There was a time when Scottish football conjured up images of artistry, of neat triangles of passing, the “pattern-weaving” approach. Not any longer. A century ago, Hungarian football was obsessed by trying to emulate the Rangers tourists of 1905; this past week has featured a series of Polish condemnations of Scotland’s supposed clogging. The message has been so consistent, it feels there must be policy behind it, a string of not especially subtle nudges to the referee, Viktor Kassai.
The player Poland are most concerned to protect, not surprisingly, is Robert Lewandowski, who has scored 12 goals in his last four games for Bayern. With 10 goals, two more than his Bayern team-mate Thomas Müller, he is also the leading scorer in Euro 2016 qualifying.
“I expect the Scots will play very aggressively and not necessarily in accordance with the rules either,” says Lewandowski. “We have to give as good as we get. We cannot be frightened of them. We are playing away, but it is important we keep hold of the ball and win possession.” Kassai, whose performance in Manchester United’s recent Champions League victory over Wolfsburg seemed needlessly fussy, looks likely to be busy again.
There is a certain irony in Lewandowski’s burst of form. In an era in which the out-and-out striker has become marginalised, he is a throwback. There were times at Dortmund when he dropped deep, and he works across the front line in a manner reminiscent of Ian Rush, but essentially his virtues are those that have always characterised a No9: he holds the ball up well, his chest control is good, he finds space, he’s decent in the air and he has a powerful and accurate shot. And yet this most traditional of strikers is prospering under Pep Guardiola, the most avant-garde of managers.
His five goals in nine minutes having come of the bench against Wolfsburg, transforming a game in which Bayern were 1-0 down, were as eloquent a warning to Guardiola as could have been issued: don’t overcomplicate things. Put the ball in front of Lewandowski and, this season’s stats show, he will score one in three times, roughly three times better than the global average. “When I joined up with the national team, at first I received lot of congratulations from colleagues,” Lewandowski says.
“But my last goals don’t matter any more. We know what our aim is in Glasgow. We are so close. Of course, I have enjoyed my form in recent weeks, but on the other hand I did not think about it too much. There is this most important weekend ahead of us and I do hope we will finish our job.”
A win over Scotland would secure Poland’s first qualification for a major tournament since Euro 2008 (as opposed to being in the finals as hosts as they were in 2012), so long as the Republic of Ireland don’t beat Germany.
Blackburn’s Grant Hanley, who is likely to have to mark Lewandowski, is taking an admirably positive attitude to a task that has defeated Dante, Stefan Bell, Jeremy Taravel and Mats Hummels over the past fortnight. “I will try to enjoy it and relish it,” he said. “That’s why you play football, you want to test yourself against the best.”
This will be Lewandowski’s first game in Glasgow, although things wouldn’t have needed to work out too differently for him to have made his home in the city. Six years ago, Celtic considered buying him from Lech Poznan, after a season in which he scored 20 goals in 48 games in all competitions, but were put off by the £1.3m fee and decided to spend £3m on Marc-Antoine Fortuné instead. Legia Warsaw also decided not to buy his that summer so, despite Lech’s financial worries as they rebuilt their stadium for the Euros, Lewandowski stayed for a further season, scored another 21 goals and then went to Dortmund the next season.
There is no doubting now that Lewandowski is the star of this Polish side, not only the best player but the captain – and that is something that has provoked tension. Lewandowski was a team-mate of Jakub Blaszczykowski at Dortmund but relations between the two have become increasingly strained over the past couple of years Blaszczykowski, who is almost three years the elder, was the national captain but when Lewandowski took the armband for a World Cup qualifier against San Marino he missed through injury, the forward was reluctant to give it back. As the bad blood between the two became evident the coach, Adam Nawalka, left the winger out of the side.
Blaszczykowski’s recent form for Fiorentina, where he has been on loan from Dortmund, has been such that Nawalka had felt compelled to recall him – even though Blaszczykowski’s autobiography has only deepened the rift with Lewandowski – and the former laid on a goal for the latter in the 4-0 win over Georgia in June.
That might not have signalled reconciliation, but it at least showed that they can still play together. Unless things go badly wrong in the next week, they should be playing together in France next year.
