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Poland
Poland Out Of European Club Competition.
Comments(42)In the times when Debrecen and Apoel Nicosia reach the group stage of the Champions League Poland has no clubs left in the European competition as early as August. Lech Poznan was eliminated yesterday from the European League by FC Brugge on penalties. The Bialo Czerwoni becomes the only team that represents us in international competition.
Lech were very lucky to escape with a 1-0 victory in the first leg, but wasn’t as lucky yesterday. They had a goal disallowed (50/50 situation if you ask me) and lost on penalties. Overall, Brugge had more quality in their side, they were tactically dominant and deserved to go through. Lech didn’t recall the team they were last season; yes, they were extremely ambitious and played with their hearts, but were unable to dominate the opponent and restricted themselves to counter attacks. Kolejorz lost a chance to to become an established team in Europe; next year they’ll also have to defeat a quality/superior side in order to reach the group stage. Can anything good come from this game? Yes and its name is Seweryn Gancarczyk. In my opinion the Lech left back proved in the games against Brugge that he can easily manage on a European level. His experience was easily visible in comparison to other Lech players; he didn’t lose his composure and played well under pressure not giving away possession cheaply. Robert Lewandowski on the other hand was far from his best. He didn’t materialize a one on one situation he had in the second half and couldn’t deal with Brugge defenders’ pressure throughout most of the game. In this kind of form I can’t see him leading our attack in the World Cup qualifiers.
Other news: A lot of interesting things happened during my absence on the blog (I was away for a few days to visit my family in Lubin). First of all, Roger Guerreiro finally left Legia Warsaw (a year too late) and will now bedazzle (or irritate) AEK Athens fans. It was a move that had to happen sooner or later; Roger was left out of the squad by Legia coach Jan Urban as the board didn’t want to pay him appearance fees. Fortunately, he was able to find himself a new club and a new challenge at the same time. I hope that Greece will revitalize Roger and we’ll see him in the form we remember from Euro 2008. At the same time I have no idea if AEK really wanted him badly or is it just a bargain buy on their side (Roger’s contract was to expire in December). Let’s hope for the former.
Grzegorz Rasiak won’t partner Marek Saganowski in League One football (resembling war in Sagan’s opinion) as he moves to Reading who play in Championship. Rasinho is an experienced player on this level and I’m sure he’ll give me an opportunity to post a few goals in the Squad Watch highlights.
Radoslaw Matusiak returned to the Polish Ekstraklasa to play for his favourite coach (and the only one that was able to get anything out of him) Orest Lenczyk at Cracovia. He already impressed in his first game against Lech where he was the best player on the field. That may be Radomatu’s last chance to turn his career around.
Unfortunately, the Polish transfer hit failed to get finalised this week. Pawel Brozek was really close to signing for Fulham; their scouts talked to him at the weekend and negotiated the terms with Wisla. Even Maciej Skorza admitted that in all probability he would have to look for a new striker (Dawid Janczyk was the main candidate). All in all, it’s unclear why the move didn’t happen after all, maybe Roy Hodgson was scared to spend 2.5 M on a player from the Ekstraklasa. Now if Broziu was to move this summer the Eastern direction remains the most probable.
Radoslaw Majewski is doing better than I expected at Nottingham Forest. He scored his first and winning goal in the League Cup tie against Middlesbrough.
Michal Janota scored a beautiful goal from a free kick, his third of the season
Remember Kamil Kosowski? He was to spend his retirement on Cyprus. Apparently, it’s going to include some Champions League football.
Finally, Leo Beenhakker announced the final squad for the qualifiers against Northern Ireland. Seweryn Gancarczyk is the only new player and the only one that can shake up the established squad a bit. Pawel Golanski returns to the team after a long absence to compete with Marcin Wasilewski for the right back position.
Goalkeepers: Artur Boruc (Celtic Glasgow), Lukasz Zaluska (Celtic Glasgow), Sebastian Przyrowski (Polonia Warsaw)
Defenders: Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht Brussels), Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos Pireus), Tomasz Jodlowiec (Polonia Warsaw), Dariusz Dudka (AJ Auxerre), Bartosz Bosacki (Lech Poznan), Jacek Krzynowek (Hannover 96), Marcin Komorowski (Legia Warsaw), Seweryn Gancarczyk (Lech Poznan), Paweł Golanski (Steaua Bucharest)
Midfielders: Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk), Lukasz Tralka (Polonia Warsaw), Rafal Murawski (Rubin Kazan), Roger Guerreiro (AEK Athens), Ludovic Obraniak (OSC Lille), Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund), Wojciech Lobodzinski (Wisla Krakow), Jakub Wilk (Lech Poznan)
Attackers: Robert Lewandowski (Lech Poznan), Marek Saganowski (FC Southampton) Pawel Brozek (Wisla Krakow), Euzebiusz Smolarek (?)
