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Slovenia-Poland 3:0…

September 10th, 2009 | By: tomasz | 66 Comments »

I had a plethora of titles for this post on my mind yesterday: “F..ing disgrace”, “Shameless”, “Humiliation” etc. However, after a good night rest I decided not to lose any more sleep over the yesterday’s game, I lost enough yesterday in the pub (first anger, then plain resignation). There is nothing to analyze to be honest, we’ll never again play in the same lineup and under the same coach. The Polish team as we know it officially died yesterday.

I usually write about the lineup and player notes here. Not this time, I would have to give everyone a 1 and I don’t want to put even more shame on the players. Though it’s very tempting, I won’t make them a punchbag here. We were never there in Maribor, the Polish team was not on the pitch. There was no point in the game where the players would install any sort of belief in the fans. This was the Bialo Czerwoni showing a big middle finger to anyone concerned. They decided to stop the reanimation and just die a fast death, a one that gives us the possibility to start all over again earlier than planned. Everyone is to blame and everyone should feel responsible, both the coach and the players. This is the end of Leo Beenhakker’s era. He was officially fired yesterday by Grzegorz Lato. The whole event was really of a low taste as Lato fired Leo in front of journalists rather than telling it to him face to face. Of course, Leo deserved the sack, but it should be made in a more civilised way. Now we’ve got two games left in the qualifiers. Lato decided to employ a temporary coach for them, in all probability it’s going to be Stefan Majewski. He’s a guy of strong character, but a coach with no real success at the same time. His other managerial jobs (Amica, Widzew, Cracovia) often ended in a conflict between him and players. He’s just not a very sociable and likeable person. Luckily, he should only be a coach for the time being, then we’ll look for a new one at the end of the year. This will be a crucial decision as this is going to be the coach that will lead us in Euro 2012 (the biggest event in Polish fans’ life, at least those too young to remember WC 82). This is surely going to be a Polish coach, the Polish FA together with majority of fans (at least at the moment) won’t stand another foreign manager. As for today, Franz Smuda is the clear leader, he’s backed by the fans and is an acceptable option for the FA. He’s got a national team release clause in his contract with Zaglebie Lubin. Young coaches like Maciej Skorza and Ryszard Tarasiewicz are also in the run, but I think the FA will be reluctant to leave the team to a more inexperienced manager. Smuda looks the best candidate at the moment, you can’t deny him his motivational skills.

I’m planning to write a more in depth analysis of the Beenhakker era and the WC 2010 qualifiers in the next couple of days. I’ll also try to analyze which players to keep and which to get rid of for 2012. Finally, I’ll have a look at possible 2012 prospects. With three years without a competetive game ahead, I want to ask you what do you expect from this blog? More club football, more about players abroad? More highlights, videos? Or maybe just info about forming of the team for 2012. Give me your opinion and thanks for all the input.

Tags: Beenhakker, Group A, Lato, Majewski, Poland, Slovenia, Smuda

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Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 66 comments.

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By Peter | September 12th, 2009 at 8:39 am

Sure Oli and Ebi got us there. However maybe this “success” is preventing people in the gov. from making the proper changes (them and fifa of course).

By USA2010 | September 12th, 2009 at 11:34 am

Guys..I agree with all points, but lets face it…We dont have any talent! Even Northern Ireland manges to have players in the EPL and SPL. We cant blame Leo for spped, quickness, and quality. Our team is a total joke. Its sad to see that one of our best forwars cant even find a team that wants him, and our regular forward can get out of Poland. Where the fuck are you going with that?……How about defense? How many of them compete at a higher level on a regular basis? (0).. We dont have players in the top leauges and that kills us. Just look at the top 4 teams in our group.

Posted from United States

By zaraza | September 12th, 2009 at 11:50 am

Witold, you think Obraniak is a mercenary? To me, he seems to have a genuine emotional connection to Poland because of his grandfather. At least, that’s the impression I’ve gotten from his interviews. I have no idea about Koscielny.
I agree with you that Leo made a lot of bad choices. But the PZPN also deserve a major share of the blame. It’s their fault we have so little to work with, they’ve done nothing to foster the growth of talented new players in Poland. In every country there are several world class talents, except Poland. There is no excuse for that, Poland has almost 40 million people!

