Despite their defeat against Argentina (0-2), Poland validated their ticket for the round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup. They will thus face this Sunday (4 p.m.) the Blues of Didier Deschamps during this round. But what is this Poland really worth? She showed many faces in her first three matches.
First against Mexico, the White Eagles did not offer much, the goal being clearly to bring a draw to stay alive. Thus, they even obtained a penalty by Lewandowski. A small miracle as the offensive performance was non-existent. Penalty missed by the FC Barcelona striker.
Two very different animations
During the second match, against Saudi Arabia, change of system. Make way for 4-4-2 to bring a little more danger. After a first period where they opened the scoring through Piotr Zielinski against the run of play and where Wojciech Szczesny saved a penalty, they broke free a bit. Milik hitting the crossbar and Lewandowski opening his counter in the World Cup (2-0).
First in the group before facing Argentina, the Poles presented themselves in a 4-4-1-1, the second line of four being almost glued to the first. They suffered, but Argentina were patient and ended up breaking the lock early in the second half (2-0). Thanks to goal difference, Lewandowski and his friends qualified.
A defense that holds up
But it remains to be seen how they will act against the Blues. They probably won’t come in a 4-4-2, nor the 3-5-2 that got them into the competition, but probably like against the Albiceleste, trying to reduce the spaces between the lines and posting two compact lines in front of their doorman.
In goal, they probably have the best goalkeeper in the competition and the defense, which evolves very low, is half-experienced (Glik, 34), half-promising (Kiwior, 22), but who concede a lot of shots ( 50 in three games). Matty Cash, on the right side, is doing a lot of work, but doubt remains about the presence on the left of Bereszynski, touched since the start of the competition and released during the match against Angel Di Maria and his partners.
Poland aim for penalties
The midfield should suffer since Poland have players who could be described as laborious like Kychowiak or Bielik, who suffered against the Argentinian midfield. Piotr Zielinski remains a master asset in construction, but without the ball, it’s complicated to feed Swiderski, number 10 or Robert Lewandowski. The ball possession of the team is also on average 33% at the start of this competition and the attack scored only two goals with nineteen shots attempted, only five of which were on target.
It will therefore be necessary for the Blues to be patient, like Argentina, and to know how to vary the game options. We will also have to see how the defensive flanks respond to the power and technical finesse of Mbappé and Dembélé. Long shots will also become a weapon, we think in particular of midfielders (Rabiot, Griezmann or Tchouameni). But with an ultra-tight defensive base, the players of Czeslaw Michniewicz will defend their skin dearly and will try to go as far as penalties, an area in which Wojciech Szczesny excels. The Tricolors are warned.
