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Play The Polish Euro Squad Lotto.

April 9th, 2008 | By: tomasz | 11 Comments »

Did I mention before that I was a Championship Manager as well as Football Manager addict? Yes, my name is Tomasz and I was a Championship Manager addict. Oh, those sleepless nights in front of the monitor; I’ll play only one more game, I promise. Then I met a girl, decided to write an M.A., picked up a job and suddenly I don’t have as much time on my hands as I used to.

However, the managerial instinct still lies somewhere within me. I love to analyze the squads, players’ positions and the different options that they give to the team. I’m curious if particular players fit mentally to the team. I wonder if they’re good enough for the first squad or if their destination is to be a constant backup player. I try to judge their potential and future abilities (and I’m usually proven wrong after some years; I was a sucker to believe Burkhardt’s going to ba a classy playmaker). Now, why am I boring you with all this? It’s because I want to propose a little game on PWCB for all the involved in the Polish national team. As we all know Leo Beenhakker is scheduled to present a list of thirty players for the Euros next week. Imagine you’re a sixty six (hmmm) year old Dutchman who coached the likes of Real Madrid, Ajax and the Dutch national team. Which thirty would you choose? Whose dreams would you shatter? Whose career would you speed up? How would you shock the press?

I’ll visit Leo’s mind first. Here’s my shot at the chosen thirty:

Goalies: Boruc, Kusczak, Fabianski, Kowalewski

Defenders: Bak, Radomski, Jop, Zewlakow, Wasilewski, Bronowicki, Kokoszka, Golanski, Wawrzyniak, Kus

Midfielders: Dudka, Lewandowski, Blaszczykowski, Lobodzinski, Krzynowek, Gargula, Murawski, Majewski, Pazdan, Golinski, Grosicki

Attackers: Zurawski, Smolarek, Matusiak, Zahorski, Janczyk

If Roger is eligible he’ll be there instead of Golinski. As you can see a lot of players are the dead certs for the Euro Champs and it was easy to choose them. However, the further you go the more doubts you have. I couldn’t decide between Kus and Lisowski. We don’t have many proper left backs and that would be a chance for the Widzew player. However, Zewlakow can cover every position in the defense and, in my opinion, Wawrzyniak will be picked ahead of Lisowski as the left back backup (and he can play as a DC, DR and DMC; Leo loves versatile players). Kus is there as he can play both as a centre defender and on the right flank. I think he’ll rival Kokoszka for the place in the ultimate Euro squad.
As for midfielders, it was fairly easy. I picked Golinski, even though I don’t think he’s good enough and he’s the first to be replaced by Roger (provided he receives our citizenship). His only chance is that we lack left footed central midfielders (and here comes Roger). I think Grosicki is an interesting option, he did very well in both games he played under Leo. I feel that he’s a sort of player that can change the course of the game, just like Odonkor did for the Germans in the last World Cup. Zienczuk and Kosowski are too old and not convincing enough in the national team to be included.
The strikers; I feel that Leo’s words that some players blew their chances of going to the Euro were aimed at Brozek and Piszczek. Therefore, I’m not including them in my lotto ticket. I also don’t feel that Leo has much respect for Wichniarek and it doesn’t seem like König Artur will have to bother spending his summer holidays in Austria. Rasiak and Saganowski play so horribly that their inclusion in the squad would be comparable only to Pawel Sibik’s trip to Korea in 2002.

These are the choices of Tomasz Beenhakker. Anyone wants to compete?

Tags: Beenhakker, Brozek, Euro Squad, Golinski, Grosicki, Group A, Kosowski, Kus, Lisowski, Piszczek, Poland, rasiak, Roger, Saganowski, Wawrzyniak, Wichniarek, Zewlakow, Zienczuk

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Comments

By M. Zurawski | April 9th, 2008 at 10:13 pm

I’ll have to think this over while not working at work tomorrow.

By tomasz | April 10th, 2008 at 11:09 am

Take your time M. Zurawski, every excuse is good to stop working and this is a great one. Meanwhile, Przeglad Sportowy came up with their version based on ‘reliable sources’(http://www.sports.pl/pilka_nozna/artykul.asp?Artykul=25711). I accept the challenge.

Posted from Poland

By deyna199 | April 11th, 2008 at 1:18 am

i dunno, i think the list of 30 is useless if he just names a similar 30 to the one he called up last time…you know the previous extended squad he called up?

after the usa game he said certain players will not cut it and make it to euro. if he calls up these same 30 players what is the point right?

the only name that wasnt there was obviously roger, but he was disappointed with more than one player in the starting 11.

By tomasz | April 11th, 2008 at 1:52 am

I don’t think he’ll name entirely the same 30 as against the USA. On the other hand, we don’t have 50 international level players to choose from so it’ll have to be much similar. I think it’s a good idea because the players will know that Leo counts on them and will be motivated to work hard in the clubs. Remember Janas with his surprise callups last time? Players like Giza, Gancarczyk or Gorawski were not ready, both mentally and physically, for the tournament. Now the players will have more time to deal with such perspective. Moreover, it’ll end, to large extent, the speculation in the press.

