Robert Lewandowski just after the Polish match with Malta stood in front of TVP Sport cameras. He wasn't stuck. First, he said that the representation is still waiting a lot of work and must improve many elements in the game, and then smoothly moved to the lack of young players at the March grouping. – Recently, I talked to the boys that we have two matches with Lithuania and Malta, so there should be at least five 18-, 19- 20-year-olds, and there is none outside Kacper Urbański- he noted.
The captain's statement can still be supplemented by the fact that Urbański did not appear on the pitch even for a minute and he spent both matches on the bench. It worries, the more that Michał Prdyk has repeatedly declared the desire to rejuvenate the staff in recent months. Meanwhile, the average age of eleven against Lithuania was 27.9 years, and against Malta – 26.4, which is the same as in the selector's debut in October 2023. The youngest Polish player from eleven to Lithuania was 24 -year -old Kamil Piątkowski, and the youngest against Malta – 22 -year -old Jakub Kamiński. They both debuted in the squad over three years ago, still for Paulo Souss.
Lewandowski can be tried to reassure that of course there are young talented players in Poland, but in March they went to the youth grouping, because the one at a camp in Turkey is preparing for the June Euro U-21. The discussion about what should be a priority in this situation is of course reasonable, but in this text we want to focus on the resources themselves – does the Territz have someone to call at all, or someone is playing so well there that he is even pushing into his team, and maybe at least someone is less obvious, but responding to the most burning needs. We checked.
We were looking primarily for the middle midfielder. The priest has already appointed them as many as eighteen
The team of Adam Majewski plays in Antalya Sparring matches – a few days ago she drew 3: 3 with Denmark and was widely praised, because the Poles played very boldly, quickly wanted to receive the ball, they did not lack the imagination in creating goal situations. After an hour they deservedly led 2: 0, everything was rummaging. But the problem of this staff throughout the entire eliminations was defensive, which is why in 85. Danes were in the lead. Ariel Mosór scored at the end of the equalizing goal.
– We wanted to play with the strongest rivals and check at what stage we were. Denmark is a team that operates the ball well, and Ukraine won all matches in the qualifying rounds. I think they will be good rivals to prepare us for opponents who are waiting for us in the group – said Adam Majewski in an interview with TVP Sport. Poland is waiting for EURO matches with Georgia, Portugal and France.
The match with Ukraine was the last before the June tournament. He was nothing like a meeting with Denmark. This time, Poles – in a completely changed composition – sprinkled the entire first half. Ukrainians led 1: 0 to the break after Bohdan Wjunnyk's goal, playing in Lechia Gdańsk on a daily basis. And because the best game of Poles was summed up by Łukasz Trałka commenting on TVP Sport, we will fully quote his statement. – I miss some takeover of the ball. Takes over this meeting and mentioning several applications. I miss Antoni Kozubal and Jakub Kałuziński, who would play the game. More often we see our offensive players who run after the ball, try to take the rivals higher and take the ball from them. But we would like to see how they have the ball, try to dribble, cross and pose a threat – said the former Polish representative.
Poland was lost deservedly, and we failed to select even one player who would be suitable for Probierz's team. Suffice it to say that Poles only fired in the 27th minute. Jakub Kałuziński did very on average, which the selector of the adult staff has already mentioned at one of the press conferences and who is widely considered one of the candidates for appointment.
We watched the middle helpers with the greatest attention, because in no other position the entrance to the national team is so low. Prdyk has already invited to the groups as many as eighteen middle helpers: Piotr Zieliński, Sebastian Szymański, Bartosz Slisz, Jakub Piotrowski, Jakub Model, Damian Szymański, Mateusz Bogusz, Patryk Dziczk Łęgowski, Mateusz Kowalczyk, Bartosz Kapustka, Kacper Kozłowski and Maxi Oyedele. So he appointed young and old. Experienced and rookies. But not much came out of it and even the last matches with Lithuania and Malta showed how big Poland has in this formation.
With Lithuania, there was a lack of peace and an idea in playing, and during the Malta match it was necessary to change the setting to more defensive – Slisz entered Bogusz. Anyway, Printer at the post -match conference simply said that Bogusz did not present in the squad what in the club. It was felt that the selector was disappointed with him. – He doesn't use his strengths, which he shows in Mexico. He fages shots there, he is active with permanent fragments. He had several losses here, we don't want it. We had a problem in the central phase in the first half – he said and it was with this thread that although he would still watch it, “maybe someone from the youth team will also jump out.” And he actually jumped out. In the second half.
Michał Prdyk should record this name for the September grouping
Shortly after the break, Mateusz Łęgowski entered the field – loan from Salernitana to the Swiss Yverdon Sport FC. Since he appeared on the pitch, the Polish national team has changed completely. The Poles responded virtually to all trains: they took the initiative, played more aggressively, stayed on the ball longer and created much more dangerous situations. The award came quickly, because in the 49th minute Szymon Włodarczyk scored a leveling goal after Kozubal jumped out for the pressing. Ten minutes of the second half have passed, and Poland already had more opportunities and dangerous shots at the goal than before the break. And it was impossible not to notice the influence of Łęgowski, who not only worked solidly in defense, but above all he guaranteed peace in playing. He knew when to accelerate the action and to give the ball to whom. He adjusted the game of the whole team. He looked very mature.
Of course, Łęgowski would not be a new figure in the squad. He made his debut in the squad in September 2022 with Czesław Michniewicz, and later he was also appointed by Fernando Santos and Michał Prdyk (in November 2023), but they did not let him into the field. The selector certainly has an eye on him and we believe that after the match with Ukraine he will add at least a few arguments for re -calling him to the adult team. Łęgowski regularly performs in the Swiss league, he collected 1600 minutes (goal and assist) this season, and in the previous season at Serie A appeared in 29 Salernitany matches (1132 min). A decent capital for a 22-year-old from Poland.
Whoever misses Grosicki should keep his fingers crossed for the Fornalczyk
Mariusz Fornalczyk also appeared in the match against Ukraine. Recently, the wing Korona Kielce is in life form – he scored goals with Stal Mielec and Puszcza Niepołomice, and added assist against Silesia Wrocław. In spring, he clearly pulls his team and has already led him out of the relegation zone to the 11th place in the table. In the youth, he shows the same advantages as on league pitches – speed, feisty, hit, and field insolence. In the goal action against Ukraine he fit it all – he took the ball from his rival, escaped from him and did not look sideways, just hit the crossbar. Way to go! Of course, it will be useful to verify its form in the long run. But a player of this type, even if you can't see the position for him with the current setting of adult staff, he will be useful in every team. Whoever still misses the energy, which Kamil Grosicki brought to the field, should keep his fingers crossed for the Fornalczyk.
Of course, it is worth observing a wider group of players from the youth team, not just Łęgowski and Fornalczyk. Antoni Kozubal, Jakub Kałuziński or Kacper Kozłowski (Printer already appointed him, but ultimately the pupil of Pogoń Szczecin has not played with him because of minor injuries). Łęgowski and Fornalczyk simply did the best against Ukraine.
And returning to the match itself – the Poles lost in it at some point, because in the 67th minute, completely against the picture of the game, Wjunnyk hit the goal again. However, the reaction of Adam Majewski's players was very good – they did not remove their legs from the gas and sought to win. In the 78th minute, the mentioned Fornalczyk leveled, and Filip Szymczak scored the winning goal in the 89th minute. The youth selector should be very happy with this sparring – the first half shows exactly what to avoid in the euro game, and the second – what to look for in it.