Posted from Canada

By Tomek | September 12th, 2009 at 11:59 am

^Yeah but it’s a standard issue really, its being going on since 1984. It seems you started discussing about it like it’s a new thing. It unfortunately isnt. Best thing Poland could do is let the Polish NT strike untill a new PZPN will form. Nothing else will work really.

Population doesnt mean a damn thing, otherwise China and India would be world class teams. Poland needs to have a good youth development system, and more money in the league.

And you guys are too kind to Leo. He royally screwed us up, and he didn’t even apologise for his incompetence. He acts like he didnt do anything wrong, that the PZPN was the main bad guy. Sorry but I cant forgive that.

Posted from Netherlands

By zaraza | September 12th, 2009 at 12:02 pm

JZ, I’d rather not qualify at all than to do so by cheating. Olisadebe and Roger were mercenaries, no question about it. They would never have considered playing for Poland if they didn’t have something to gain from it. Five years prior to putting on the Poland shirt they had probably never even heard of the country.

Posted from Canada

By zaraza | September 12th, 2009 at 12:05 pm

Tomek, I agree that Poland needs a better youth development system. But it’s Jerzy Engel and the PZPN who are responsable for that! They’ve failed completely. They haven’t made any progress in the last 20 years. All they’ve managed to do is go backwards.

Posted from Canada

By Tomek | September 12th, 2009 at 12:11 pm

Yes they did, which is why the players need to go on strike. That would be badass. Who would you guys like to see as the new PZPN? Starting from the replacement of Lato?

Posted from Netherlands

By zaraza | September 12th, 2009 at 12:15 pm

Radoslaw Majewski injured his knee and will miss a few weeks at least.. this always happens, every time we have a Polish player who seems to be doing well in a foreign league, they inevitably start having injury problems..

Posted from Canada

By Tomek | September 12th, 2009 at 12:17 pm

^Yup, yup, Dortmund got their ass handed today, wouldnt be surprised if Kuba turned out injured as well. Somehow.

It really is stupid that all decent players from this Polish generation are made of glass.

Posted from Netherlands

By zaraza | September 12th, 2009 at 12:20 pm

Tomek, I really hope the players take drastic action like a strike, that would be really brave of them, and maybe redeem them a bit for their failure in the qualifiers. The fans should also boycott the NT.

Posted from Canada

By Tomek | September 12th, 2009 at 12:23 pm

^Did that ever actually happen in the football world? Would be amazing if we did it first, if all of the NT assembled in some known place together with thousands of fans, and making a big party symbolizing a giant middle finger to the PZPN.

Posted from Netherlands

By zaraza | September 12th, 2009 at 12:27 pm

I don’t know if there’s any precedent but it would definitely be awesome. I think the players would have a lot of support from the fans. Everyone agrees there’s a serious problem at the core of the PZPN.

Posted from Canada

By witold | September 12th, 2009 at 1:18 pm

Zaraza, I have no problem if Obraniak or Koscielny are or are not mercenary, I think that no one know if a player play for himself or for the country, no mather if he is country born or not, just an example, is Wichniarek or Kuszczak better Polish than Roger? Is Zidane a real french in heart or he his heart is with Algeria? (Both France and Algeria consider Zidane a citizen, but he was ineligible to play for the Algerian national team. There was also a rumor that coach Abdelhamid Kermali denied him a position for the Algerian squad because he felt the young midfielder was not fast enough. However, Zidane dismissed the rumor in a 2005 interview, saying that he would have been ineligible to play for Algeria because he had already played for France.)

