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Squad Watch 3: Pawel Brozek Injured, Thank God For Ireneusz Jelen.

March 16th, 2009 | By: tomasz | 9 Comments »

Football is a game where you can take nothing for granted. When all the Bialo Czerwoni fans were waiting for Pawel Brozek to lead our attack against Northern Ireland the Wisla Krakow star got seriously injured. Now all eyes are on Ireneusz Jelen and Robert Lewandowski.

Goalkeepers:

Artur Boruc (Celtic Glasgow)- 120 minutes against Rangers, League Cup winner
Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal London)- on the bench against Blackburn
Wojciech Kowalewski (Iraklis Thessaloniki)- on the bench against Olympiakos
Tomasz Kuszczak (ManUtd)- not in the squad against Liverpool
Sebastian Przyrowski (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against LKS Lodz, note 5
Lukasz Zaluska (Dundee United)- 90 minutes against Motherwell

Defenders:

Barosz Bosacki (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Gornik, note 6
Dariusz Dudka (AJ Auxerre)- 90 minutes against Lyon
Seweryn Gancarczyk (Metalist Kharkiv)- 90 minutes against Shakhtar
Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bucharest)- didn’t play against Politehnica Iasi
Adam Kokoszka (Empoli F.C.)- not in the squad against Parma, injury
Marcin Komorowski (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Jagiellonia, note 5
Marcin Kowalczyk (Dinamo Moscow)- didn’t play against FC Moscow
Tomasz Jodlowiec (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against LKS Lodz, note 4
Michal Pazdan (Gornik Zabrze)- 90 minutes against Lech, note 6
Piotr Polczak (Cracovia Krakow)- 90 minutes against Lechia, note 5
Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht)- not in the squad against Mechelen, yellow card ban
Jakub Wawrzyniak (Panathinaikos)- on the bench against Thrasivoulos
Grzegorz Wojtkowiak (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Gornik, note 5
Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos Pireus)- 90 minutes against Iraklis

Midfielders:

Tomasz Bandrowski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Gornik, note 6
Rafal Boguski (Wisla Krakow)- 62 minutes against GKS Belchatow, note 4
Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund)- not in the squad against Hannover 96
Roger Guerreiro (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes and an assist against Jagiellonia, note 5
Jacek Krzynowek (Hannover 96)- 67 minutes against Dortmund
Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk)- 90 minutes against Metalist
Wojciech Lobodzinski (Wisla Krakow)- 12 minutes against GKS Belchatow
Radoslaw Majewski (Polonia Warsaw)- 84 minutes against LKS Lodz, note 3
Rafal Murawski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Gornik, note 5
Szymon Pawlowski (Zaglebie Lubin)- 90 minutes and two goals against Leczna, note 9
Sławomir Peszko (Lech Poznan)- 30 minutes and an assist against Gornik, note 6
Bartosz Salamon (Brescia)- not in the squad against Triestina
Lukasz Tralka (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against LKS Lodz, note 4

Attackers:

Pawel Brozek (Wisla Krakow)- 45 minutes against GKS Belchatow, note 4
Dawid Janczyk (Lokeren)- 90 minutes against Charleroi
Michal Janota (Feyenoord Rotterdam)- not in the squad against PSV
Ireneusz Jelen (AJ Auxerre)- 69 minutes and a goal against Lyon
Robert Lewandowski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Gornik, note 5
Lukasz Piszczek (Hertha Berlin)- not in the squad against Leverkusen., injury
Grzegorz Rasiak (Watford)- not in the squad against Sheffield Wednesday, injury
Marek Saganowski (Southampton)- 77 minutes against QPR
Ebi Smolarek (Bolton Wanderers)- not in the squad against Fulham
Artur Wichniarek (Arminia Bielefeld)- 84 minutes against Karlsruher
Tomasz Zahorski (Gornik Zabrze)- on the bench against Lech
Maciej Zurawski (Larissa)- 90 minutes against PAOK

