Comments on: Poland-Croatia 0:1. A Poor Game By A Poor Team. http://poland.worldcupblog.org/1/poland-croatia-01-a-poor-game-by-a-poor-team.html Poland - World Cup 2010 - South Africa Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:12:00 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: nick http://poland.worldcupblog.org/1/poland-croatia-01-a-poor-game-by-a-poor-team.html/comment-page-1#comment-69384 nick Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:59:21 +0000 http://poland.worldcupblog.org/1/poland-croatia-01-a-poor-game-by-a-poor-team.html#comment-69384 we were shit but it was the kind of game we still would've won during the qualifiers we were shit but it was the kind of game we still would’ve won during the qualifiers

]]> By: polish girl http://poland.worldcupblog.org/1/poland-croatia-01-a-poor-game-by-a-poor-team.html/comment-page-1#comment-69319 polish girl Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:54:05 +0000 http://poland.worldcupblog.org/1/poland-croatia-01-a-poor-game-by-a-poor-team.html#comment-69319 we, polish people, love our couch leo beenhakker :) and we thank him for all :) www.thxleo.pl we, polish people, love our couch leo beenhakker :) and we thank him for all :)
http://www.thxleo.pl

]]> By: j http://poland.worldcupblog.org/1/poland-croatia-01-a-poor-game-by-a-poor-team.html/comment-page-1#comment-69316 j Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:16:11 +0000 http://poland.worldcupblog.org/1/poland-croatia-01-a-poor-game-by-a-poor-team.html#comment-69316 Respectfully I think the one mistake was not integrating a number of younger players even if merely for the experience at a larger stage. Unfortunately by not doing so, you're basically assuring a completely inexperienced squad in the future. In my opinion David Janczyk is a rare breed of striker today, doesn't merely rely upon speed and has an uncanny ability to score. He needs to play a role in upcoming friendlies and I think Jarosław Fojut (in particular), Grzegorz Krychowiak and Krzysztof Król, as well as other juniors who come up through the domestic leagues need to be supported with similar roles. I might be the only person looking forward to a friendly against San Marino but I'm hopeful that they are very visible in that match. Respectfully I think the one mistake was not integrating a number of younger players even if merely for the experience at a larger stage. Unfortunately by not doing so, you’re basically assuring a completely inexperienced squad in the future. In my opinion David Janczyk is a rare breed of striker today, doesn’t merely rely upon speed and has an uncanny ability to score. He needs to play a role in upcoming friendlies and I think Jarosław Fojut (in particular), Grzegorz Krychowiak and Krzysztof Król, as well as other juniors who come up through the domestic leagues need to be supported with similar roles. I might be the only person looking forward to a friendly against San Marino but I’m hopeful that they are very visible in that match.

]]> By: Kizak http://poland.worldcupblog.org/1/poland-croatia-01-a-poor-game-by-a-poor-team.html/comment-page-1#comment-69314 Kizak Wed, 18 Jun 2008 01:49:45 +0000 http://poland.worldcupblog.org/1/poland-croatia-01-a-poor-game-by-a-poor-team.html#comment-69314 Yes Tomasz excellent if you can keep this blog alive, the best english-language Polish Soccer blog I have seen of the very few that even exist, if the url changes please let us know of the new one....thanks for your efforts. Can't wait to continue these discussions and analysis for South Africa 2010 quals, I want to go to SA2010 and I want my squad to be there! Yes Tomasz excellent if you can keep this blog alive, the best english-language Polish Soccer blog I have seen of the very few that even exist, if the url changes please let us know of the new one….thanks for your efforts. Can’t wait to continue these discussions and analysis for South Africa 2010 quals, I want to go to SA2010 and I want my squad to be there!

]]> By: Smoga http://poland.worldcupblog.org/1/poland-croatia-01-a-poor-game-by-a-poor-team.html/comment-page-1#comment-69313 Smoga Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:56:24 +0000 http://poland.worldcupblog.org/1/poland-croatia-01-a-poor-game-by-a-poor-team.html#comment-69313 Well done, Tomasz, thanks for the great work on this blog - and keep on bloggin'. And I agree with most of the comments above...it's just very hard to look ahead with hope, knowing how hopeful we were and how things have turned out the last three tournaments... Well done, Tomasz, thanks for the great work on this blog – and keep on bloggin’. And I agree with most of the comments above…it’s just very hard to look ahead with hope, knowing how hopeful we were and how things have turned out the last three tournaments…

