Holland vs Poland preview: what to expect from Jan Urban’s first match as Selekcjoner

Image via @LaczyNasPilka on Twitter

Tonight in Rotterdam, Poland face what looks likely to be their toughest test during these World Cup qualifiers as Jan Urban makes his debut in charge of the national team against the Netherlands.

The last time Poland faced the Dutch at De Kuip was in the summer of 2022 during Nations League action, where a Robert Lewandowski-less Biało-Czerwoni managed to earn a 2-2 draw.

A similar result would be more than welcome this time around, given the current tumult and very cautious optimism that feels a required feature whenever a new Selekcjoner has the first internationals to face.

It’s worth reminding everyone of that circus that was the June international break, which amongst other things featured a farewell to Kamil Grosicki, the stripping of the captaincy from Lewandowski, a limp loss to Finland and the resignation of Michał Probierz. We now enter September’s international matches with Grosicki fully reintegrated having reversed his decision to retire from Poland duty, and Lewandowski back as captain. So really, we’re back where we were, just with a new coach and a loss to Finland to show for it.

If Poland could stop shooting themselves in the foot for five minutes, maybe we can have a positive look at what we can expect tonight after what we sadly saw last time the national team took to the pitch. Urban has many times over said that he doesn’t want to make radical changes early or for the sake of it, but there is his own stamp on this squad. 

How different the starting line-up will look is anyone’s guess, although below is the starting eleven I’m predicting for this evening.

I believe that Urban will look first and foremost to experience, and not to make drastic changes to either the personnel or formation. I’m also of the opinion that he’ll have one eye on the Finland game, hence my belief that it’s unlikely we’ll see Lewandowski from the start tonight.

Live coverage of this evening’s clash will be done by myself over on Twitter, and there will be a post-match report on this website also following the final whistle.

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