Poland-FC Schaffhausen 1:0. Full Review.

After expressing my first thoughts and a general feeling after the game against FC Schaffhausen the time has come to review the game in more detail. There’s no point in making some foregone conclusions, but at the same time the game gave some material for analysis.

Some data from the game (with notes from Przeglad Sportowy):
Poland - FC Schaffhausen 1:0 (0:0): Krzynowek (74.). Poland: Fabianski 5 (70. Szczesny) - Wasilewski 6 (61. Wawrzyniak 4), Jop 5 (46. Zewlakow 5), Kokoszka 4 (61. Bak 5), Golanski 5 (69. Blaszczykowski 4) - Majewski 4(61. Lobodzinski 4), Pazdan 4 (46. Dudka 3), Murawski 4 (69. Krzynowek 5), Gargula 6 (46. Zahorski 4) - Saganowski 2 (46. Zurawski 5), Matusiak 2 (46. Roger 6).

Here are extended highlights from the game:

And only a goal for those who don’t have the patience:

And here are my own thoughts about how particular players performed:
Lukasz Fabianski: confident performance. Often acted as a last defender, not scared to rush forward. Saved 2-3 shots comfortably.
Marcin Wasilewski: one of the best players on the field. As always he looks physically powerful. Constitutes a physical presence in opponents’ penalty box, made two dangerous headers after Gargula’s free kicks. Not scared to run forward. Has problems with the last pass or cross.
Jakub Wawrzyniak: looked lively but didn’t have enough time to impress Leo. May be our first choice DL if Bronowicki doesn’t make it.
Mariusz Jop: it shows that he’s a regular at FC Moscow, confident performance.
Michal Zewlakow: played as a DC and it seems that this is a position he’ll cover during the Euros. Says that he’s too old to play a DL.
Adam Kokoszka: it still remains a mystery if he can make it on an international scene, wasn’t tested by the Swiss. Had to foul Schaffhausen’s attacker after Dudka’s back pass. Normally it would result in a red card.
Jacek Bak: the defence wasn’t as confdent as it should be after Bak’s coming on the field. Considered a starting DC along with Zewlakow.
Pawel Golanski: tried as a DL but didn’t look convincing there. Played ten minutes as a DR after Wasyl’s departure and put in 1-2 good crosses. Looks in form.
Jakub Blaszczykowski: tried as an offensive DR. Looked lively but had to leave the field with a minor injury. Will probably rest a couple of days.
Radoslaw Majewski: couldn’t perform the role of playmaker as Leo tested him on the right wing. Looked far from comfortbale there. Too nervous; will have to deliver in the remaining friendlies.
Wojciech Lobodzinski: lacks the confidence he had half a year ago. A couple of unsuccesful dribbles.
Michal Pazdan: too chaotic, lacked good positioning. Proper when passing the ball to the wings, loses his head when has to play forward.
Dariusz Dudka: a scary performance. After injury Dudka by no means looks prepared for the Euros. One horrible back pass and a lot of problems with first touch. Bad positioning as well. Hard work ahead.
Rafal Murawski: a surprising below average performance from Muras. Given a chance to shine as a MC in the first half but couldn’t use it. A couple of good passes in the second half.
Jacek Krzynowek: scored a trademark goal. Ambitious as always. Says that he feels a lot better than two years ago and it shows.
Lukasz Gargula: used his chance well. Even though he played as a ML he was the closest to control the game in our team. Very dangerous with free kicks and corners. Gargula-Majewski 1:0.
Tomasz Zahorski: played as a left winger but without much success. Had a decent chance but took too much time on the ball. I would like to see him as a striker.
Marek Saganowski: very poor. No shot on goal, no dribble, no keeping the ball.
Maciej Zurawski: played as a lone striker which probably won’t be his position during the Euros. Still managed to pose more threat than Sagan and Radomatu put together.
Radoslaw Matusiak: looked just as hopeless as in his last games for Wisla. Lacks acceleration, lost his confidence on the ball.
Roger: showed signs of what he’s capable of and of what qualities he can bring to the team. Played as an AMC, performed some good surprising passes, tried to speed up the game. Some unecessary tricks.

General conclusions:
- Roger will play as an attacking midfielder in the national team
- we don’t have a left back. Bronowicki is still to recover from injury, Zewlakow will play as a central defender and Wawrzyniak is not experienced enough
- Golanski is not a left back
- Majewski is not a right midfielder
- Dudka is not a good player. No wait, he’s still to recover from an injury. But he must do it fast because yesterday’s performance was horrible.
- it may not be a matter of who’s going to be better from Saganowski-Matusiak pair but who’s going to be less shit
- we need Smolarek as a lone striker
- Gargula’s form is on the rise
- we’ve got two well prepared right backs in Wasyl and Golanski
- Blasczykowski will play in the Euros with ‘Kuba’ on his back, just like in Bundesliga

Today the Bialo Czerwoni are taking a break from training and will visit a Porsche factory with a view to chill out. Ebi Smolarek and Artur Boruc joined the team yesterday so we have full, 26 men squad in training. Leo said that we’ll see a different team in monday and tuesday’s friendlies. I think that after those games we’ll see, more or less, who’s ready for an Euro challenge.