Polish League: Season 2007/2008. My review.

Yesterday’s final of the Polish Cup (Legia Warsaw defeated Wisla Krakow on penalties) marked the end of the club season in Poland. For all the interested I provide the yearly stats and my opinions on particular players as well. Enjoy.

To start with, the league table:

1 Wisła Krakow 30 games 77 points 68-18 goal difference
2 Legia Warsaw 30 63 48-17
3 Groclin Grodzisk 30 60 52-24
4 Lech Poznan 30 57 55-32
5 Zaglebie Lubin 30 52 43-30
6 Korona Kielce 30 51 38-32
7 Cracovia Krakow 30 39 30-32
8 Gornik Zabrze 30 39 34-39
9 GKS Belchatow 30 38 26-32
10 Ruch Chorzow 30 34 35-41
11 LKS Lodz 30 30 25-31
12 Odra Wodzislaw 30 29 28-47
13 Polonia Bytom 30 28 22-45
14 Jagiellonia Bialystok 30 27 27-57
15 Widzew Lodz 30 26 27-42
16 Zaglebie Sosnowiec 30 16 19-58

Wisla was by far the best team in Poland this season. Legia also had a good season under rookie manager (and former Polish legend) Jan Urban who couldn’t afford as spectacular transfers as Wisla’s Maciej Skorza. Groclin will play in the UEFA cup and Lech Poznan will participate in the Intertoto Cup. The biggest disappointment of the season is the relegation of Widzew Lodz, one of the most renowned clubs in Poland. Zaglebie Sosnowiec is the second relegated team, whereas Jagiellonia Bialystok will play against the 3rd team of the 2nd division for a place in next year’s 1st division (or, as we call it, Ekstraklasa). The season was raided by corruption scandals; forgive me, but I don’t want to write about it as I’m interested solely in football.

Other stats: Top goalscorers:
1 Pawel Brozek (Wisla Krakow) 23 goals
2 Adrian Sikora (Groclin Grodzisk) 16 goals
3 Marek Zienczuk (Wisla Krakow) 16 goals
4 Takesure Chinyama (Legia Warsaw) 15 goals
5 Hernan Rengifo (Lech Poznan) 12 goals

Most assists:
1 Marek Zienczuk (Wisla Krakow) 11 assists
2 Maciej Iwanski (Zaglebie Lubin) 9 assists
3 Kamil Kosowski (Wisla Krakow) 8 assists
4 Piotr Reiss (Lech Poznan) 8 assists

Highest average rating according to Przeglad Sportowy (at least ten games rated):
1 Marek Zienczuk (Wisla Krakow) 6,67
2 Pawel Brozek (Wisla Krakow) 6,59
3 Manuel Arboleda (Zaglebie Lubin) 6,46
4 Maciej Iwanski (Zaglebie Lubin) 6,40
5 Bartosz Bosacki (Lech Poznan) 6,30

Season’s best eleven (according to PS): Jan Mucha (Legia)- Piotr Brozek (Wisla), Tomasz Hajto (Gornik), Arkadiusz Glowacki (Wisla), Marcin Baszczynski (Wisla)- Marek Zienczuk (Wisla), Rafal Murawski (Lech), Maciej Iwanski (Zaglebie L.), Marcin Zajac (Lech)- Pawel Brozek (Wisla), Adrian Sikora (Groclin)

After we read what the statistics have to say here are my own opininons on the heroes of the season:

Biggest stars:

Marek Zienczuk (Wisla, 16 goals, 11 assists, 6,67 avr): Zienczuk’s career best season. He was the driving force behind Wisla’s success and helped Pawel Brozek win the golden boot. His goalscoring record is even more astonishing if we take into consideration the fact that he didn’t score a single goal last season. Unfortunately, he’s not a player of international status. Received chances from Leo Beenhakker in friendlies against Hungary and Estonia but failed to impress. Too old to be considered a prospect for the future.

Pawel Brozek (Wisla, 23 goals, 5 assists, 6,59 avr): Finally realised his talent on the Polish league level by winning the golden boot award. Brozek has been tipped for great things in the last 6 years and was heralded as the most talented Polish striker in years. Now he just has to make a leap on an international level. Just as in the case of Zienczuk, Brozek won’t participate in this year’s Euros. He played in three friendlies under Leo, but found the net in neither of them. A horrible display against the USA sealed his future. Nevertheless, a lot of journalist would have seen him in our Euro squad. I’m not entirely convinced, I still expect more from Broziu.