I’m a French born, I have the Canadian citizenship and my heart is for the Polish NT… So who is mercenary, who is a thrue or false Polish player, I can’t tell and it is not my problem

I’m watching the match between Lyon and Lorient (the Koscielny’s team), and the speaker told that a lot of player are tempted to play for Poland because even if Polish NT is eliminated from the World Cup is certain to participate in the Euro,and the speaker has no problem with that

By witold | September 12th, 2009 at 1:22 pm

Oh and one more thing, I don’t think that PZPN was not responsible, I only think that you are too kind with Leo, exactly like Tomek said

By SD | September 12th, 2009 at 2:37 pm

Poland did start the fall of Communist Europe with the Gdansk strikes, so why not be the first to strike in football. Problem is FIFA is gonna do the same thing they did last time and threaten to take away the Euro. I think Boniek would be a better replacemant for Lato. Maybe if Boniek can concinve Platini of how bad the PZPN is then UEFA would back off. But FIFA will still still try and ban em for WC Qualifiers which at thisn point don’t matter. If Leo can speak out and tell what he saw firsthand maybe FIFA will fuck off too.
And I’m sure Roger atleast heard of Poland, its not like a remote country like Vanadu. And a lot of Nigerian and Zimbawean players head to Poland to start their Eurpoean careers so maybe Oli heard of Poland too.

By Tomek | September 12th, 2009 at 3:14 pm

Poland is in the finals of the European Championships of volleyball, I can’t fathom how we can be world class in that sport but not even produce a decent Premier League/La Liga/Serie A player in football since the eighties…

I think if Poland actually had the balls to start the strike they would get more support, thus FIFA not taking the EURO away that easily.

Posted from Netherlands

By a | September 12th, 2009 at 6:26 pm

For a new president of the Polish FA, I think it has to be someone who has respect among his peers, in Poland and throughout FIFA. Experience in an executive role would definitively be an asset. Someone who won’t be afraid to try new things. Someone who will be the voice for the new generation. This is starting to sound like a job posting. Bottom line is, someone who would do the job with the best interest of Polish football in mind.

I will take a wild shot and recommend Jerzy Dudek. He is of the old generation but knows what it takes to succeed in the present. He has played and had success for some of the biggest clubs in the world. He has seen it all. He might be the perfect person to put in charge of developing the youth and steering the ship in the right direction.

By Ian | September 12th, 2009 at 7:01 pm

I heard Janas might be the new coach. Any thoughts on that? I liked the edge he brought to the team back 2006. Obviously they got a little unlikely in that WC, but I think he is a good choice.

By zaraza | September 12th, 2009 at 10:54 pm

FIFA would have no power to interfere if the players and fans chose to strike. What could they do? No player is obliged to appear for their national team, they haven’t signed any contract. Likewise, FIFA can’t force fans to buy tickets to NT matches.

Posted from Canada

By adas | September 13th, 2009 at 12:15 am

1) You can’t be totally against Leo because he was the coach for one WC and our first Euro. Maybe another coach would have got us there, but Leo was the coach when it happened. He’s not a total bust. He did stay too long with tactics that didn’t work, players who weren’t up to standard, and was clearly dabbling in other business besides the NT. And the way he’s speaking out against the PZPN, he should have started this before. Now it makes him look like a complainer who’s not happy with how his tenure ended.

2) Years back I read an article in a Polish magazine about how the youth in Poland don’t train as much as the youth in other countries. They skip out on running sessions and what-not. This type of work ethic gets spread through gossip to other countries. I don’t believe that we don’t have players who can play in the top leagues. I just feel no one gives them a chance because they are Polish. Let’s face it, there’s some negative feelings about our people. So to anyone who comes to play for our NT, they too must overcome negative stereotypes. Roger goes to Greece, will it really help him? Players have gone to Russia only to wind up on the bench, inferior to Russian players by birth I guess. And Ebi is clearly being blackballed a bit. I refuse to believe that he’s so bad no one would want him. He’s a vital part of our NT and that has to be seen. Thing is, our country should be viewed as a pool of talent that comes cheap. YOu grab the youth, try to develop them. If they don’t make it, then you get rid of them. Instead, I don’t think scouts even bother. Klose, Podolski, etc, are all Polish players who are considered German. If they really came from just over the border, would they have less talent? I think not. There would just be less eyes on them.

