Poland-Macedonia 1:1. Should We Be Worried?

Uff, I did it. I survived one of the most boring games in the Polish national team history. And I did it without alcohol so as to be able to write this note. Never again will I repeat this mistake; tomorrow for the Albania game I’ll have a backup of a beer sixpack in case our players once again decide to stage ‘I’m Not Good Enough For Euro’ play.

Poland-Macedonia 1:1 (Matusiak pen.84- Maznov 45).
Poland: Tomasz Kuszczak – Paweł Golanski, Mariusz Jop, Adam Kokoszka, Grzegorz Bronowicki (46. Jakub Wawrzyniak) – Tomasz Zahorski, Mariusz Lewandowski (46. Dariusz Dudka), Rafal Murawski, Radoslaw Majewski (59. Marek Saganowski) – Lukasz Gargula (87. Michal Pazdan) – Radoslaw Matusiak

Ok, I know, this was a game for backup players and usual bench warmers. Still, I expected more from them, I expected passion and commitment, I expected games of a lifetime. I wanted to see the players fighting for the first eleven. Sadly, none of this happened. Instead I saw a game that I want to forget as soon as possible. I don’t think that any of the players shown true Euro potential today.

The game was very even, I’d say that both teams were on the same level (Macedonia!). There were some surprising decisions by Leo: Majewski started on the right side and Zahorski on the left. None of them is a true winger which really became obvious during the course of the game. I’d even say that it was a reason of our failure; no wingers=no crosses and dribbles. The other surprise was the inclusion of Bronowicki in the squad. This was his first game after injury and he stayed on the field for 45 minutes. It’s too early to say if he’s ready to be our starting left back but it’s good that he’s slowly coming back to shape. I’d very much like to write about numerous situations from the game, but there weren’t any, simple as that. Macedonia scored after Kuszczak’s mistake (didn’t manage to hold the ball after a free kick) and we scored from penalty spot after a nice shot from Matusiak. Other than that there was a powerful shot by Dudka, three apathic headers by Zahorski and poor shots by Gargula and Murawski.

If I was to single out any of the players it would certainly be Mariusz Lewandowski. One could feel that he’s our boss in the midfield in the first half. Good control and good distribution of the ball. Pawel Golanski also had a nice first half rushing forward with every attack and showing some technical tricks on the way. Sadly, the second half was much worse from him as he ran out of steam. Lukasz Gargula also proved useful, although there were no key passes to be seen from him. The rest is silence…..but hey, I’m here to write and not watch my laptop’s screen. I’m disappointed once again by both of our strikers: Matusiak and Saganowski. The former was given 90 minutes to impress, but had severe problems with even keeping the ball, not to mention any shots. He lacks speed, even after a good dribble he’s not able to overtake a defender. A converted penalty is not enough for me. Saganowski was given only 30 minutes but his performance was much similar to Matusiak’s. Now it seems like a choice of lesser evil as far as strikers are concerned. I also expected more from Polish league’s revelations: Majewski and Zahorski. Both were played out of position but it can’t be an excuse. Majewski couldn’t transfer his technical potential into this game, too many lost balls, too little invention. Zahorski didn’t show enough bravery for a winger, he played alibi as we call it in Poland. No huge ups or downs for other players.

Leo doesn’t want his team judged in terms of this week’s friendlies. He says that only in the last friendly against Denmark we’ll see any signs of what our game during the Euros will look like. I trust you Leo, otherwise I’d have to buy a lot of antidepressants for June.