Greece-Poland 0:0. Żewłakow Retires In Good Fashion.

March 30th, 2011 | by: tomasz | Comments(22)

Better pitch brought a better performance from the Biało Czerwoni. Which doesn’t mean that we played an extremely good game. I think yesterday we were able to see our true potential: we’re not as bas as we saw against Lithuania, but we are also not good enough to defeat teams like demotivated, backup Greece. At the moment, we’re in a place that definetely doesn’t guarantee us success at the Euros. One big positive from this game is a fine farewell from Michał Żewłakow, who put in a really good, mature performance. Thanks for everything Żewłak, you will be missed.

Greece-Poland 0:0
Poland: Grzegorz Sandomierski – Łukasz Piszczek, Arkadiusz Głowacki, Michał Żewłakow (63’ Tomasz Jodłowiec), Maciej Sadlok – Sławomir Peszko (77’ Kamil Grosicki), Dariusz Dudka, Adrian Mierzejewski (46’ Rafał Murawski), Jakub Błaszczykowski, Ludovic Obraniak (83’ Roger) – Robert Lewandowski (83’ Michał Kucharczyk)

I was very surprised not to see Rafał Murawski in the starting lineup. So far, Smuda has been playing him every time he had a chance to and even made him the vice captain of his team. This time Muraś had to be benched in order to create a place for Sławomir Peszko. Just as I wrote in the preview, Smuda is not brave, or stupid enough not to play with a more defensive minded player in midfield. I only thought that Peszko would be brought in at the expense of Mierzejewski, not Murawski. We started the game with a very high pressing, this time better organized than usual. It’s because there weren’t only two or three players taking part in it, but at least five or six Biało Czerwoni rushed forward and put pressure on the Greeks. Our defensive line was also much better organized; they positioned themselves near the halfway line and intercepted a lot of inaccurate Greek passes caused by our pressing. This time the defensive part of our game didn’t disappoint, but we still had problems with the offense. Even when we kept possession for a long time, we had no idea what to do with the ball. The players were exchanging positions too slowly, there wasn’t enough movement and the one two passes weren’t quick enough. We also lacked a player that would take the defenders on, create something unexpected, cause havoc in opponents’ defensive line. We lacked an in form Kuba or Ludo. Without being able to take risk and succeed, and without players able to do that, we won’t improve our positional attack. Nevertheless, we managed to create a number of goalscoring opportunities in the first half, especially after a quick interception of the ball. Lewandowski, Obraniak and Peszko could have scored, but lacked the neccessary accuracy. The defensive line made only one serious mistake when too many players rushed towards the Greek playmaker and left Mitroglou in the clear. Luckily, Sandomierski kept his position well.

The second half started with our best chance of the game. Sandomierski showed great vision and kicked the ball upfield quickly in the direction of Lewy. Robert cheated the defender, created himself a good position to score and then…opted to round the keeper, which proved to be a very bad decision. As four days before, the finishing skills failed Lewy most; he has to improve his decision-making. The picture of the game didn’t change much after the break, it was only a bit slower. We didn’t have enough energy to employ the high pressing and our lines didn’t play as close to each other as in the first half. The Greeks didn’t look much interested in taking the game from us; they seemed satisfied with walking on the pitch and waiting for us to strike first. The thing I didn’t like in the second half was Smuda’s hesitation to make substitutions earlier. I’m not talking about Żewłakow, who played better with each minute, but about Obraniak and Błaszczykowski, who both had less and less energy the longer the game lasted. I know Smuda treats those players as his leaders, but he can’t keep them on the field regardless of their input. Neither Kuba, nor Ludo play 90 minutes week in week out for their clubs and it shows in the national team games. Błaszczykowski didn’t have a single good pass or dribble in the last fifteen minutes; a clear sign that he doesn’t have the endurance to last ninety minutes of high energy, high pressing football. As for Obraniak, Smuda said that he has to change clubs or win himself a place in Lille’s squad in order to return to form. Easier said than done. The nearer it was to the final whistle, the more boring the game was becoming. We had our opportunities from Peszko or Grosicki, but both teams weren’t determined enough to fight for a win. All in all, it was an alibi game for both opponents: as if the will to avoid criticism was more important than the will to win.