Posted from Poland

By deyna199 | April 11th, 2008 at 2:46 am

it depends on the 30 called up. if theres going to be a few new faces, then you are right, lets prep them mentally. Roger, maybe Grosicki?

but if its a really similar 30 than its useless because he is just going to lower it to 25 in May, and then finally down to 23. I would just wait until May and call up 25. Especially if he is stringing along players he already feels will not cut it. he’s said that twice now, so just dump them and move on.

anyways, no point arguing that. the funny this is at times we dont look like we have 15 international level players, lol. but that isnt funny….on a more positive note Kuba is suppose to be back in action this weekend against Bayern. also, i enjoyed reading one of your past blogs about Poland needing a football superstar. and i echo the same sentiment. however, even though i love of our proud goalkeeper tradition we need an outfield world class player really badly. someone like boniek, although i believe if lubanski, deyna, szarmach, lato, etc could of left in the same fashion they probably would of been just as recognizable. remember deyna was sent a number 10 shirt from real madrid to come play for them post 74

I cannot wait for us to have a player at that level. I remember reading the Dutch nt coaches comments on Kuty needing to improve to get into their 23 man squad….im like if Poland had even one player at a club like that starting he would be insanely popular, 100s of compilations on youtube. maybe it will happen over the next few years? I think it will be one of our more talented technical youngsters in a program abroad probably…Janota? possibly Kobylanksi’s son who the Germans really wanted? But I mean the Polish league has produced some great technical players before as well, Citko for instance….we’ll see, anyone will do though.

By deyna199 | April 11th, 2008 at 2:48 am

kuyt* not kuty.

By tomasz | April 11th, 2008 at 1:07 pm

Just one more positive aspect about the chosen 30: if players like Kokoszka, Grosicki, Majewski or Pazdan will be in that thirty and not in the final squad it’d still give them huge boost and make them work hard in the months to come.
Kuba’s return to form is crucial for us. We are strong as a team, but every team needs individuals that can change the course of the game with one move. I think that Kuba is capable of making something from nothing (the other one would be Krzyniu and his powerful shot). Moreover, if fitness doesn’t fail him he can even end up in a major European team. I don’t see any other Polish player of such potential. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Janota, it’s great that he’s learning his trade in the same place as Ebi. I don’t know about Kobylanski’s son, can you write something about him? Hopefully he’s much better than his father.
I’m glad you mentioned Citko. Remember citkomania? A goal at Wembley and two CL goals were enough to spark a national frenzy. It just shows the potential of Poland’s affection for the game. Once we’ve got an international star there will be organised trips to watch him, like Nakata in Serie A. I’m not so sure about Polish league’s ability to develope individual talent. We all now how it all ended with Citko. Zurawski also admits that he left Poland too late. Kosowski’s raw first touch is good enough for our league but abroad he just loses the ball under close pressing. I want our players to leave as early as possible.

Posted from Poland

By deyna199 | April 11th, 2008 at 3:35 pm

on the 30 man squad and the youngsters you mention, i concede that thats a good point.

with respect to Kuba and as crucial as he has been for the nt, he still needs to improve lots at his club. on average he was playing well in about 1 out of every 4 games there. this is no joke as i watch lots of the bvb games. he still needs time to adapt to the game their to be crucial week in and week out. in some games he looked poor losing balls and trying one too many moves, poor crosses at times….. i think he has all the skill to be successful there, he just needs more experience in what he can and cannot do. like for instance trying to go around too many guys that he could easily get away with in Poland. experience is the big key, but i think he needs to be a successful player their first before any talk of him going to a european powerhouse. so far he has not been as good for his club as he has been for the nt. but the potential is definitely there like i said.

Its nice you know about Janota, there is a good site called http://www.pilkarskietalenty.com that tracks Polish football talents and scouts foreign born Poles abroad, it has a forum too….theres a shit load of Polish talent in top european leagues like you like (Germany, france, Holland, England, Scotland, Spain, Italy). check it out if you have time, there are some nice interviews with Janczyk and other notable youngsters. They also try to help PZPN get youngster born abroad to play for Poland, like Adrian Cieslewicz, a youngster who plays for Man City….