Backups: Wojciech Szczesny (Arsenal London), Jakub Rzezniczak (Legia Warsaw), Piotr Polczak (Cracovia), Tomasz Bandrowski (Lech Poznan), Grzegorz Krychowiak (Girondins Bordeaux), Lukasz Sosin (Anorthosis Famagusta), Slawomir Peszko (Lech Poznan)
PS: Thanks for keeping the blog alive in the comments section.
Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 42 comments.
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Wow! Majewski was rated 8.8 today by Skysport:http://www.skysports.com/football/match_report/0,19764,11065_3149378,00.html
Well done Maja!great goal!!!i have to admit ,i thought move to champinship will be a mistake but he is doing well.Its just start of new season but so far so good.No old mates,brown noses and without lingo helped him to focus on football,becouse he definetly have got talent but he is not mature enough and sometimes does stupid things out side football ground. I hope in england they will teach him professional aproach to his work.He is just 22 and maybe next 2-3 we will have a quality player in the middle.good luck maja.
Posted from 
United Kingdom
Boruc,Kuba,Obraniak,Jelen,M.Lewandowski,R.Lewandoski,Smolarek,Roger,Saganowski,Majewski,Fabianski,Boguski,Janczyck,maybe the new Brazilian kid hold on a second here I disagree with all,Poland is gettin deeper.N.Ireland always shows up so we will see if Poland can still be alive (a win is the only option in this fixture)and I believe it will be achieved.Poland is on the up.
Go Polska
Posted from 
United States
Murawski played 15 mins in Rubin’s last game, honestly WTF. Why the hell did he went there?
Posted from 
Netherlands
Also R.Lewandowski is featured on the FIFA 10 cover:
http://www.polishsoca.com/newswire/ekstraklasa/1824-fifa-10-polish-cover-released
Awful timing considering his form. Should’ve went for Kuba.
Posted from Netherlands
Also Piszczek scored for Berlin again. Should get a callup, can’t understand why the old bastard still ignores him.
Posted from Netherlands
Janczyk Goal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMXsoDenC2s&feature=player_embedded
Posted from United States
You can tell very few forwards have the size speed and talent that Janczyk has especially in Poland.
Posted from United States
I’m very glad that Janczyk is still somewhat succesfull in Belgium, hope he gets his carreer back on track.
Posted from Netherlands
Piszczek in Berlin plays as defender,i think right def, and i dont think he is better than wasyl,brozek or golanski.Lewy scored again but they just drew with belchatow. Looks like poznan’s steam train is stuck, and i think there will be vacancy on drivers position soon.
Posted from United Kingdom
As I posted earlier, Hertha’s coach appears to have abandoned the idea of Piszczek in defense. In the mid-week game against Brondby, he was brought on for the last 30 minutes to partner Kacar in a central attacking role. In today’s game against Werder Bremen, he came on in the 57th minute and played primarily on the left wing. Apparently he played very well
http://transfermarkt.de/de/forum/14/hertha-bsc/thread/94559/anzeige.html&p=19
http://translate.google.com/#
Leo should take Piszczek into consideration, he’d be useful as a sub at least. We don’t really have a lot of options on the left, Krzynowek barely plays for his club (only 6 minutes in the last match), Smolarek doesn’t have a club, and Obraniak has said that he would rather play in the center.
Wasilewski broke his leg!! I guess Beenhakker will finally have to give Golanski another chance.
Posted from 
Canada
As I’ve mentioned before, Auxerre fans are not impressed with Dudka’s performances (too slow, error-prone) and this weekend he spent the entire match on the bench. How is he a guaranteed starter for Poland? Especially in such a critical position as central defense… I hope Koscielny makes his decision soon… despite this being his first season in Ligue 1, he has a secure position in Lorient’s starting 11 and always gets good marks from L’Equipe.