Summary: The last weekend in the Polish Ekstraklasa will be remembered because of Pawel Brozek’s injury, a one that eliminates him from the games against Northern Ireland and San Marino. The accident happened on the same ground (Belchatow) were Lukasz Gargula got injured and looked very similar. Broziu lost his balance in the air and awkwardly outstretched his knee when landing. We’re yet to learn how long he’ll have to pause. From today’s medical examinations we know that his knee ligaments are seriously stretched, but not torn. Still, the injury requires further research and Brozek can miss from six weeks to five moths of action, depending on the results of the following examinations. Wisla Krakow’s chances of defending the Polish championship title have seriously deteriorated. Moreover, it would be very hard for Brozek to move abroad in the summer in the current circumstances. Broziu even said that he might meet Lukasz Gargula at Wisla after all. But, most importantly, what does this injury mean for our national team? I can only say one thing: thank god for Ireneusz Jelen. If it wasn’t for the Auxerre striker our only option upfront would be Robert Lewandowski. Now both have more or less equal chances of starting against the Irish. What is Jelen’s biggest advantage? He’s in best form of all of our strikers, it would be a shame not to use it against the Irish. Jelen’s drawback? He’s never really been an important part of Leo’s team; I don’t know if he can earn his teammates’ trust only during the training sessions. What about Lewy? He’s still not that experienced in terms of international football but managed to put in good performances in the last friendlies against Ireland and Wales. I also sense that he’s more a sort of player that Leo is looking for, a one that likes to cover the ball and play one-two passes with midfielders. However, in current situation both Jelen and Lewandowski should be ready to fight for the spot in the starting lineup, they should be ready for the challenge. Marek Saganowski’s role in the team also gains importance because of Brozek’s injury. Now Sagan should come from the bench in at least one of the qualifying games. Still, I’ll repeat what I wrote some time earlier, I don’t want our attack to be based on Sagan, he’s just not a player capable of winning games at an international level. He may help, but he’ll never be this decisive factor. I hope Leo has already learnt that and will limit his choice to Jelen and Lewandowski. Lukasz Sosin was called up to replace Brozek. I must say that he’s never been a player I expected much of and nothing’s changed in that matter. He’s got a great goalscoring record in the Cypriot league, but two facts act against him: he warmed the bench throughout most of Anorthosis’ games in the CL and has never been able to attract a decent club from outside Cyprus. I mean, if he is so great then why none of the Greek clubs have ever been determined enough to book his services. Sosin and his physical presence may help against the Irish, but, as some of you wrote in the comments, a call up for Dawid Janczyk would be much more welcome. On the other hand, it’s not Euros, the question of who’s our forth striker is not that important at the moment. What’s important is that Leo is able to deal with the loss of Pawel Brozek and both Ireneusz Jelen and Robert Lewandowski are ready for the Irish challenge. Which of those two do you find a better choice at the moment?

Jakub Blaszczykowski didn’t want to risk renewing his injury and that’s why he wasn’t included in Dortmund’s squad for the game against Hannover. According to Dortmund’s manager, Jűrgen Klopp, Kuba is perfectly fit, but he’s not mentally ready for the Bundesliga challenge. Blaszczykowski assured both Polish and Dortmund fans that he’ll return next week for the game against Bremen. I can only applaud Kuba; after all, he knows his body best. Last year he returned from the injury too early and then was unable to heal it properly before the Euros. Dortmund is safe in the middle of the table, there’s no need to risk any player’s health. Leo should definitely watch Kuba’s game against Bremen, that will be the only “sample’ of his form he’ll have.

Finally, as Zaraza reports under the last note, Ludovic Obraniak handed in all the necessary documents in the Polish consulate in Lille. They should be sent to Poland in a matter of days. I strongly believe that his citizenship plea will be resolved very quickly, especially with the European elections campaign under way; Lech Kaczynski will do everything to avoid any sort of criticism. Obraniak may get a chance to honor his Polish grandfather in the summer friendly against South Africa.

One more thing, I’ve never mentioned Marcin Zewlakow before, but the occasion seems grand enough to do that. The other Zewlakow twin scored a hattrick this weekend for APOEL Nicosia and, as a result, broke the 100 goals scored outside Poland margin. Congratulations to a player that always felt good in minor clubs and has some important goals for Poland to his name.

Highlights: Irek Jelen saves the highlights section

Tags: Beenhakker, Blaszczykowski, Brozek, Group A, Jelen, Obraniak, Poland, Robert Lewandowski, Saganowski, sosin, Squad Watch

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Comments

By Alek | March 16th, 2009 at 10:05 pm

I say start Lewy. Keep Jelen as an impact sub, or as a sub in case Blaszczykowski cant finish the match. I really want Jelen to play, and I believe that he will have the most impact as a sub.

By Rydzynski | March 16th, 2009 at 10:35 pm

I agree with starting Robert. He may be young, but he has played in the recent qualifiers and friendlies and probably has a little bit better chemistry with the starting squad, whereas Jelen hasn’t played for the NT since the Ukraine game. However, Jelen is a good option as a sub for either winger or striker position and to add some speed to the game.

Hopefully Brozek gets better soon, because our depth at striker is not looking good at the moment…Saganowski and Sosin are not guys I really feel comfortable on the bench.