]]> By: marcin http://poland.worldcupblog.org/1/poland-croatia-01-a-poor-game-by-a-poor-team.html/comment-page-1#comment-69312 marcin Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:53:52 +0000 http://poland.worldcupblog.org/1/poland-croatia-01-a-poor-game-by-a-poor-team.html#comment-69312 before the tournament i would have bet 100 dollars that we would be in the quarterfinals, i expected much more after watching the qualifiers...beenhakker has got to change this team up, especially the old players...and bring in the new guys...keep in mind that the polish youth team made the quarterfinals of their worldcup before the tournament i would have bet 100 dollars that we would be in the quarterfinals, i expected much more after watching the qualifiers…beenhakker has got to change this team up, especially the old players…and bring in the new guys…keep in mind that the polish youth team made the quarterfinals of their worldcup

]]> By: gregorio http://poland.worldcupblog.org/1/poland-croatia-01-a-poor-game-by-a-poor-team.html/comment-page-1#comment-69311 gregorio Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:14:48 +0000 http://poland.worldcupblog.org/1/poland-croatia-01-a-poor-game-by-a-poor-team.html#comment-69311 @tomek :) yo, big up yourself @tomek

:) yo, big up yourself

]]> By: tomasz http://poland.worldcupblog.org/1/poland-croatia-01-a-poor-game-by-a-poor-team.html/comment-page-1#comment-69301 tomasz Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:52:16 +0000 http://poland.worldcupblog.org/1/poland-croatia-01-a-poor-game-by-a-poor-team.html#comment-69301 @Pete I also sensed history repeating itself after this friendly loss to USA, which I expressed in the note about this game. However, I believed Beenhakker when he said that all he needs is more time with the players. As for Kuba, I think it was a good decision. If he wasn't prepared there was no point risking another injury. He's a young lad, we cannot play with his health. Janczyk would've gone in my opinion if it wasn't for his injury. He hasn't played more than 5 games this year if I remember correctly. I wouldn't like to believe that Zuraw faked the injury, I'm almost sure Piszczek didn't. I agree with you about our mentality. As for the U-20 squad from Canada-guys from the Polish league like Marciniak or Janoszka are not really developing. Marek had an ok season, but he must change the club for a better. Malecki will probably be loaned out from Wisla once again. Danch, who I think has the biggest potential, wasn't a regular for Gornik, but Leo has already spotted him. @Gregorio I had similar expectations to yours. I wrote before the tournament and in the team profile on this site that I don't necessarily expect the boys to advance, as we don't have players on Croatian or German level. But I expected our boys to be competitors this time. I wanted other teams really to struggle to get anything from us. At least something that Switzerland did. Leo must stay, no doubt about that. @PRS Once again we touch upon mental preparation, because I think stupid mistakes that you listed are consequences of our players mentality. Maybe it's the fact that our players don't have much chance to play in important matches during the season. If you're waiting whole year just for Euros then you might burn up. If you're competing on a high level every weekend Euro games are as normal to you as a game against Aston Villa or Everton. It's a problem that we perform only when we score first. leo tried to change that and teach lads some positional play. He was even critisized for it as "counter attack is our natural environment". As for next qualifiers, the best thing about our group is that there are a lot of, more or less, evenly matched teams. Everybody will lose points and I hope that we'll be in competition till the last round. The other point worth discussing is whether we should introduce more young players having 2012 in mind or just think about qualifying to the World Cup. @Rysiu We don't have a free kick specialist, we knew that before the tournament. What was our last direct free kick goal in a competetive game? Szymkowiak against Latvia? @j We're disappointed because we expected our team to play a bit above their abilities. Look at Austria, they don't have players even as good as ours, still they managed to outrun Croatia in the second half and us in the first half. At least they showed huge ambition and great physical preparation. Talking about future is always interesting, but this Euro was about here and now. As for Janczyk, I think he developed last year (although I only saw 2-3 games with him). It's now crucial that he plays regularly for CSKA, but first they must sell either Jo or Wagner Love. I'm not so convinced about Fojut, I like Król but I haven't seen him in a year. As far as I know, Krychowiak got a professional contract which is a good sign. At the same time, if there was huge Polish 15-16 year old talent out there we would've already heard about him. @kizak I heard that Leo didn't really wanted to play offside traps, maybe it was just badly performed pressing. I agree that we weren't able to dominate the play in none of the matches. Was it character or just lack of abilities? Probably a mixture of both. It's easy now to write about Krzynek's shots after the game, but I think we all hoped for a little present from Lehmann. I agree about Ebi and I wrote it after the first game. Zahorski is a future lone striker option but he played on wings in his last 3-4 nt games. I'd like to see him playing whole game as a st. Bak's nt career is over. On the right wing I still count on Golanski. Kowalczyk from Dinamo Moscow is also an interesting player. Maybe Leo is not a genius as we thought, but he's still a good coach. @Raz As you wrote, it all comes down to mentality. That's why this note is so bitter; I also didn't see the fire in our players' eyes. The game was a sort of punishment for them. No body language, no shouting, just sad faces of players that don't really believe. Boruc raises his game for ocassions like this, others seem to lower it. I feel a little less disappointed than after previous tournaments, maybe because we were so close to winning againsr Austria. @everyone This blog will surely continue after Euros. I can't help this but Polish nt is the love of my life in football. @Pete
