Image via @ClubBrugge on Twitter
This week saw some decent Polish performances in European competitions. We saw Robert Lewandowski rolling back the years as an unselfish focal point as Barcelona beat Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday and Jakub Kiwior had an okay game against a potent Bayern Munich on Tuesday. However, I’d like to talk about a different Polish player who started a European tie this week, who has been flying firmly under the radar and why that simply should not be the case at this point.
My eyebrows were firmly raised last year when I saw that Michał Skóraś was joining Club Brugge, and for a relatively small transfer fee. I didn’t think that the next step in the former Lech winger’s development would be what could perhaps be viewed as a move sidewards rather than upwards. I thought that a tougher league like the top flight in Italy or Spain would’ve been a more typical and attractive move, and given the multitude of options that Club Brugge had (and still have) on the wings I struggled to see how he would play regularly.
Indeed there is an argument that Skóraś hasn’t started enough games this season, and this was very true, but only up until recently. In the past month or so, Skóraś has quickly become an important player for a Brugge side fighting both in the league and in Europe. He started last night as his side beat PAOK Salonika in the Conference League, and indeed in the last round of said competition he scored against Molde. Last weekend Skóraś provided two assists in a 3-1 victory over Anderlecht, but Skóraś’ season is one where statistics do not tell the full story.
If we look beyond the stat sheet, you can see that Skóraś is in the side over more experienced and more reputable options. Club Brugge have Andreas Skov Olsen, who is similar in age but has a far greater proven reputation, journeyman Philip Zinckernagel and the very promising Antonio Nusa who has been drawing transfer interest from the Premier League for some considerable time now. Skóraś is starting over them all of late, and okay Olsen has been nursing an injury, but nonetheless the other options have been fit and starting alongside Skóraś rather than instead of him in recent weeks.
Those pesky statistics, which will show you that in 36 appearances for Brugge this season Skóraś has a relatively low return of two goals and eight assists, do not tell the whole story even slightly. For one, Skóraś has only started in 12 of those, and secondly he has been adapting to a new country and league.
Going back to that point I raised earlier about Brugge being a “sideways” transfer away from the Ekstraklasa, I’m not sure whether I was slightly myopic in that way of thinking. The Belgian Pro League is not a giant step up but it is a step up nonetheless, it’s often fun to watch and has a competitive “split” format which usually ensures an entertaining end to the season. Also, I don’t know Skóraś’ living situation but I have personal experience of the city of Bruges and it is a lovely place to spend time, a view reinforced to outsiders by Martin McDonagh’s film In Bruges which really helps to illustrate how beautiful much of the town’s historical architecture is. Anyway, I’m not Barry Norman and you’re here to read about football, not film.
Skóraś’ performances of late should cause Selekcjoner Michał Probierz a positive headache, given the dearth of Polish wingers around Europe it would seem. Based on the last international break nobody is shifting Nicola Zalewski or Przemysław Frankowski from starting Poland’s first game at Euro 2024 this summer, but Skóraś should really be in the squad if he keeps up his current level of play until the season’s end.
In my opinion it really is a shame that we’re not reading more about Skóraś lately given how well he has been impacting his club’s fortunes, especially when you consider how much in the last Poland squad there was a lack of traditional wing options, not that it proved particularly costly in the end. After last season many expected Skóraś to firmly be in the national team, at least as a rotational option off the bench in some games or whatever, and that is yet to really come to fruition. I’d like to think that after these recent weeks more of us will sit up and take notice of Skóraś and his adventures in Belgium, and what that can mean for filling out Poland’s squad with quality options for this summer’s tournament.
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