"I do love a locker room. It smells like potential."
- Ted Lasso
The late summer has taken the city of Warsaw to its warm embrace and it is time to start the journey for Polonia Warsaw in the II Liga. Please do if you haven´t checked the previous posts about The Story Of Polonia Warsaw. You´ll find Part I here and part II here. Początek!
We didn´t make any changes to who we were going to face in the preseason even though we tried to ask to play against Legia Warsaw but they said they were busy (=scared). The first preseason match was set up against Stal Mielec, an Ekstraklasa (highest division) team. I was surprised that we managed to gain a 3-1 victory in the first game with the new tactic. We looked relentless and created some nice chances.
The next few games were also against higher division teams, suffering a defeat against Ekstraklasa team Widzew Lodz before hammering our affiliate team Bron Radom. The lineup was coming along nicely and decision-making about the opening-day lineup was coming together.
The opening game was in away against Pogon Siedlce and it felt a lot like heartbreak to start the season with a 1-2 defeat. Home opener in the Stadion Miejski im. gen. Kazimierza Sosnkowskiego was a proud day for the Polonia Warsaw fans. The first game on the home field after the promotion and the team rose to the occasion, especially our prolific striker Michael Fidziukiewicz. An important 4-1 win against Znicz Pruszkow with Fidziukiewicz scoring two goals, lifted the spirit of the team in the locker room and brought back the trust in this team.
It felt like the team was slowly gaining momentum as we only dropped points against GKS Jastrzebie and Radunia in the late summer fixtures. After the defeat against Radunia, then the team at the top of the league table, our analytical staff provided us with some data that had us change the system a bit.
So far we had created a lot of chances and shots in games but one stat stood out. We have had 31 shots outside the box and no goals from those shots. So we triggered the work of the ball into the box and also changed the other striker's role from false nine to deep-lying forward to have him more involved in the attacking third. This changed our course of the season dramatically.
We went on a tear as the team did not lose a game until the last "fall season" game before the winter break. That calculated a ten-game streak without a loss, five clean sheets, and 22 goals scored. Maybe it was a classic trap game against last-placed Motor Lublin because in that game we posted a 2.02 xG with 20 shots, 10 on target only to get a point in a 0-0 draw. There is one special player though who seems like is playing the best season of his career so far.
Our main scorer this season has been 31-yeard old forward Michal Fidziukiewicz. I´ve only known his existence for a short period of time but I absolutely love him! So far he has 13 goals in 15 games. He only has one penalty scored. The advanced forward is the main threat in this system but I never in my wildest dreams thought that we could have this kind of sniper in our ranks.
One of our interesting summer free-agent signees was Jan Los, the real-life retired 20-year-old. He has settled into life in the capital city as the role of the false nine and now deep-lying forward, suits him nicely. He has bagged three goals and is one of the best chance creators of this team with five assists to his name already.
Even though losing the last game this fall, we sit at the top of the II Liga with the same point tally as Olimpia Elblag. Looking at our goals for the season that our board set up to at least gain a spot in the playoff promotion, we are 8 points clear of the last qualifying place. Things are looking good and to be honest, I´m surprised to sit at the top of the table.
We are the highest-scoring team in Liga II with 39 goals in 19 games, making our goals per game 2,05 which is something that I wasn´t expecting us to do. With the help of greater goal difference, we have an edge if the tie-breakers come into question. Also, interesting to see how other teams are performing. Radunia has scored 12 goals in 19 games and conceded just 7. They scored 3 goals against us
Now we head out into earned winter break. Funny that we play against Olimpia Elblag right after the winter break. The goal in the winter is to offload some players, and run some youngsters to the squad in case we are plagued with injuries in the spring. Maybe we even try to get those Legia boys to play against us! #BeatLegia
Exciting times are ahead for Polonia Warsaw. I smell potential in the locker room.
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