Romania vs Poland preview: expected line-up, injury problems and more
Poland take on Romania tonight in Bucharest as they seek to earn a second Nations League victory in what is already the penultimate game of their campaign.
We know that Poland will be without Przemysław Frankowski, who despite suffering a muscle injury had been called up anyway. In his place, we have Arkadiusz Pyrka, who replaced him on Thursday afternoon.
There has been a lot of consternation that it is Pyrka and not Michał Gurgul, although for once I think Jan Urban has probably got it right here. Yes, Frankowski had been playing left back in the last international break, but he’s primarily there as cover for Matty Cash on the right hand side. Pyrka fits this role, and I think Oskar Kubiak and Tymoteusz Puchacz offer enough in that position that another left back would just leave things more unbalanced.
Speaking of balance, it’ll be interesting to see exactly how the game is approached by Urban. He said in the press conference yesterday that he expects an open game given the need for both teams to earn a victory, so there is the possibility he goes more defensive with his options, especially in the midfield.
Without further ado, the latest reported team for this evening is thus:
There’s so much to dissect here, if this is indeed the team we see later today. Piotr Zieliński is thought to have a minor injury picked up whilst still at his club, and supposedly he may not even be fit for the game against Sweden. Marcel Reguła had been suffering from a cold but looks set to start, which is a nice verification of his domestic form. It’ll be a big test for Bartosz Mazurek to replace Zieliński, but we’ve seen Mazurek rise to big occasions several times already in his young career, so I’ve few qualms about that despite how huge an issue it is to be without Zieliński.
With Sławomir Abramowicz, Urban has probably picked the option I would have, in terms of having three goalkeepers who are all fairly equal in terms of their current quality and form. There is the argument that individually, Mateusz Kochalski is probably the best choice here, but if we believe Urban’s talk about “building for the future” then it is hard to argue he is not putting it into practice.
The same statement rings true by starting Kubiak on the left side of the defence. I think it makes a lot of sense to give him an outing here, but given the issues people had around Puchacz defensively I don’t think Kubiak will necessarily be able to deliver more in that particular department. Nevertheless I think he can put in a strong performance here and make a case for himself to start again Tuesday.
The rest of the team picks itself really. I’m excited to see Kacper Potulski step in for the suspended Jan Bednarek, and otherwise it’s the best possible team that Urban could choose. I expect to see Adrian Benedyczak and Karol Świderski off the bench, and I don’t think it’s hard to decipher which one people would be more keen to see get a chance during the second half.
Despite the injury problems and the dour acceptance that Poland aren’t realistically going to be making a success of this Nations League campaign barring minor miracles, there has been a level of tranquility and calmness compared to usual around this particular international break. Of course, there has been the brazen attempt to stir up controversy around a few moments of Bartosz Mazurek playing an accordion, but considering the most outspoken proponent of this was a man who is alleged to have drunkenly thrown a television at someone during a training camp, I don’t think we can take it seriously at all.
I have to say I’m a bit surprised that from the outset, there has been talk from journalists and pundits about backing Jan Urban during this time. Considering the last international break had almost everyone saying that he should be dismissed, it’s like they’ve looked around at who is available and thought “never mind”. I don’t advocate for Urban’s sacking, although it still seems quite likely to me and I really would be a bit surprised to see him taking charge of Poland next springtime when the Euro qualifiers get underway.
This is not to say I don’t want him to remain in his post, I just don’t understand the sudden about turn from those in the media. I like this set of call-ups more than the last and if he gets a tune out of this squad in these two games, then maybe we can “reassess” as I’ve seen pundits put it. Regardless, anything other than four points from these games will just add fuel to the fire I expect. It’s an achievable target, although it’ll have to be a lot better than anything else we’ve seen from Poland in the last six months for that to happen.
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