Arkadiusz Glowacki (Wisla, 0 goals, 0 assists, 6,16 avr): In my opinion he’s the league’s best central defender. Always regarded as a great talent he even took part in 2002 World Cup. Unfortunately, his career was stained by injuries ever since. This year he proved that when healthy (played in 26 games) he’s rock solid at the back. Haven’t received a chance from Leo this season; in the past he was blaimed for our losses against England (own goal) and Finland (red card). In the wake of Jacek Bak ending his career I think we can’t forget about Glowa in the next qualifying campaign.

Roger Guerreiro (Legia, 6 goals, 7 assists, 6,14 avr): Potentially the best player of the Polish league. Jan Urban changed his position this year from left winger to central midfielder. A wise decision, as in the centre of the field Roger’s creativity is used to much better effect. Didn’t perform great in a lot of games as he seemed to lack motivation after it turned out that Wisla is too good to catch. Roger sparked most controversy this season by applying for Polish citizenship. Even though some Polish fans don’t accept him, he’ll represent Poland in the Euros. A good addition to the squad as far as I’m concerned. Roger will probably leave Legia after this season; he’s priced at around 4M.

Rafal Murawski (Lech, 2 goals, 5 assists, 6,06 avr): Emerged as one of the biggest winners of the season. Always considered as a future national team player but only this year did Murawski act as the true leader of Lech Poznan. He’s an all around centre midfielder, neither offensive nor defensive. Can organize the play, keep the ball and shoot at goal. Leo Beenhakker is one of his biggest fans. Murawski did great for Poland in the game against Serbia last year, therefore proving his potential. I think that he’ll make it to the final 23 for the Euros as he’s a versatile player who can be thrown on the pitch anytime in the game and serve different tactical purposes. He’ll surely be in the national team for the years to come.

Honourable mentions: Adrian Sikora (Groclin), Maciej Iwanski (Zaglebie L.), Takesure Chinyama (Legia), Hernan Rengifo (Lech), Sreten Sretenovic (Zaglebie L.), Radoslaw Sobolewski (Wisla), Inaki Astiz (Legia)

Future stars of the national team?:

Radoslaw Majewski (Groclin, 4 goals, 6 assists, 5,80 avr): The best young Polish playmaker. Only a year ago he played in Polish 3rd division. Today, Groclin expects to cash 3M on Maja with interest from Premiership clubs. I see a lot of talent in this guy, rarely you see a Polish player able to play an unconventional ball or a no-look pass. He especially impressed in the friendly against the English U-21. Majewski will take part in Poland’s preparation camp before the Euros where he’ll rival Roger and Lukasz Gargula for a place in the squad. A lot of people already see him as our playmaker in 2012.

Szymon Pawlowski (Zaglebie L., 3 goals, 4 assists, 5,60 avr): One of the best dribblers in the Polisch league. He’s young, dynamic, fast, brave and creative (I sound like his agent or something). It’s still too early to consider him as a national team regular (1 cap to his name) but the next season may belong to him. English clubs were already reported to offer 1M for Pawlowki’s services but it didn’t convince his club Zaglebie Lubin. Ideally, he’ll play one more season in the Polish league and establish himself in the national team. Also one of 2012 hopefuls.

Michal Pazdan (Gornik, 0 goals, 0 assists, 5,52 avr): A story of rags to riches type. Called up by Leo to the national team last November as a virtual unknown. Hey, even I didn’t know exactly who he was. But, to be honest, I liked what I saw from Pazdan in Poland’s freindlies. He can play both as a central defender and defensive midfielder. He is a sort of player that always seems to have a lot of time on the ball; he’s elegant but very hard working at the same time. From what I saw, he still has problems to play under pressure so I don’t know if he’s ready for an Euro challenge. Leo certainly feels otherwise as Pazdan will take part in Poland’s Euro preparation camp.

Tomasz Zahorski (Gornik, 10 goals, 0 assists, 5,60 avr): Another of Leo’s discoveries. A tall striker who can play as an amc and on the wings as well. He was called up by Leo without a single league goal to his name, but flourished ever since. Potentially, he’s got everything that a striker needs: height, speed, technique and heading ability. It’s just a matter if he can further develop those skills or if he’s peaked this season. Zahor will rival Matusiak and Saganowski during the training camp with large chances of playing at Euro. I just hope he’ll turn out a new, better and improved version of Rasiak.

Honourable mentions: Adam Kokoszka (Wisla), Rafal Boguski (Wisla), Maciej Rybus (Legia), Kamil Grosicki (Legia/Sion), Tomasz Bandrowski (Lech), Bartlomiej Dudzic (Cracovia), Piotr Polczak (Cracovia), Piotr Kuklis (Widzew), Adam Danch (Gornik)

Goal of the season:Tomasz Hajto

That’s all about the Polish league, I tend to view it as a place of exposure of potential national team players. Bialo Czerwoni start the training camp on monday, together with national frenzy. There’ll be plenty to report on in the next weeks so stay tuned.