Milik the Perfect Foil for Poland's Potent Attack at Euro 2016

With Euro 2016 just days away, football fans are beginning to unveil their dark horses for the tournament. With four of the six third placed teams progressing to the last-16 stage of this summer’s European Championship, a number of the lesser known nations are presented with the chance to sneak into the knockout round of the competition. Romania, Austria and Wales are among those hoping to take full advantage of the new ruling to upset the odds in France this summer. 

As one of the more likely outsiders to threaten the latter stages, Poland will hope to make their third appearance at the competition one to remember. Adam Nawalka has a very talented group of players at his disposal ahead of Euro 2016, with his squad netting more goals (33) than any other team in the qualifying campaign. Going forward, Poland are indeed a force to be reckoned with, with much of the focus on Robert Lewandowski and understandably so. 

Lewandowski netted an astonishing 30 goals in the Bundesliga last season, in the process becoming the first player since Dieter Muller in the 1976/77 campaign to reach that mark. The Pole’s goals made him the highest-scoring foreign-born goalscorer ever in a single Bundesliga campaign. There will be a close eye kept on the 27-year-old this summer, having netted 13 goals in qualifying to equal David Healy’s record at that stage of the competition.

Problem is, if defences focus their efforts on denying Lewandowski, Ajax star Arkadiusz Milik can comfortably help to shoulder the goalscoring burden for the Bialo-czerwoni. The young frontman enjoyed a fine goalscoring campaign in the Eredivisie last season. Only Vincent Janssen (27) and Luuk de Jong (26) netted more goals than Milik (21) in the Dutch top tier as Ajax fell at the final hurdle to sacrifice the title to PSV. 

His goalscoring return was a vast improvement on the previous season (14 league goals) and saw his WhoScored rating improve from 7.14 to 7.30. Less a stand in and more the perfect foil for Lewandowski, Milik can be expected to start in support of the Bayern star this summer in a 4-4-2 formation. While utilised primarily as the focal point in attack in former manager Frank de Boer’s favoured 4-3-3 formation, he isn’t one to simply remain in one position to wait for the chances to be created. 

This works in Poland’s favour as instead of occupying the space that Lewandowski would for the national team, Milik happily pulls to the flanks or drops deeper, which benefits both his striking teammate and the team as a whole. With Lewandowski the central attacker, Milik’s movement off the ball drags defenders out of position, allowing the former more space with which to maximise his superb goalscoring ability. 

Having netted 113 goals in his last 161 Bundesliga appearances, not to mention a commendable record of 34 goals in 76 international outings, opponents need to keep Lewandowski in check, though that is easier said than done with Milik operating in the space behind the Bundesliga hitman. Given his willingness to pull to the flanks, he and Poland can wreak havoc in the opponents' final third. Playing for the national team means Milik has to tailor his game accordingly, however, as he is not considered the primary striker, but a return of 10 goals in 25 appearances for Poland suggests this isn’t a concern. 

Indeed, this will do little more than bring out Milik’s creative side. Seven assists ranked among the top 15 players in the Eredivisie last season, from 32 key passes total. With a player of Lewandowski’s quality hanging on the shoulder of the last defender, Milik should find it easy to create chances for his compatriot in Poland’s quest to hit the back of the net. 

That he is happy to drop deeper and operate across the final third means Milik is able to ghost in the opposition penalty in his own search for goals, thus offering another dynamic to Poland’s attack. An average of 3.5 shots per game - the fourth highest in the Eredivisie last season - also highlights an unwavering confidence, which is vital if Poland are to progress in the tournament. 

While Lewandowski can be expected to draw the attention of defenders, this only presents Milik with further chances to hit the back of the net and, given his fine return for Ajax last season, the young frontman can put opponents to the sword in France this summer. If Lewandowski is the focus of defences' attentions this summer, Milik may well be the main focus of the scouts at Poland's matches.