in the wrong direction. I hope that coach Probierz will rebuild it, this will only be achieved with good results.
Individually, I really liked Nicola Zalewski, it was his best match for the national team. After one of his crosses we were close to scoring a goal, and after the second one we did it. He also won a lot of fights.
-The coach experimented defensively again, but it was a good direction. However, the defense should have been clarified much earlier, before the start of the qualifying round or at its beginning, not at the end.
Denying Robert Lewandowski’s achievements is senseless
A hot topic after the match against the Czech Republic is the attitude of Robert Lewandowski, who received a lot of hate. The Polish national team has been dependent on him for many years. When he is in good form, everyone applauds him, but when he does not score goals, many people blame “Lewy” for the team’s poor results. To the fans who say that he is not needed by the national team and emphasize that he is weak, I appeal to them to look at his CV and think about what kind of player he is. Negating Lewandowski’s achievements in national or club football is pointless.
We should criticize the national team for how it functions with “Lewy” and how it copes without him. When the team is fully positioned to pass the ball to Lewandowski in the penalty area, everything is fine. When the team is supposed to have different functions, our captain is no longer an outstanding individual. Then he has to run away from the opponent’s penalty box, he is invisible, which is why the fans resent him. The national team should choose whether they want to focus on Lewandowski, and if not, they must consider what the team will look like without him.
