Poland-Wales 1:0. The Roger Factor.

After a very close match Poland defeated Wales 1-0 due to an incredible lob by Roger Guerreiro. The game answered some, but not all questions before our World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland. We are still miles away from ideal form; at the same time it’s very positive that we can win without playing great. This time we owe our victory to Roger’s touch of genius.

Poland-Wales 1:0 (Roger 80′)
Poland: Lukasz Fabianski (46. Artur Boruc)- Marcin Wasilewski, Michal Zewlakow, Dariusz Dudka, Jakub Wawrzyniak – Rafal Boguski (46. Wojciech Lobodzinski), Mariusz Lewandowski, Lukasz Gargula (46. Roger Guerreiro), Rafal Murawski (75. Lukasz Tralka), Jacek Krzynowek (46. Euzebiusz Smolarek) – Robert Lewandowski (61. Pawel Brozek)

There were two surprises in the starting lineup: Lukasz Fabianski and Robert Lewandowski. Leo Beenhakker is still not sure about who’s his starting keeper. Even though Fabian very rarely starts for Arsenal he was given a chance to play from the first minute yesterday. Robert Lewandowski unexpectedly started upfront, which only means that Pawel Brozek’s position in the starting eleven is not as strong as it was thought before the game. We played quite good during the first 15 minutes; we were able to keep the ball and even created a good opportunity for Mariusz Lewandowski to shoot from just outside the penalty box. Then something surprising happened, Wales turned out not to be the team we expected them to be. Wales is not Northern Ireland, they don’t play long balls to the strikers but try to keep possession, exchange passes and keep the ball on the ground. As a result, there were spells in the game when Toshack’s players controlled the play and there were spells when we did it. Each team had their opportunities; Wales’ were a bit better since they had Craig Bellamy, the best player on the pitch in the first half. Our problem was that we couldn’t speed up the game when we approached the opponent’s penalty box. We could easily exchange passes in the midfield, but when it came to playing a surprising ball in the box or making a bold decision there was no one to do it. Lukasz Gargula tried to be this difference maker, but most of his passes lacked precision. What’s interesting, Gargula didn’t play as a typical linkup player; he dropped back to the midfield very often. When he did that, Rafal Murawki took his position behind R.Lewandowski. An interesting tactical option, but it didn’t work that great yesterday. One more thing, our wings didn’t drive us forward in the first half. Rafal Boguski played a “black hole” role, each ball passed to him was lost, he posed no threat whatsoever. Jacek Krzynowek was more active, but he wasn’t effective. It was clearly visible that Krzyniu has spent the season on the bench so far. Our best chance in the first half came from Robert Lewandowski, who, after some misunderstanding between Welsh defenders, had a clear opportunity to shoot. He decided for a placed shot, which was too weak to surprise Hennessey.

The second half resembled last half an hour of the first half. We struggled to control the game, our defenders had problems with fast Welsh wingers. Roger Guerreiro picked up the role of the leader of the team; he asked for the ball all the time and tried some unconventional passes, not always with success. Ebi Smolarek and Wojciech Lobodzinski occupied the wings, but failed to improve the level of our performance there. It seems that without Kuba Blaszczykowski we can’t count on the wings to drive our offensive game forward. The Welsh were often occupying our penalty box, but they weren’t good enough to create any clear opportunities and test Artur Boruc. The game started to resemble the one against Lithuania, it started to be equally unattractive. Nevertheless, it was worth the wait to see Roger Guerreiro’s spectacular lob. Did he mean it? I think so, he’s a born Brazilian after all. It was one of the most classy goals I’ve ever seen scored by the Bialo Czerwoni. As it always is with Poles, we quickly gained confidence after scoring the goal and started playing quite well, not enabling the Welsh to hit back. The final result was not the most fair one, but it can act as a confidence booster for us nevertheless.

This was by no means a great game by the Bialo Czerwoni, not a one we expect from them against Northern Ireland. However, we must take into account the fact that some players haven’t played a competitive match since November and their form can only get better. And, hopefully, we’ll have Kuba Blaszczykowski to our disposal against the Irish.

Player notes (1-10):

Lukasz Fabianski 5: wasn’t stuck to the goal line, confident at coming out from the five meter box. No major mistakes, though he was once outrun by Bellamy.
Jakub Wawrzyniak 4: didn’t end the discussion about our left backs with this performance.
Dariusz Dudka 4: no major mistakes, but the whole defensive line was a bit shaky at times and had problems when the Welsh speeded up their game.
Michal Zewlakow 6: the most confident of our defenders, a fine performance. Often tried to play long balls towards wingers.
Marcin Wasilewski 6: aggressive as always, but this time he managed to provide a nice assist for Roger’s goal. I was afraid he’d end Aaron Ramsey’s career with his tackles.
Mariusz Lewandowski 5: not as good as in some games of the Euro qualifying campaign, but he still remains the player Leo builds our midfield line on.
Rafal Murawski 5: sometimes hides too much behind other’s backs, but when he has the ball at his feet he usually knows what to do with it. Needs the confidence he shows in Lech’s games.
Rafal Boguski 3: I may be a bit harsh, but Boguski lost the ball even in the simplest of situations. Disappointing.
Jacek Krzynowek 4: very active, but lacked the finishing touch. Had two chances to score, but once his first touch failed him and the second time he was afraid to shoot with his right foot.
Lukasz Gargula 5: dropped back very often, tried to be involved in most of our offensive plays; to little effect unfortunately.
Robert Lewandowski 5: played with his back towards the goal for most of the game. Good at keeping possession and giving the ball back to midfielders, but failed to materialize the only chance he had.
Artur Boruc 5: wasn’t given an opportunity to show off by the Welsh. In fact, we didn’t learn anything about Artie’s form.
Wojciech Lobodzinski 4: a very ambitious performance, but his crossing is in need of improvement.
Ebi Smolarek 4: as ambitious as Lobo, didn’t lose possession, but failed to run at defenders at the same time.
Roger Guerreiro 7: has become a different player in four days. Always open for a pass, wasn’t afraid to take risk, even though he wasn’t always successful in it. I higher note because of the quality of the goal.
Lukasz Tralka 5: had one goal: not to lose possession. Fulfilled his role adequately.
Pawel Brozek 5: fast, confident, good at one touch passes. Runs at defenders every time he has an opportunity to do so.

Conclusions:

- neither Boguski, nor Lobo are able to fill in for Kuba Blaszczykowski on the right wing.
- the competition for the place in our goal is still in progress.
- we have a defensive line for the game against Northern Ireland: Wawrzyniak, Zewlakow, Dudka, Wasilewski.
- only Leo can say if Adam Kokoszka has made any progress during his time in Serie B.
- Pawel Brozek is not such a dead cert for the lone striker position everybody thought him to be.
- I remain in the dark about Roger’s form. Is it that he only has motivation to play well in the more important games?
- Krzyniu and Ebi haven’t been playing regularly this season and it shows.
- this was probably nothing like the game against Northern Ireland; the Welsh don’t use long ball strategy, but try to hold on to possession for as long as possible.

Even though we showed nothing spectacular yesterday, I remain optimistic about the game against Northern Ireland. Kuba Blaszczykowski should be fit, Jacek Krzynowek will have played some full games for Hannover and the Polish Ekstraklasa will be under way. We should be in competition for the World Cup spots till Autumn.

Roger’s touch of genius

gol – gol

Extended highlights from the game here.