Left out from the Poland national team since 2014, Mateusz Klich made his grand return to international football on Friday in a 1-1 Nations League draw against Italy.
The 28-year-old, who has quickly become a key player for Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds, played 56 minutes of the game, and while the team appeared to be performing well, his manager had a few choice words for him at half-time.
Speaking to Przeglad Sportowy, Jerzy Brzęczek explained why he decided to chastise a number of his players, even though they were 1-0 up at that point.
He said: “Sometimes, you just have to. At certain points, we were losing the ball too easily. It doesn’t matter who it is. This time it was Reca, Klich and Krychowiak. Each of them made a serious mistake in the middle of the pitch. If the opponents had played better, the consequences would be greater.”
So it seems the Leeds man was saved by Italy’s own inability to put the ball in the back of the net, and it’ll be interesting to see if the midfielder retains his spot for the next competitive game against Portugal in October.
Between now and then, there’s a friendly against Ireland this week, and he’ll be hoping to continue his good form in front of the Elland Road faithful, having already scored three goals in six Championship games this season, as well as picking up an assist.
