Oh Robert. Where art thou? The man who I labelled the Polish Nuke, and was the very reason why I thought Poland could be dark horses, for some reason has left his Bayern abilities back in Munich. The dude just hasn't come to play and it's pissing me off, because I know how amazing he can be. We all do.
It took a bit of thinking for me to figure out how one of the hottest strikers in the world had not yet scored a goal yet, but Giroud had. This is a man who scored four goals in the blink of an eye against Wolfsburg, and a striker who can hit you with both feet, his head and from almost any range or angle. So it was a conundrum as to why he was unable to net against Northern Ireland, Switzerland or Ukraine.
The reason why, I believe, is he's trying to do too much. He's not putting enough trust in his comrades. Maybe he's taking the captain's responsibility a bit too literally. The selfish single-minded Lewandowski we saw in the qualifying group stage has been replaced with the kinder, gentler and more giving one. This is bad news for Poland, because they need the former version if they are to beat Portugal.
Robert, my good friend, it's important that you listen to me; you need to be that cold-blooded striker that we know you can be. Trust in Milik, Krychowiak and others to do their bit to give you the service you need. Focus on getting in the box, making runs and demanding the ball in order to rip open that net in flames and smoke. Poland need their superstar striker to play as one, rather than deferring and being too much of a team player.
This is why I'm such a fan of his teammate, Robben. What I love about the Dutch sniper is he has only one thing on his mind, and that is to create space for himself to shoot. All he wants to do is score, and hates himself when he has to pass the ball. The greed and selfishness is what makes him one of the best footballers in the world and a treat to watch. Which is why these Euros have lost a lot by not having him take names in this edition.
Lewandowski needs to be that guy. He has to wake up because it gets real now. If he does not play to his full potential, then they will not beat a Portuguese side who are already drawing up plans and arming themselves with the necessary weapons to not allow him to breathe or pass gas. He needs to be prepared for that and unleash himself, by having that shoot on sight philosophy.
Time to wake up! Or get knocked out....HH
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