Europes Hidden Gems – Ekstraklasa Edition: Bartosz Bida

Playstyle:

Bida, as we’ve already discussed, is a rather tall and powerful forward, and nothing exemplifies this more than his initial placement as a central defender based on these attributes predominantly. As we’ve also discussed, Bida is a fan of taking on players one on one, one of the many traits that earned him a move further up the pitch.

Despite the relatively low tally of goals for a player in his position, Bida joined the ranks of the Ekstraklasa with a bang, scoring on his debut against top flight side Arka Gdynia, showing his fans and manager at the time just what he is capable of.

In addition to being fleet footed, Bida has a very good sense of positioning for a player his age. Bida doesn’t always have to rely on his ability to dribble past players because he has a knack for ending up in spaces on the pitch that are bereft of opposition players in the first place. In the event that he does receive the ball while being surrounded by defenders, he has the strength to shrug the opposition off and carry on charging towards goal, making him a handful for any defender he faces.

While Bida’s main role on the pitch is to score goals, he offers so much more on the pitch which makes him a well-rounded, valuable player. One of those attributes are his ability to link up with teammates and pick out a pass.

When he was still playing at junior level, Bida wasn’t a fan of passing to his teammates, which of course is very common in strikers, even often lauded as one of the main attributes that makes a successful striker in the first place. That being said, since joining the top-flight of Polish football, his mentality has seemingly changed.

Taking into account the game against Lechia Gdańsk at the beginning of the 2019/2020 season this past September as an example, with just 45 minutes on the pitch, Bida accumulated 2 key passes and  4 out of 5 successful one vs one duels while playing on the wing, which showed both his versatility and creative ability. His adaptability will be a trait that serves him well in his career, without a doubt.