I also sensed history repeating itself after this friendly loss to USA, which I expressed in the note about this game. However, I believed Beenhakker when he said that all he needs is more time with the players. As for Kuba, I think it was a good decision. If he wasn’t prepared there was no point risking another injury. He’s a young lad, we cannot play with his health. Janczyk would’ve gone in my opinion if it wasn’t for his injury. He hasn’t played more than 5 games this year if I remember correctly. I wouldn’t like to believe that Zuraw faked the injury, I’m almost sure Piszczek didn’t. I agree with you about our mentality. As for the U-20 squad from Canada-guys from the Polish league like Marciniak or Janoszka are not really developing. Marek had an ok season, but he must change the club for a better. Malecki will probably be loaned out from Wisla once again. Danch, who I think has the biggest potential, wasn’t a regular for Gornik, but Leo has already spotted him.
@Gregorio
I had similar expectations to yours. I wrote before the tournament and in the team profile on this site that I don’t necessarily expect the boys to advance, as we don’t have players on Croatian or German level. But I expected our boys to be competitors this time. I wanted other teams really to struggle to get anything from us. At least something that Switzerland did. Leo must stay, no doubt about that.
@PRS
Once again we touch upon mental preparation, because I think stupid mistakes that you listed are consequences of our players mentality. Maybe it’s the fact that our players don’t have much chance to play in important matches during the season. If you’re waiting whole year just for Euros then you might burn up. If you’re competing on a high level every weekend Euro games are as normal to you as a game against Aston Villa or Everton. It’s a problem that we perform only when we score first. leo tried to change that and teach lads some positional play. He was even critisized for it as “counter attack is our natural environment”. As for next qualifiers, the best thing about our group is that there are a lot of, more or less, evenly matched teams. Everybody will lose points and I hope that we’ll be in competition till the last round. The other point worth discussing is whether we should introduce more young players having 2012 in mind or just think about qualifying to the World Cup.
@Rysiu
We don’t have a free kick specialist, we knew that before the tournament. What was our last direct free kick goal in a competetive game? Szymkowiak against Latvia?
@j
We’re disappointed because we expected our team to play a bit above their abilities. Look at Austria, they don’t have players even as good as ours, still they managed to outrun Croatia in the second half and us in the first half. At least they showed huge ambition and great physical preparation. Talking about future is always interesting, but this Euro was about here and now. As for Janczyk, I think he developed last year (although I only saw 2-3 games with him). It’s now crucial that he plays regularly for CSKA, but first they must sell either Jo or Wagner Love. I’m not so convinced about Fojut, I like Król but I haven’t seen him in a year. As far as I know, Krychowiak got a professional contract which is a good sign. At the same time, if there was huge Polish 15-16 year old talent out there we would’ve already heard about him.
@kizak
I heard that Leo didn’t really wanted to play offside traps, maybe it was just badly performed pressing. I agree that we weren’t able to dominate the play in none of the matches. Was it character or just lack of abilities? Probably a mixture of both. It’s easy now to write about Krzynek’s shots after the game, but I think we all hoped for a little present from Lehmann. I agree about Ebi and I wrote it after the first game. Zahorski is a future lone striker option but he played on wings in his last 3-4 nt games. I’d like to see him playing whole game as a st. Bak’s nt career is over. On the right wing I still count on Golanski. Kowalczyk from Dinamo Moscow is also an interesting player. Maybe Leo is not a genius as we thought, but he’s still a good coach.
@Raz
As you wrote, it all comes down to mentality. That’s why this note is so bitter; I also didn’t see the fire in our players’ eyes. The game was a sort of punishment for them. No body language, no shouting, just sad faces of players that don’t really believe. Boruc raises his game for ocassions like this, others seem to lower it. I feel a little less disappointed than after previous tournaments, maybe because we were so close to winning againsr Austria.
@everyone
This blog will surely continue after Euros. I can’t help this but Polish nt is the love of my life in football.

