From the fifth division to champions-elect: The Polish fairytale of Raków Częstochowa – scout report

The story of Raków Częstochowa is one of lamentable lows and euphoric heights. In 1994, the minnows reached the top flight of Polish football, battling it out with the best in the country for a period of four years.

Unfortunately, a horrific period of three years saw the club plunge down to the fifth division. It looked as though a return to the top of the pyramid was nothing more than a dreary dream that fell outside the realm of possibility. But in football, nothing is impossible.

In 2016, whilst floating around the third tier, the board made the greatest decision in the clubs history and appointed Marek Papszun to the dugout at the Miejski Stadion Piłkarski. Three years later, promotion back to the Ekstraklasa was complete. Raków were back.

Fast forward another two years to 2021, and the club lifted the first major trophy in its history, beating Arka Gdynia on penalties to win the Polish Cup. Raków also finished second that season in the league, the clubs highest-ever finish, qualifying them for the UEFA Europa conference league in its inaugural campaign.

Now, as of 2023, Raków are top of the Ekstraklasa, nine points clear of last season’s champions Legia Warszawa and are on course to win the league for the first time ever. From the fifth division to the best club in Poland, fairytales do happen. Nothing is outside the realm of possibility.

This tactical analysis piece will be a team scout report of Raków this season. It will be an analysis of Papszun’s tactics which have turned the Medaliki into champions-elect.

Preferred formations and statistical overview

Without even analysing any in-game footage, and merely looking at the data at hand from the pizza chart provided below, Raków’s style of play is very telling.

The head coach is clearly very keen for his players to be solid in the defensive phase, hence why Raków are the best team in the Ekstraklasa for xG against and xG against per shot.

The league leaders also press very high up the pitch which is why they rank quite low on Passes allowed Per Defensive Action (PPDA), which is a good thing, don’t worry! The lower the PPDA, the less a team allows their opponents to have possession of the ball. And they are really successful when they do press high, sitting comfortably in the 95^th percentile.

What the