By gregorio | March 17th, 2009 at 5:59 am

it may be irrational, but i still believe in sagan. maybe it’s the goals he scored after his comeback to southampton, which were spectacular. and in the euros he had the assist to the only goal we scored. i guess he works well as an urgent, last resort back-up.
on the other hand, i don’t believe in sosin at all. what tomasz also pointed out, he really blew his chance in the CL to get some games against top clubs. and he was among famagusta’s best strikers… really disappointing.
and i don’t mind if leo plays lewy from the beginning

Posted from Poland

By M. Zurawski | March 17th, 2009 at 11:20 am

sagan isn’t a bad player. He certainly isn’t a player that will impress with flair, but he works hard and chases the ball. And he’s good in the box. As a sub over Sosin, any day. (with all due respect to Sosin) I would like to See R. Lewandowski start. And like Rydzynski and others have mentioned, Jelen as sub for either Blaszczykowski or R. Lewandowski, depending on Blaszczykowskis fitness. I have infinite faith that if the striker/s is properly fed by kuba/roger/jelen/ect there will be goals. Northern Ireland, to be relaistic, is not a footballing superpower. They are, like others have mentioned before, akin to a Championship team, which transaltes roughly into a top half Polish top divison team, and if our NT cannot rise to a challange like that, well, then we certainly don’t deserve to play in South Africa with the eyes of the world upon us. I think we will win, and it will be an interesting game. I’m also very happy Jelen didn’t reinjure his shoulder during the game with Lyon, because it didn’t look great for a minute there. Also, finally, as sad as this Brozek situation is, it will give a very good chance to R. Lewandowski to become top scorer in the league, and a bit of a legend.

Posted from Canada

By Rydzynski | March 17th, 2009 at 1:35 pm

Saganowski is not bad, I meant to say going forward into the tougher qualifying matches (at Czech, Slovakia, at Slovenia) we need to have some more options at striker. More threats to score, because winning those games are crucial if we want to play in South Africa 2010. He is better than I give him credit for, with the assist at Euro’s and his ability to chase the ball and generally harass defenders. I do not see the point the in calling up Sosin, he did score 4 goals in a game recently, but I think it is a better move to have Dawid Janczyk training with the squad since he has a long career ahead of him, Sosin not so much.

By zaraza | March 17th, 2009 at 7:35 pm

Jelen has to be our #1 striker. Lewy is an excellent prospect, there’s no doubt about that, but I don’t think he’s quite ready for the pressure of being the starting striker for the NT. It’s not uncommon for him to miss one on ones, that’s quickly be forgotten playing for Lech, but if he does that playing a crucial qualifier for the NT, then he’s certainly going to be skewered in the press, and that could really destroy his confidence.

Fabianski played today against Hull City in the FA Cup. Conceeded one goal but it was a deflection apparently. Arsenal fans say he did a good job today.

Kokoszka returned to action in today’s 2-0 loss to Pisa. I think they may have played him as a left-back but I’m not sure.

Salamon has also recovered (tonsilitis in his case), but he remained on the bench during the entire match.

Bialkowski has gone on loan to Ipswich in order to get more playing time. However, Ipswich already have an established #1 in Richard Wright, so it’s unlikely he’ll be playing much. Should have waited for another offer.

Posted from Canada

By zaraza | March 17th, 2009 at 7:36 pm

correction: *that’s quickly forgotten*

Posted from Canada

By M. Zurawski | March 17th, 2009 at 7:55 pm

Zaraza, that’s a good point about Lewandowski and the media. Just finished watching the Arsenal – Hull game. Fabianski looked good overall. The goal that was conceded was a wicked deflection. Commentators repeatedly stated he had no chance. There was once moment where he came to punch a ball off a set piece and missed. It resulted in a header that narrowly went over goal. He was confident coming out for balls and had to deal with a unconvincing defense. I have to say that it bothered me that the entire media claimed that he was deputizing for Almunia who has a ankle problem. In fact, he has played all the FA matches, where as he may deputize on Saturday in the PL. Good for him, overall.

By tomasz | March 18th, 2009 at 6:09 am

Polish press is suggesting Jelen as a starting striker. Apparently, the pitch in Belfast is in such a horrible state that it will be hard for us to employ short passing style. We may play counter attack football, win the ball as far away from our penalty box as possible and quickly pass it forward to the striker. Hence Jelen’s speed may be the key to our success. On the other hand, I wouldn’t like to watch a game where we only kick the ball forward and count on our attackers to somehow reach it. Anything can happen then.

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