3) Nothing is going to change our horrible PZPN. But I don’t think you really need a good FA to function well. Like someone said, we’ve made it to three WC and a Euro all with an ineffective PZPN. And I know Asia is not as competetive, but how does Iraq win the Asian Cup when their country is still struggling to run itself. Clearly sports aren’t on the top of their list. Yet, they’ve made some success for themselves. And their players aren’t world class either. They had to overcome Saudi Arabia (Asian giants), Japan (they have some world class players), and now they’ll even try to compete with Australia (some EPL players there). Our players need to get hungry. How is it that we were most successful under Communist rule?

4) Now is the time to stop bitching. We’ve all had our say. New coach for the last two qualifiers, and a Polish one at that. Its our turn to put together a Polish team that is hungry to get some pride back, and that can develop a Polish style of play. There will be no player boycott, and the fans won’t turn their backs either. No one is going to fix this. It’ll just have to happen on its own time I guess. Maybe Lato will see his errors after the “firing” of Leo. Maybe he’ll see how close we are to screwing up Euro 2012. I don’t care how well the country is prepared. If the team tanks this’ll be the last tournament in Poland ever. I will never stop rooting for the team. I have no choice but to believe one day in my lifetime teams will be wary to play Poland. Faith is the last thing I have, not in the boys now but in the future of Polish football. There is a chance here to start anew. A chance to open some eyes. Bottom line is, our team hasn’t shown up to play in a long time. Polish football is not this bad, it only seems that way. They didn’t lose to the Faroe Islands. They’re just down. There’s too much money to be made off of Euro 2012 for football in Poland to stay this way. It will improve, we just need patience. And one day, Poland will be pretty mighty. When that happens, I want all of you to remember how you feel right now. Because as bad as you feel now, you’ll feel one hundred times greater when we can say the words Poland and football with some respect.

By M Zurawski | September 13th, 2009 at 9:40 am

Lukas Jutkiewicz on International Football

http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/sport-news/scottish-football/2009/09/13/i-may-have-to-leave-everton-but-i-d-love-to-stay-in-spl-says-motherwell-loan-star-lukas-jutkiewicz-78057-21669887/

Lukas said: “It has become a common misconception that I’ve nailed my colours to Poland’s mast at international level.

“I haven’t made any decision yet. I’m eligible to play for them but I’m not sure how aware Poland are or how forthcoming they would be with a call-up. “Until anything happens I will keep my options open.

“As well as England I can also play for Ireland. I haven’t played with any of them at youth level and don’t have a preference.

“If I’m playing well for a club it will take care of itself and I will have a decision to make.

“However, at this stage no one from any of the three associations has contacted me about a possible call-up.”

By Tomek | September 13th, 2009 at 2:29 pm

Poland just became European champions in volleyball, amazing result.
The footballers can learn a lot from them.

Posted from Netherlands

By JZ | September 13th, 2009 at 2:56 pm

Tomek – you are right the PZPN has been screwing things up since 1984 and we are are saying enough is enough. Time for change in the PZPN. Just because they were screwing things up for 25 years does not make it OK nor should we accept it as same old same old, but complaine and expect change.

Leo did a poor job at the end but he did very good things in his 3 years.
He was the coach that finally got us to Euro’s granted they played poor there but they looked very strong in qualifying then.
Did he let in 2 shit goals against Slovakia? Did he let in the howlers in Belfast?
Leo is not the the main person to blame here.
Like someone mentioned earlier we just do have the home grown talent to compete – sorry but those are the real hard to accept true facts.

To A – Dudek would be an interesting choice (probably not my choice), but I like your thoughts of going “outside” the box.

Posted from United States

By SD | September 13th, 2009 at 7:54 pm

Speaking of Dudek and Leo… http://www.polishsoca.com/newswire/national-team/1858-dudek-lato-leave-leo-for-pzpn-president. Also thinking outside the box but sounds highly doubtful. But a foreigner president in the PZPN would certainly shake things up.

By adas | September 13th, 2009 at 11:34 pm

Its good to hear players say that, but it should be the current players more than the former players. Face it, Dudek’s international career is over. And it won’t change anything. I like the suggestion that the sports minister should stir things up. I know Poland is a free nation, but you can’t be more powerful than the government.

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