]]> By: pete http://poland.worldcupblog.org/1/poland-croatia-01-a-poor-game-by-a-poor-team.html/comment-page-1#comment-69296 pete Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:17:00 +0000 http://poland.worldcupblog.org/1/poland-croatia-01-a-poor-game-by-a-poor-team.html#comment-69296 I have to agree with "j". Those future talents can be developed, they were all part of what I consider to be a successful U-20 team in Canada. I still take heart; hopefully our football future can be better. At that U-20 I keep talking about, our team made into the elimination stage, something our senior team can't seem to do. They also won against Brazil playing with 10 men for most of the match. And they pulled themselves together after a 6-1 loss (!) at the hands of the USA, and fought South Korea to a draw and qualified. I'm hoping a few of our junior players get picked up by some good Western squads and put into the regular lineup, which will help them develop. We certainly can't count on the Orange Ekstraklasa to develop serious players, it's only fodder for hooligans. I have to agree with “j”. Those future talents can be developed, they were all part of what I consider to be a successful U-20 team in Canada.

I still take heart; hopefully our football future can be better. At that U-20 I keep talking about, our team made into the elimination stage, something our senior team can’t seem to do. They also won against Brazil playing with 10 men for most of the match. And they pulled themselves together after a 6-1 loss (!) at the hands of the USA, and fought South Korea to a draw and qualified.

I’m hoping a few of our junior players get picked up by some good Western squads and put into the regular lineup, which will help them develop. We certainly can’t count on the Orange Ekstraklasa to develop serious players, it’s only fodder for hooligans.

]]> By: Raz http://poland.worldcupblog.org/1/poland-croatia-01-a-poor-game-by-a-poor-team.html/comment-page-1#comment-69295 Raz Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:11:34 +0000 http://poland.worldcupblog.org/1/poland-croatia-01-a-poor-game-by-a-poor-team.html#comment-69295 I agree with pretty much everything i read in these comments. i think my biggest disappointment was the teams mental health. i didn't expect them to be all that great technically but i do believe a teams attitude carries more weight than their ability. time and time again you see teams play above their level in sports. they're in a must win by 2 goals situation against croatia and to me, they played like they rather already be home. like the whole tournament was so cruel to them and every call went against them. i didn't see the heart, energy, passion, or love for the game. you look at the players eyes and they just look like they're not quite there. you watch the turkey czech game, down 2-0 and they have fire in their eyes. they want to win. they want to keep running and attacking. they believe. they played way above their level. i only saw a bit of that fire in polands team during the beginning of the germany game and in the 2nd half of the austria game. the croatia game just left me with a bitter taste of disgust. the majority of the team are nothing more than a bunch of perennial underachieving primadonnas. they should start paying more attention to their teammate boruc who is an example of what an athlete should be. the guy is a winner, a competitor, and a model of what our team's attitude should be in every game. maybe i'm being hard on them, but i look at boruc's body language compared to other guys on the team, and you can't even compare. this team was by far the most disappointing for me compared to the last two world cups. i'm really hoping the young generation of players can step up and have a winning attitude and confidence in themselves. as for janczyk, he wasn't on the team due to an injury right? either way, he's another guy like boruc, and luckily he's in a position that actually scores goals. i expect a lot from him in the future. i also saw the spark in zahorski, he needs to improve his game a lot but mentally, he is there. on a lighter note, tomasz, thanks for all your hard work on this blog. i really enjoyed reading your entries and am grateful i stumbled upon it. will you continue to write for this blog during the WC qualifying campaign? I agree with pretty much everything i read in these comments. i think my biggest disappointment was the teams mental health. i didn’t expect them to be all that great technically but i do believe a teams attitude carries more weight than their ability. time and time again you see teams play above their level in sports. they’re in a must win by 2 goals situation against croatia and to me, they played like they rather already be home. like the whole tournament was so cruel to them and every call went against them. i didn’t see the heart, energy, passion, or love for the game. you look at the players eyes and they just look like they’re not quite there. you watch the turkey czech game, down 2-0 and they have fire in their eyes. they want to win. they want to keep running and attacking. they believe. they played way above their level. i only saw a bit of that fire in polands team during the beginning of the germany game and in the 2nd half of the austria game. the croatia game just left me with a bitter taste of disgust. the majority of the team are nothing more than a bunch of perennial underachieving primadonnas. they should start paying more attention to their teammate boruc who is an example of what an athlete should be. the guy is a winner, a competitor, and a model of what our team’s attitude should be in every game. maybe i’m being hard on them, but i look at boruc’s body language compared to other guys on the team, and you can’t even compare.

this team was by far the most disappointing for me compared to the last two world cups. i’m really hoping the young generation of players can step up and have a winning attitude and confidence in themselves. as for janczyk, he wasn’t on the team due to an injury right? either way, he’s another guy like boruc, and luckily he’s in a position that actually scores goals. i expect a lot from him in the future. i also saw the spark in zahorski, he needs to improve his game a lot but mentally, he is there.

on a lighter note, tomasz, thanks for all your hard work on this blog. i really enjoyed reading your entries and am grateful i stumbled upon it. will you continue to write for this blog during the WC qualifying campaign?

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