Player ratings (1-10):

Grzegorz Sandomierski 7: a couple of great saves in the first half and overall a very confident performance. Needs to work on his ball distribution.
Łukasz Piszczek 6: much more active in the offence than against Lithuania. He’s one of the most dynamic players in the team and definitely the one with the best endurance.
Arkadiusz Głowacki 7: much more confident than against Lithuania. Great positioning and good distribution of the ball, he didn’t kick it forward recklessly. Maybe it’s because of the pitch, or maybe he felt better with Żewłakow alongside him.
Michał Żewłakow 7: showed that he remains good enough to play for the Biało Czerwoni. Good positioning, but also won a number of one on one confrontations with the Greek wingers. Only one serious mistake.
Maciej Sadlok 6: probably his best game as a left back in the national team. Wasn’t afraid to ask for the ball and, surprisingly, took part in a lot of offensive moves in the second half.
Dariusz Dudka 6: he flourished as there was much more space in the middle of the pitch than usual. Didn’t lose his head under pressure and was able to pass both to the nearest teammate and send a long pass to the wing.
Adrian Mierzejewski 5: exchanged passes well, made himself available, a lot of movement. The only problem is that his game doesn’t result in creating any threat near the opponents’ goal.
Ludovic Obraniak 5: made too many bad decisions, especially when running a counter attack. Didn’t convert his goalscoring opportunity. Had a good shot from a free kick.
Jakub Błaszczykowski 5: the first to introduce the high pressing in our team. He was everywhere on the pitch, both in offense and defense. It’s a shame that he didn’t have enough energy then to be more influential in the attack and remain dangerous till the 90th minute.
Sławomir Peszko 5: a proper return to the national team’s starting lineup. His inclusion clearly makes the team more dynamic. Didn’t improve his poor first touch in the Bundesliga so far.
Robert Lewandowski 5: once again good in the build up play, but disappointing where we need him the most: in front of the rival’s goal.
Rafał Murawski 4: didn’t influence the game enough, even though the tempo should suit him well. Where is the Murawski who was able to rush into the penalty box or shoot dangerously from long range?
Tomasz Jodłowiec 6: substituted Żewłak and didn’t lower the standard of our defensive display.
Kamil Grosicki 5: a lot of movement, taking players on, but lacked the finishing touch. A very good shot in the dying minutes of the game.
Roger Guerreiro 5: maybe he’s not a kind of player who should start the games, but none other Polish footballer can come up with such a nice and measured diagonal pass.
Michał Kucharczyk 5: wanted to take part in every action, every move. Showed a great first touch once, but then failed to cross accurately. Huge ambition.

Conclusions:

- Kuba Błaszczykowski and Ludovic Obraniak, two leaders of the team, are in poor shape physically. The lack of significant playing time in their clubs has a detrimental effect on their form. Which means that they need to play more next season if they want to be perfectly prepared for the Euros. Smuda should substitute them earlier if they’re not at their best, not torment the players and the fans unnecessarily.
- how about that, Michał Żewłakow is still good enough to play for the Biało Czerwoni. He was far better than Kamil Glik in his last games. Whether you interpret it as a good sign for Żewłak or a bad sign for the remaining defenders is your decision.
- Maciej Sadlok had a good game this time, but I’d refrain from saying that he can now play at left back regularly.
- it may be that Arkadiusz Głowacki performs better when he has another experienced defender to partner him. He’s just not a type of a leader who would organize the whole defensive line.
- thanks to a number of good interventions Grzegorz Sandomierski will keep his place in the team for some time now.
- I think we should become used to the fact that Robert Lewandowski won’t convert each goalscoring opportunity he’s given. He’s just a kind of players that needs a couple of chances to score. Whtat’s positive is that he creates those chances in each single game.
- if Smuda thinks Rafał Murawski is one of the leaders of the team, he should think again. At the moment, even Dariusz Dudka puts in better performances in the midfield.

Maybe this wasn’t a perfect last game for Michał Żewłakow, but he made the most of it and left a very good impression. Thanks for everything. What I find problematic is that once again our opponents are not playing their strongest squad against us (Ivory Coast and Lithuania before). I know that’s the nature of friendly games, but we need to get used to some serious football so as not to be surprised in the Euros opening game. Moreover, we should play the majority of the games in Poland so that the players get a taste of the atmosphere they will encounter in 2012. This is what we can take from the last two friendlies. As for the quality of the Biało Czerwoni team, they didn’t bring any improvement.

Highlights:

Farewell to Żewłak