Posted from Canada
Last i heard he and his family were gathering documents. It took Obraniak a while to get his citizenship so probably the soonest we can see Koscielny would be the last two qualifiers which will be the toughest with Czechs at home and leaders Slovakia. Honestly If the NT doesn’t steamroll N.I. they won’t be able to get first in group and most likely second. If they lose then thats it. We’d be in the same predicament like after the Euro 2008 Austria game with some rediculous things stuff that would need to happen mostly out of our hands and we know how that turned out. Im expecting a 3-0 or 3-1 win. Slovenia is still a dark horse so I’m not so sure but Czechs are sucking so that should be a win and Slovakia will be at home but still mad tough. If the team realizes they can grab first place then they’ll play their hearts out but for that to happen Slovakia will need to lose points in some of their remaining matches. And finishing second doesn’t guarentee a place in the WC…
Wasilewski broke his leg today
http://i29.tinypic.com/33e1wfd.gif
nasty, wish him and his family all the best and hope he makes a good recovery.
Posted from 
Iceland
Wasilewski out for a year – at least. Compound fracture
Posted from 
Greece
Damn that is just so nasty to watch. I feel really bad for him because that could be the end of his career. And to think he was so close to getting a transfer to Hull City and living his dream of playing in EPL.
Man, that was just awful, what shitty luck. My thoughts and prayers go out to Wasilewski.
To add to the discussion about Lech and the EK, I think that this is the time where your true colours show. I know the EK seems hopeless but now may be the time when it needs our support more than ever. I notice a lot of fans get excited and expect Champions league trophies right away. Those are the same fans that are the first to turn their back once things don’t look so bright anymore. We must remain optimistic and loyal to our clubs. Do you think teams like Real Madrid or Liverpool need your support? Sure you can be a fan but what good does it do for Polish football when we don’t support our clubs first. I don’t want to come off sounding preachy but we are stuck in a cycle of perpetual mediocrity and apathy. I have come to accept the EK for what it is. Its not the greatest but it is ours. If we ever want to see our teams do well in Europe we can’t be bandwagon jumpers because that will not get us anywhere.
Wasilewski’s injury if horrifying… I feel so bad for him since he just started to become really good in the Belgian league… Could end up in a top league if he kept it up (which was his dream), now he can basically forget that and at best return to Poland, unless a miracle happens… Was a really nice guy too, really didn’t deserve it…
And I completely agree with MarcinO, we should support the ekstraklasa teams the most, they are a big factor of our national team after all.
Posted from Netherlands
shame for Wasyl, all the best to him with an excellent recovery. That will take a long time, but bones are resilient, unlike a soft tissue injury. Eduardo showed you can come back from this, but its going to take time. He was really becoming a stable fixture on the flank.
Smolarek goes to feyenord,good uncle benhaker helped him out.Finally he starts training and hopefuly playing.
Obraniak’s case took so long,becouse some of his documents were lost.Koscielny is not a sure choice,beenhaker dont to be told what to do and who to pick to NT.He sorted out roger’s passport in 2 weeks but didnt do a damn thing to help Obraniak. Media and supporters pressure was so great that he had no choice but to give Ludo a chance. I’m not so sure that he is so keen on koscielny.
Very unlucky for wasyl!!!i dont even want to see how did it happend!!
Posted from United Kingdom
I dont live in Poland but i still support my favorite team,JAGA, from EK. You should support your local team,what is point support Real Madrit and never see them playing live!!!?? I dont support any team from UK but i like to see live them playing. Im going to see London’s derby chelsea-spurs…lovely 
Posted from United Kingdom
Laurent Koscielny was selected in the best eleven of the “Ligue 1″ day 4 by Maxifoot. They said that they understand why Poland want him in the NT… http://maxifoot.fr/articles/7971/ We need him ASAP!
Auxerre has still zero goal for in four games, with him it’s a good team, without Jelen it’s a very bad team…
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Lech played too deep in def. Zielinski chosen wrong tactic.Lewy should have score that one on one situation,if you play counter attack you have to be ready to finish those 1-2 situations a game you get.Lewy dissapointment.Renifer-out of form,he couldnt manage with brugge defenders,he won like 2 headers…poor.Best player in Lech’s jersey-Ganzarczyk-good def, sharp in offence,calm and experienced,good NT material,i hope he will sit krzynowek on bench.
Smolarek will never play in polish club.He was born and raised in different reallity,different standards…he is not used to play and work on old,underinvested and poorly managed polish clubs,besides no polish club can afford to pay his wage…
Posted from
United Kingdom