PZPN

It is rare for a coach to publicly admit to making a mistake with regard to utilization and treatment of their player. “Mateusz Klich tolerated the fact that I misjudged his potential. During the preparations for the season, he even played as a centre-back; he had to be very patient. Only later his rival from the midfield got injured, while he played better and better in every match,” admitted Marcelo Bielsa, Leeds United coach.

The Argentine manager is straightforward and demanding, but the fact that he brought the Polish midfielder, who after the transfer a year earlier played very little and then was temporarily loaned to the Netherlands, back to the game may be beneficial to the Poland national team. With respect to the period of changes introduced by Jerzy Brzęczek it can be said that an additional attacking midfielder with such characteristics will allow the possibilities of the national team to be expanded. If not with regard to the change of formation – the coach is to abandon the 1-4-3-1-2 formation after October's matches – then with regard to the way of carrying out attacks.

Coming back to the philosophy of Klich’s club coach, it is worth to find out what the Leeds midfielder has to say. “In the summer there were no games, it was tactics, tactics, tactics and physical training. It was a very difficult period, we ran a lot, worked out in the gym and then we worked on tactics. We were exhausted. Some teammates complained, but we respect our coach and we quickly understood what he was planning to achieve. We train harder than ever before, but we enjoy it. Everyone believes that he can help us become better players and that is why we have to listen to him,” said Klich about the first few months of cooperation.

It can be seen in the Championship table: at the beginning of November, Leeds is at the top of the table with only two defeats, while last year in the corresponding period the team had seven losses and was several points behind the leader. And Klich is one of the best players in the competitions: in the combined goals and assists chart he already has ten points – for five goals and five assists. He feels great playing dynamic football, based on possession of the ball and combination play in offence, often running into the opponent's penalty area in the second stage.

So far, the skills he presents every week in Leeds were transferred into the national team, especially during the warm-up match against Ireland, when the national team, losing 0-1, really needed it.  “We lacked a bridge between attack and midfield, a creative player. It was not an easy situation when we were losing and the impatient supporters started booing. But we did not lose our heads. What happened today is very important for our development. There was faith and calmness until the end,” emphasised the coach of the Poland national team.

Klich, who scored a goal after a great dash from the midfield and a series of short passes exchanged with Arkadiusz Milik, also emphasised how difficult it was to lead to a draw with Ireland. “The opponents were standing at the back and wouldn't let us play the ball; it was tough. We managed to draw, but there is still much room for improvement. We certainly lack teamwork; after all, some of us haven’t seen each other in a long time and haven’t played together. After ten days of work I can see a lot of positives, but keep in mind that we still need time. The coach has some new ideas, the performance of the team will look different now,” ensured Klich.

In fact, one of the new aspects was a greater emphasis on passing the ball forward from the goal and leading longer positional attacks. The October testing of the 1-4-3-1-2 formation implies how crucial the midfield area is in all this. The team now has more potential in the midfield than at the wings, although it did not affect the performance nor results in the matches against Portugal (2-3) and Italy (0-1). However, this does not have to mean the absence of Klich in the starting line-up.

"It was the first time we played in this formation; we practiced it only for a very short time, so one cannot expect everything to immediately work as smoothly as it should. The coach treats these matches as a testing ground, since, after all, we practiced something that we had never done before. It has many advantages, but there are also disadvantages. We are only just learning,” admitted the midfielder.

The biggest difference between how Klich plays in Leeds and how he plays in the national team is in pressing – very aggressive, high-pressing, typical for Bielsa’s teams, and lower and less intensive in the national team, which is typical of international football. This is expressed by the fact that in Championship the 28-year-old midfielder wins many more second balls: seven per one match on average, while over three national team matches he did not even equal this result. However, his progress is noticeable also in the national team: Klich admitted that he was not pleased with his performance in the match against Italy (1-1), where he had only made 14 passes over an hour of play. During the match against Portugal in Chorzów, he made almost three times more (40) passes over approximately the same time.

What is the next step then in creating, setting the midfield area anew? Klich defines himself as a midfielder who plays over the full length of the pitch and he will find fulfilment in this role of a #8 – and since there are players with the characteristics of a #6 (Krychowiak) and a #10 (Zieliński), it seems only natural that all this first choice trio needs is teamwork.

Michał Zachodny