Bronowicki Gone, Who Should Be Our Left Back? A Poll.

May 30th, 2008 | by: tomasz | Comments(4)

Grzegorz Bronowicki occupied the left back position throughout most of our qualifying campaign. Unfortunately, even though ‘he worked like a horse’ (expression used by Leo) he didn’t manage to recover in time from injury and wasn’t called up to our Euro squad. The question arises who is going to replace him?

A left back position was always a huge problem for our national team coaches. First of all, we don’t have enough left footed players and the right footed ones don’t work to imrove their left foot. Secondly, up until 2000 not a lot of Polish teams played in 4-4-2 formations, hence players weren’t trained to play as wing backs. All this often resulted in right footed players playing on the left side (Zewlakow, Bronowicki). Now, just days before a big tournament we’re once again faced with a ‘left back’ problem. For the time being, I think there are three candidates in the squad to occupy this position:

Jakub Wawrzyniak (Legia Warsaw):
Pros: the only genuine left back in the squad and a left footed player. Quite dynamic. Can cross the ball. A Hard working player. Leo triggered his career when he called him up in late 2006 as an anonymous player and he still believes in his abilities. Good game against Serbia in the qualifiers.
Cons: lacks experience on an international level. He isn’t always a regular at his current club: Legia Warsaw. Sometimes forgets to come back after a forward run. Not a technical genius, may lose possesion under pressure.

Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos Pireus):
Pros: an experienced player; played as a left back numerous times for the national team. Handles pressure well. Had a great season at Olympiakos where he established himself as one of the most stable performers.
Cons: he’s a central defender now. Making him a left back would mean destroying Bak-Zewlakow partnership in the centre of our defence. Says that he’s too old and slow to play as a left back, a position that requires horse-like stamina.

Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bucharest):
Pros: had a great second part of the season in Romania and was praised by the local press. Looked really fresh and dynamic in the friendlies. As Marcin Wasilewski is our starting right back it would be a shame to leave Golanski’s potential on the bench (especially that he’s technically better than Wasyl but he doesn’t have his gladiator-like physique).
Cons: he’s a right footed player and always played as a right back in the national team. Wouldn’t be able to cross the ball well properly, wouldn’t be able to play ‘down the line’. To put it simple he lacks a left back experience.

Give me your opinion.