Porto fans split on Kiwior at left-back to fit in Thiago Silva | OneFootball

Kiwior remained on the bench in Rio Maior and is preparing to return to the starting eleven for the match against Sporting. Signed to be an almost indispensable piece at the heart of the defense, the Polish international has been used as a left-back in recent games—a solution that addresses an immediate need but brings tactical challenges and raises doubts among the fans.

The defender arrived at Dragão surrounded by great expectations. He made his debut on September 13, after a lengthy negotiation led by Porto’s board: a loan from Arsenal until the end of the season, with a fixed purchase option of 17 million euros, which can rise to 22 million depending on objectives—a clause that can be triggered by either FC Porto or the English club. The initial plan was to form, alongside Bednarek, a long-lasting central defensive partnership.

In the 18 matches they played together this season, FC Porto scored 33 goals and conceded only eight, racking up 15 wins, one loss, and two draws, against Viktoria Plzen and Benfica. Kiwior was used as a substitute only once and stayed on the bench five times: Red Star, Utrecht, Sintrense, Vitória de Guimarães (League Cup), and, most recently, Casa Pia—precisely the match that marked the club’s first league defeat, in which Francesco Farioli rested some players ahead of the classic against Sporting at Dragão.

With the emergence of Thiago Silva—who played alongside Bednarek in FC Porto-Benfica (1-0) in the Portuguese Cup and repeated the pairing in the 1-0 win in Guimarães for the league—Farioli made changes to the defensive line. To accommodate the Brazilian, the coach relied on Kiwior’s versatility at left-back, a position the Pole also frequently occupies for his national team.

Many fans fear a repeat of a similar situation from early 2019, when Pepe returned from Besiktas. At the time, Sérgio Conceição sometimes used Militão as a right-back to accommodate the Portuguese international and Felipe in the center—a solution that ultimately worked, but left the feeling that one of the best center-backs in the league was being underutilized. There is, however, an important distinction: FC Porto already knew Militão would be leaving and prepared for the future; in March of that year, Real Madrid made a 50-million-euro offer, matching the release clause, and Militão left at the end of the season.

The truth is that Thiago Silva has been performing at a superlative level, and one below-par game (the whole team underperformed in Rio Maior) will not shake the Italian coach’s confidence in the Brazilian international. Still, heading into a decisive classic against Sporting, the way Farioli manages the defensive sector—which has conceded only six goals in the league—will be indicative of the direction of Porto’s season.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.