Andrzej Kobylanski has a son named Martin, he is like 13 i believe now. According to the Germans he is a very special youngster that got a special contract at age 12 that is seldom given out to youngsters, if ever. at 12 years old they wanted him for the German u14 team to prepare for the u15 team the following year, which would be now. the kid chose to play for us. scroll down and you will see his picture and a short write up http://www.fussballtalente.net/newseng.html

he made the news there i believe. other notables are guys like Zakrzewski who plays for bvb u19, he had a contract offer from real madrid. but i think he had a lot more esteem than the 3 youngsters we have at real right now (Krol, Glik, Matuszek (sp))

we’ll see what happens, personally i think the best program to go through is Holland, if you are really successful in that league you go to a top team…..like Snejder, Kuyt, and now Huntelaar. I believe we have several youngsters in the eredivisie system. (Janota, Wojciechowski, Pacuszka, Wilusz, etc..).

most of the youngsters abroad obviously wont make it, just by looking at probabilites….but even if a handful do, that would be unbelievable for us over the coming years. Boniek always advises youngsters to go abroad if they get an offer.

with respect to Polish clubs developing these guys its obviously a huge drop off. if there is a Polish youngster with ability i dont think they can develop them into class senior footballers. thats classically (last 20 years) been our problem, look at the 2001 u18 team that won the uefa championship….the best players from that are lobo and golanski….they arent terrible or something, but youd figure out of a crop like that Holland could of produced at least one player with much more individual skill. if you are to come through Poland’s system you pretty much have to be an alien of sorts and do it on your own, you know what i mean? like Citko had a lot of skill, his career just went down the shitter after that injury. i think he had the skill to do something abroad. but again, that ability is much more rare coming through the Polish system. In foreign leagues, even with small populations like Holland, they can produce world class players every generation. we cannot even produce 1. that song “go west” comes to mind. ideally i would love for Poland to be able to produce these players themselves. Even Russia can produce European players, the technical ability of their league is good, and the class foreigners they bring in has raised the bar of their own players. nowadays for a Polish football its good to go west or east, lol.

later man. (Citkomania, shit i was in Poland for a bit of that. the guy’s story is sad for me though — could of been so much more)

By tomasz | April 12th, 2008 at 8:17 am

As for Kuba, you’re probably right. I base my judgement on what he’s shown in the nt so far and in Wisla’s last year uefa cup campaign. He was just so above the rest in those games. I only watch extended highlights of bvb’s games so I can’t say anything about his regularity. He has this tendency to dribble too much but I prefer it to not dribbling at all. There was a big hype about him before the season as he played great in the friendlies, maybe he haven’t lived up to those expectations so far. But if it’s only a problem of experience I’m sure he’ll finally succeed. Just look at Ronaldo’s career at United
The pilkarskietalenty site is great. I think that with the emergence of internet it’s the fans that really keep track of all those talented players. If PZPN can’t do it then it’s our responsibility to think about the future of our football. I read the article about Jutkiewicz there and it’s alarming that the officials are doing nothing to help him, the guys at the site seem more interested. As you’ve written, there are lots of young guys playing abroad. I looked through our youth squads and there are already a number of players from outside Poland. If Kobylanski plays for us that’s a big success. Was it because of PZPN’s intervention or his father convinced him to choose the Bialo-Czerwoni? Holland is the best option for young players and they know it. I read a piece about Janota and he had offers from better clubs than Feyenoord but he was just attracted by the Dutch system and the opportunity to develop the technical skills. A wise choice as far as I’m concerned.
Yeah, I don’t believe in Polish clubs developing individual talent, at least not for know. Sooner or later the clubs will come up with youth systems, not as much for the greater good of the Polish football as for economical reasons. I remember the Globisz’s team from Finland. Remember who was considered most talented of the bunch? Grzelak and Madej. Both didn’t develop as well as they could, maybe because of spending too much time in Poland. It’s also hard to judge players’ potential at young age. I once watched the future golden Globisz team in Gdansk playing against England. In this game mila and dariusz zawadzki! impressed me most. Mila had a chance for a nice career but a mentality of a 5 year old didn’t help him achieve that. Anybody heard about Zawadzki afterwards? Citko was really talented, it’s a shame he didn’t receive an offer from a more players’ friendly league like Spain, Portugal or Holland. I’m not sure he was suited for England. Unfortunately, we can only speculate now.

Posted from Poland

By deyna199 | April 12th, 2008 at 2:58 pm

as far as Kobylanski goes, I think it was a bit of both, his dad and PZPN. His dad was quoted as saying that he was happy that both federations wanted him so bad, but the decision was his. I think he is a similar case to Smolarek, since his dad played….but I guess Klose’s dad played for Poland as well. no point rehashing that though.

PZPN has some of their own scouts, but they are really limited by their funding….and sometimes their drive can be questioned. the guy that owns the site, Tomek, has lots of connections to PZPN and knows lots of youth players and coaches. He is more or less loosely affiliated with them but has done more than his fair share of establishing contact between players abroad and PZPN. He does it all for free as well, really good guy. The positive news is that the scouting section of PZPN that looks for player abroad has recently finally gotten funding to pay for calls they make and trips to see players i believe. this is a huge step for us, although federations like the Turkish have had established scouting in Germany for sometime.

i think the EU will have a postive effect on our nt, but it will not be quick. better than nothing though….

By deyna199 | April 12th, 2008 at 3:00 pm

it was Martin’s decision to play for Poland. i dont think i made that clear after i re-read my post. PZPN contacted him, and his dad. His old man was happy with his decision, although i dont think he would of been mad if he chose Germany. and either would i really, i have no problem with guys like Klose and Podolski, as they represent “Polonia” and not Poland

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