Barcelona superstar criticised over display for national team – ‘Began to wonder if he was even on the pitch’

Polish football legend Grzegorz Lato heavily criticized Barcelona superstar Robert Lewandowski on Polsat Sport TV channel (h/t Mundo Deportivo) following Poland’s 1-0 defeat to Croatia in a Nations League match.

Lato, an Olympic medalist and top scorer in the 1974 World Cup with Poland, expressed disappointment in Lewandowski’s performance as well as his leadership of the national team.

What did Lato say?

Following Poland’s 1-0 defeat to Croatia in the UEFA Nations League, a game during which Lewandowski played the entire 90 minutes despite having picked up a knock in the previous match, Lato was very critical of his leadership.

The Polish legend suggested that as team leader, Lewandowski should lead by example especially when things were not going his team’s way, saying:

“The leader of the team should lead by example. If the game is going badly, he should even stand up at some point and shout at his teammates, using harsh words.”

Lato contrasted Lewandowski’s performance with that of Nicola Zalewski, praising the latter for his effort and commitment during the Croatia match.

“I like Zalewski a lot. Even in the match against Croatia he fought and ran as hard as he could, something I can’t say about other players. Including the best ones. It’s not enough to point fingers and tell them to play here or there,” he said.

“After 20 minutes of the match, I even began to wonder whether Robert Lewandowski was even on the pitch,” he added.

This is not the first time Lato has been critical of Lewandowski. Previously, he criticized the Barcelona striker for excessive hand gestures during a match and questioned his suitability for taking penalties.

Lewandowski was on target for Poland against Scotland last week but failed to make a mark against Croatia.

Set to return to training at Barcelona on Thursday, the veteran will be hoping to continue his strong start to the season, having already netted four goals in four games.