Poland’s media share concerning verdict on Arsenal’s Jakub Kiwior after 3-3 draw with Croatia

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Arsenal centre-back Jakub Kiwior has certainly experienced a tough six months or so for both club and country.

At the beginning of the year, Kiwior was flying for Arsenal as a left-back, the Poland international was thriving in a new role and was seemingly taking his game to the next level.

However, Kiwior was then swiftly replaced by Takehiro Tomiyasu once he was back fit – Mikel Arteta effectively ended his experiment of using the Pole in an inverted role.

Ever since, Kiwior’s opportunities as a centre-back have been limited, and that seemingly had an effect on the defender’s confidence, something that’s been noticeable for Poland.

Kiwior was slammed for his Poland performances in September, and things haven’t improved much this time around.

Poland would continue to drop Jakub Kiwior if they had better options

Kiwior was hooked at half-time in September against Scotland and then didn’t play a minute against Croatia in the second fixture of that break.

Called up again this month, Kiwior played 45 minutes off the bench against Portugal on Saturday and then started against Croatia in a 3-3 draw on Tuesday evening.

And although Kiwior was considered to be one of the better defenders in the display, that was hardly a compliment given how poor Poland were at the back.

Futbol handed Kiwior a 4.5/10, saying Poland were ‘doomed’ to start the Arsenal man because of their lack of alternatives.

“The best among defenders – this is how his performance can be described. In our opinion he was a bit better than Bednarek, but not better than Kaminski.

“However, let’s still remember that the national team has no alternative to replace him and is doomed to his services.

“However, this does not change the reality – Kiwior once again passed the match, but he certainly played better than against Scotland.”

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TVP Sport reached a similar conclusion after scoring Kiwior 4/10: “In theory, he won all the duels with his rivals, but at the same time his defensive positioning was sometimes flawed. 

“He also tried to participate in introducing the ball into play. He had fewer losses than Bednarek and passed the ball the most accurately out of the entire defensive block.

“In the second half, he also created a threat from a set piece. However, he was still part of the defence that conceded three goals too easily.”

Jakub Kiwior needs to leave Arsenal in search of regular minutes

So whilst it wasn’t the worst night from Kiwior in an individual sense, it’s concerning to hear that Poland are actively looking for an alternative to the Arsenal defender.

Previously, Poland were considered lucky to have the 24-year-old at their disposal for the next 10 years or so, a defender with so much potential.

But a step backwards in north London has seemingly really affected Kiwior’s position with his national team.

That’s not to say that the defender can’t recover his role, but it’s easy to conclude that Kiwior should look to leave Arsenal as soon as possible.