Best Polish Players According To Przeglad Sportowy.

Przeglad Sportowy (Polish daily devoted solely to sport) presented yesterday their list of best Polish players, divided by position. I think it manages to illustrate which position needs strengthening most in the national team and which players deserve a call up from Leo in the near future. Have a look and give your own opinion.

Goalkeepers:

1 Artur Boruc (Celtic Glasgow)
2 Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal)
3 Tomasz Kuszczak (ManUtd)
4 Lukasz Zaluska (Dudee Utd)
5 Jerzy Dudek (Real Madrid)

Right backs:

1 Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht)
2 Grzegorz Wojtkowiak (Lech Poznan)
3 Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bucharest)
4 Marcin Kowalczyk (Dynamo Moscow)
5 Jakub Rzezniczak (Legia Warsaw)

Left backs:

1 Jakub Wawrzyniak (Legia Warsaw)
2 Piotr Brozek (Wisla Krakow)
3 Seweryn Gancarczyk (Metalist Kharkiv)
4 Grzegorz Bronowicki (Red Star Belgrade)
5 Marcin Komorowski (Polonia Bytom)

Centre backs:

1 Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos Pireus)
2 Dariusz Dudka (Auxerre)
3 Tomasz Jodlowiec (Polonia Warsaw)
4 Jacek Bak (Austria Vienna)
5 Arkadiusz Glowacki (Wisla Krakow)

Right wingers:

1 Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund)
2 Slawomir Peszko (Lech Poznan)
3 Lukasz Piszczek (Hertha Berlin)
4 Szymon Pawlowski (Zaglebie Lubin)
5 Wojciech Lobodzinski (Wisla Krakow)

Left wingers:

1 Jacek Krzynowek (Wolfsburg)
2 Ebi Smolarek (Bolton)
3 Jakub Wilk (Lech Poznan)
4 Janusz Gancarczyk (Slask Wrocław)
5 Jaroslaw Lato (Polonia Warsaw)

Central midfielders:

1 Rafal Murawski (Lech Poznan)
2 Lukasz Gargula (GKS Belchatow)
3 Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk)
4 Roger Guerreiro (Legia Warsaw)
5 Maciej Iwanski (Legia Warsaw)

Strikers:

1 Pawel Brozek (Wisla Krakow)
2 Artur Wichniarek (Arminia Bielefeld)
3 Robert Lewandowski (Lech Poznan)
4 Rafal Boguski (Wisla Krakow)
5 Ireneusz Jelen (Auxerre)

My conclusions:

- what the hell is Dudek doing on the list? He only plays in the King’s Cup in Spain; a competition where Real is regularly eliminated in the first round. I think Sebastian Przyrowski is a better keeper at the moment; he’s regarded as the best Polish goalie in the Ekstraklasa.

- the list shows that we’ve got at least four able right backs to choose from. The problem is that all of them are rather average and there’s no player on this position that rises above the others, adds extra quality. There is no player that would significantly enhance the performance of the national team.

- the choice is horrible as far as the left back position is concerned. Wawrzyniak plays in the Bialo Czerwoni starting lineup for lack of a better option. I don’t say that Piotr Brozek or Seweryn Gancarczyk would prove better, but I think it’s high time those players get a proper chance in a serious match, at least an official friendly where the top players are involved. There was much discussion whether Piotr Brozek has what it takes to play on an European level; I think he proved in the games against Barcelona and Tottenham that he does. It’s harder to comment on Gancarczyk though; I don’t think there’s anyone in Poland who watches the Ukrainian league regularly.

- as I wrote in the last note, the situation with centre backs is getting better and better. I hope that both Adam Kokoszka and Piotr Polczak will replace Jacek Bak and Arkadiusz Glowacki on the next year’s list.

- Kuba Blaszczykowski is a clear leader as far as the right wing position is concerned. Both Slawomir Peszko and Lukasz Piszczek emerged this year as his possible backups. The former played well in Lech’s Uefa Cup campaign, whereas the latter had managed to establish a strong position at Hertha before he got injured. Wojciech Lobodzinski, a sure 2nd position last year, is one of the biggest losers of 2008.

- we don’t have a proper left winger; the two best players are regular bench warmers. The remaining three players (Wilk, J.Gancarczyk, Lato) can hardly be considered as an alternative for either Ebi or Krzyniu. Wilk played ok in the Uefa Cup, but definitely wasn’t one of Lech’s leading players. Both J.Gancarczyk and Lato have only Ekstraklasa experience under their belt. Can you think of any other candidates?

- we shouldn’t have problems with central midfielders in the upcoming year. We’ve got plenty options to choose from, especially when we consider the fact that Radoslaw Majewski and Tomasz Bandrowski didn’t make the list and Dariusz Dudka was treated as a defender. Most of Polish journalists see Maciej Iwanski in the national team; he’s a very good player, but I can’t imagine who he would replace (Roger?, Gargula? Majewski?). Leo said lately that Iwanski doesn’t keep up with the tempo of the modern game. It’s hard to judge since he wasn’t given a serious chance by the coach. How do you rate the Legia player?

- we don’t have an international class striker, but we’ve got players that have the potential to become ones. This is going to be a year where Pawel Brozek should prove that he’s far more than a local star and Robert Lewandowski should prove that all the praise he claimed lately wasn’t accidental. Artur Wichniarek remains our most prolific striker abroad and the best Polish player outside the national team (I’m not saying he’d necessarily strengthen it). I’m a bit surprised by Jelen’s position on the list; he spent most of the year injured. Who else would you see there?

Are there any players that deserve more respect from the journalists or does this list accurately present the current state of Polish football? Give me your opinions.

Other news: Michal Zewlakow is considering leaving Olympiakos Pireus at the end of the season as his contract comes to an end in half a year’s time. Zewlak is having truble with regular play lately and wasn’t offered a contract extension by the Greek officials.

Robert Lewandowski was named as world’s 32nd rising football star by Times. I wonder how many times did they see him play.

Bartosz Bialkowski is leaving Southampton after receiving an offer from, what he calls, a “stronger Championship team”. It’s about time.

Tomasz Jodlowiec’s manager, Radoslaw Osuch, confirms that the Polonia defender will move to Napoli in the summer. Best things come to those who wait?

In all propability, Sebastian Przyrowski will remain Polonia Warsaw’s player till the summer transfer window. Tottenham won’t sell Gomes in the current transfer window and, as a result, may refrain from offering a contract to Przyrowski.

The Bialo Czerwoni will play in Nike kits in the upcoming friendly against Wales. However, those won’t be the jerseys that are going to be used in the qualifying games. We’ll have to wait for the new designs a bit longer.