Finland vs Poland preview: Captaincy fallout dominates, but there is still a match taking place

Image via @LaczyNasPilka on Twitter

How best to preview a football match where nobody is actually talking about the game, rather the more interesting peripheral drama? 

It does seem that in recent years the Polish national team has had plenty of drama to capture the attention. Some of it sporting, yes, but mostly it’s been off the pitch and practically none of it good.

This latest instalment is perhaps the most unresolvable yet, and certainly the most comical. You really do have to laugh at some of the quotes coming out of the stories surrounding this captaincy debacle, both from the mouths of Michał Probierz and Robert Lewandowski as well as key lines in the multitude of reports circulating today. 

If it really is the case that Lewandowski offered an olive branch of peace, that the captaincy change could be announced as his idea, then Probierz is even more boneheaded than we already thought. There is clearly a personal slight which has helped make Probierz’s decision, even if he keeps going on about this change being for the good of the team.

Most amusing of the reported personal slight was that Lewandowski seized upon an opportunity to play a joke on Probierz’s declaration that we should enjoy the “little things” by playing the Sylwia Grzeszczak song of the same name on the team bus. This was apparently the start of the issues between the now ex-captain and the Selekcjoner.

I mean, this is just the most comical possible way that the greatest player in Poland’s history is forced out of the national side, because he played a pop song from 14 years ago on the team bus as a light joke on Probierz.

Even better was the fact that this was reported with such initial glee and then sincerity that we were treated to the sight of Mateusz Borek reciting the lyrics, on camera and reading from his phone, underneath an umbrella in Helsinki. This is apparently related to an upcoming football match, if we’d forgotten.

Easily forgiven you would be for forgetting, as the pre-match press conference was devoted almost entirely to Probierz and new captain Piotr Zieliński (who will incidentally not play against Finland due to injury) trying to deflect every single question about this totally avoidable controversy by saying it was for the good of the team.

I am seriously concerned if the players or Probierz genuinely believe this will make Poland a better side going forward. They may enjoy themselves more and feel more united as a group, but if they don’t play any better it’s all for nothing. 

Also, where is Cezary Kulesza in all of this? He has said that as Selekcjoner Probierz has absolute authority, but if the PZPN’s President had any sense about him he would’ve tried to head this situation off at the pass or at the very least try and mediate now.

Quite frankly I’m amazed Lewandowski has managed to go the entire tenure of Kulesza’s reign without resorted to such a rash decision as he did on Sunday night. You’d have to have the patience of a saint to endure the last three to four years of PZPN-related cock-ups without going completely insane, and that’s just from a fan perspective, never mind as captain of the national team. 

We also shouldn’t forget that Lewandowski was not just any captain of the national team. He has not been the most amazing of captains, I think we can all agree on that point, but he has played at a far higher level for a lot longer than any of the players he has shared the pitch with in a Poland shirt. As many others have pointed out, we will be lucky to see Poland have another talent like Lewandowski realise their potential to the same degree at any point before the next 30-50 years.

I’m still absolutely furious with Probierz and Zieliński’s press conference. Probierz could not find any reasoning behind causing a huge scandal prior to an important qualifying match other than blindly repeating it was for “the good of the team” over and over like he was leading a cult, and Zieliński was sat there like a rabbit in the headlights, waiting for someone to feed him his next line, before giving up completely and just sitting there with an almost catatonic look on his face.

For the record, I think Probierz did some very good work with Poland up to and including the Euros last summer, but since then there has been a slide so far backwards that we’re practically at the point we were at when he took over. Zieliński is a wonderful player and easily Poland’s most talented behind Lewandowski, but historically he has not been the most expressive in front of a microphone or camera.

It’s not about advocating for Lewandowski’s needs above the rest of the squad, patting him on the head and telling him how great he is, but you don’t take an action like this in such a cold manner which practically guarantees such a situation and especially not to a player of such calibre.

I think on Sunday night opinion was mostly split on whether this was ultimately a good or bad decision by Probierz, and it seemed very clear by the end of Monday that this was a catastrophic decision whichever way you cut it.

Again, in case you’d forgotten, Poland are in Helsinki to play Finland in a World Cup qualifying match. To be honest though, it’s almost certainly not about that at this point. Unless there is a dominating, complete performance from Poland I genuinely think this situation will reach such a head that it will be almost impossible for Kulesza not to make a real decision on the matter. Regardless, I’d be surprised if Probierz is still Selekcjoner at Christmas.

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