Robert Lewandowski took part in the conference of the Polish national team before the next qualifying matches of the 2022 World Cup.
At the next training camp, the Poles will face Andorra (November 12) and Hungary (November 15) at home.
On structural changes in Polish football (answer to a question from Michał Białoński from Interia):
– When it comes to training … If in 40 million countries we do not have a choice of players for every position, it is simply this one [szkolenia – przyp.] there are not. There is nothing to cheat … We cannot talk about training from the perspective of something future-proof, or something that works well. Because it is not so. If it functioned well, we would probably be somewhere else. There is much room for improvement here. It’s not that if we change two or three small elements, everything will change. If the training has not been going for years in some system, with some thought, and you do not see large effects and I am not talking about the effects – let’s call it – side effects, from time to time – where this training idea introduces two or three players to the team every year, also youth teams and you can see the football quality above all, then we could talk about the training. Unfortunately, this is not visible. I have spoken about training many times and for many years. That sentence hasn’t changed all the time, because I don’t see the training change enough for me to say: Oh, I see a light in the tunnel. There is a lot to change and hard work to do in this respect.
About the match with Andorra:
– I did not think about a pause in the match against Andorra. The fact that I recently got injured was a coincidence. Artificial turf may not be something I dream about. Such matches also happen, you have to prepare. It is known that Andorra will try to play well in defense. We have to practice the positional attack and make sure Andorra doesn’t counter us.
O Matty’m Cashu:
– Each case is different. He has a great desire to be here, show his skills and help the representation. Each of us knows why he comes here. It’s an honor. If he has felt it from the first training camp, he knows what we are talking and thinking about. It is the internal will to represent Poland that will give him additional power.
– I can adapt to the player I play with, knowing how he plays.
About Kamil Grabarz:
– I only exchanged two or three sentences with him. The goalkeepers are always in a different zone of the pitch during training. He was playing with me today, so I didn’t get to shoot him. I did not expect it to be so tall, here it shocked me. You can see that it has the conditions, potential, and in the long run I will be able to say more. You can see that he is calm, quiet, he will still have time to open up. From what I’ve heard about him, he has confidence. This is what every goalkeeper should have along with using his skills on the pitch.
About Hungary:
– The Hungarians have their problems, the qualifying rounds are not in their way. On the other hand, they did great at the European Championships, competing with top teams. They are still a good team, players who can surprise you at any moment. This will be the last match of the qualifying round at home, it would be nice to finish it with a nice result.
About his form and the Golden Ball:
– In terms of form, I have had a lot of matches recently. Having a break for a few days, you can relax a bit and catch some freshness. We are entering a period where we play every three days, and travel matters too. In the context of three or four weeks, it is sometimes worth a bit of a break. These two days of rest give you a lot of time to regenerate and prepare for the next game.
– As for the Golden Ball, I stopped thinking about it. It wouldn’t help me to speculate what my chances were. I prefer to focus on what is most important at the moment. Probably on the day of the gala there will be time to think about it, start thinking about it. It’s the beginning of November, still some time. It makes no sense to think about it, there is still some work to do.
About a tight schedule:
– Don’t cheat yourself. Each of us would like to watch matches every day. But we are human, not everyone can play matches every three days at this level. It’s hard to do. If there are more matches, there will be more injuries, and the players’ mentality will not be so high either. Playing every three days and expecting us to be at the highest level in every game, plus travel … It will become harder and harder to stay at the highest level without being injured and mentally prepared.
– The issue of finance is about to come up, that if someone earns a lot, he has to play often. But in the long run, money won’t change anything. The muscles will not regenerate on their own. Young generations will have a harder time.
On Bayern Munich and the Sousa-style similarities:
– In Bayern, it has not been easy for me to find a place on the pitch recently, because we play with six offensive players and the opposing team defends itself with 8-9 players. Even when I get the ball, I have no place. It’s not an easy thing for a striker. There were matches when I hardly had the ball for the first 20 minutes. I had to step back hard. Bayern looks great on paper, we create situations, but it’s not that everything is easy. It’s also hard for me, sometimes you need more peace. We understand that it’s hard to play against us.
– In the national team I have long stopped thinking like: What would it be in Bayern? You can’t treat it the same. There are completely different tactical assumptions, the rank of the meetings is different. The players from the clubs are other players in the national team. I try to get the most out of what I have, I don’t compare what ball I could get in Bayern and what in the national team. They are two different teams. I try to help the representation and only mutual help can bring benefits.
