During major international tournaments, the focus for the biggest players in the world shifts from playing with a purchased set of players to playing with a group of players bred in the same country as you. For some, the transition is seamless, like for Gareth Bale, who is currently leading the golden boot race in the tournament with Wales after a successful season with Real Madrid. For others, like Robert Lewandowski, the adjustment from Bayern Munich to Poland has not been as fruitful.
Poland needs Robert Lewandowski to get selfish against Portugal
Robert Lewandowski and Poland take on Portugal in the first quarterfinal of Euro 2016. If the Poles are going to pull off an upset, their superstar needs to start shooting.
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Lewandowski has a reputation of being one of the most reliable strikers in the modern game. In the last year alone, Lewandowski scored 42 goals in all competitions for Bayern, having the most of his teammates by a 10-goal margin. His rapid scoring rate has been important for Poland in the past, also. In the qualifying process for Euro 2016, Lewandowski scored 13 goals in 10 games, the most of anyone during that process. Yet, at the Euros, Lewandowski has not enjoyed even a small amount of the success that is synonymous with his name.
In the 390 minutes he has played in the tournament thus far, the Poland captain has recorded only five shots, bringing his shots per game average to 1.25, which pales in comparison to the 3.9 shots per game he averaged in the Bundesliga last season. Of those shots, only two were on target. In the first two matches, he did not record a single shot. Luckily for the captain, his shot tally has only gone up since his team’s 0-0 draw with Germany, recording one against Ukraine and four against Switzerland, but he still does not have a goal to his name.
A huge part of Lewandowski’s style of play is that, though he usually scores at an amazing rate, he is not as selfish as that stat suggests. Lewandowski has a habit looking to pass the ball to teammates in better positions rather than try to create shots for himself. Though his statistics as a goalscorer have not been impressive during the tournament, he has been more reliable in providing opportunities for his teammates.
Over the four matches he's played so far at the Euros, Lewandowski has made six key passes, three of them coming in Poland's opener against Northern Ireland. During the tournament, he has gotten better at creating chances on goal for his teammates, not creating any in the first two games, but having one each against Ukraine and Switzerland. Lewandowski is facing one big problem, though: his partner for country is not as prolific as his partner for club.
Lewandowski as support to his teammates works well on a team like Bayern Munich, where Thomas Müller makes goal-scoring look easy, scoring 32 goals in all competitions last season at Bayern. At times when Müller was not firing the shots, the likes of Douglas Costa and Arturo Vidal would make up the difference. Lewandowski’s Poland equivalent, Arkadiusz Milik, though, is no Thomas Müller.
Since scoring Poland’s opening goal at this edition of the European championships, Milik’s attempts at goal have been, to put it nicely, bad. His shot taking tally has remained high throughout the tournament, as Milik has taken 13 shots in total. Yet, since the opening match, of his eight total shots, only two have been on target. The Ajax forward, in addition, has missed three big chances during the tournament.
While Lewandowski has been finding himself more useful as support to his teammates, clearly his teammates have not paid him back, as Poland have only scored three goals in the four matches played. If Poland is to be successful against Portugal in the quarterfinals, and further on in the tournament, perhaps it will benefit them if their captain learns how to become more selfish. The results are great when he is.
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