Squad Watch: Week 1. Irek Jelen Is Knocking On The National Team’s Door.

Ireneusz Jelen scored yet another goal to convince Leo Beenhakker that he may be useful to the Polish national team. He’s playing the decisive role in Auxerre’s revival in 2009. Will Leo notice that? He states that there won’t be any surprises in the call ups for the Northern Ireland game…

Polish performances at the weekend:

Goalkeepers:

Artur Boruc (Celtic Glasgow)- 90 minutes against St Mirren
Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal London)- on the bench against Fulham
Wojciech Kowalewski (Iraklis Thessaloniki)- on the bench against Levadiakos
Tomasz Kuszczak (ManUtd)- on the bench against Tottenham
Sebastian Przyrowski (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Legia, note 5
Lukasz Zaluska (Dundee United)- 90 minutes against Hearts

Defenders:

Barosz Bosacki (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against GKS Belchatow, note 5
Dariusz Dudka (AJ Auxerre)- 90 minutes against Toulouse
Seweryn Gancarczyk (Metalist Kharkiv)- match on Wednesday
Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bucharest)- 90 minutes against FC Vaslui
Adam Kokoszka (Empoli F.C.)- not in the squad against Livorno
Marcin Komorowski (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Polonia Warsaw, note 5
Marcin Kowalczyk (Dinamo Moscow)- season break
Tomasz Jodlowiec (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Legia, note 6
Michal Pazdan (Gornik Zabrze)- 90 minutes against Ruch, note 6
Piotr Polczak (Cracovia Krakow)- on the bench against Piast
Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht)- 90 minutes against Mouscron
Jakub Wawrzyniak (Panathinaikos)- 90 minutes against Olympiakos
Grzegorz Wojtkowiak (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against GKS Belchatow, note 6
Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos Pireus)- 45 minutes against Panathinaikos

Midfielders:

Tomasz Bandrowski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against GKS Bełchatów, note 7
Rafal Boguski (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutes and a goal against Polonia Bytom, note 6
Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund)- not in the squad against Hoffenheim, injury
Roger Guerreiro (Legia Warsaw)- 85 minutes against Polonia Warsaw, note 4
Jacek Krzynowek (Hannover 96)- 85 minutes against Leverkusen
Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk)- match today
Wojciech Lobodzinski (Wisla Krakow)- not in the squad against Polonia Bytom, injury
Radoslaw Majewski (Polonia Warsaw)- 76 minutes against Legia, note 6
Rafal Murawski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against GKS Belchatow, note 7
Szymon Pawlowski (Zaglebie Lubin)- mid season break
Sławomir Peszko (Lech Poznan)- 85 minutes against Cracovia, note 5
Bartosz Salamon (Brescia)- on the bench against Frosinone
Lukasz Tralka (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Legia, note 5

Attackers:

Pawel Brozek (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutes against Polonia Bytom, note 5
Dawid Janczyk (Lokeren)- 5 minutes against Ghent
Michal Janota (Feyenoord Rotterdam)- not in the squad against Vitesse
Ireneusz Jelen (AJ Auxerre)- 76 minutes and a goal against Toulouse
Robert Lewandowski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes, a goal and an assist against GKS Belchatow, note 7
Lukasz Piszczek (Hertha Berlin)- not in the squad against Borussia M.
Grzegorz Rasiak (Watford)- 88 minutes against Crystal Palace
Marek Saganowski (Southampton)- 89 minutes against Cardiff
Ebi Smolarek (Bolton Wanderers)- 11 minutes against Newcastle
Artur Wichniarek (Arminia Bielefeld)- 90 minutes against FC Koeln
Tomasz Zahorski (Gornik Zabrze)- on the bench against Ruch
Maciej Zurawski (Larissa)- 90 minutes and a goal against Ergotelis

Summary: Ireneusz Jelen won’t let Leo Beenhakker forget about him. If there is any Auxerre player to single out this season it’s surely the Polish striker. I may not be watching Auxerre games regularly, but I check their results because of the Polish players’ involvement. Before Jelen’s comeback they were losing almost each and every game. Now they are tenth in the table, five points clear of the relegation zone. Jelen managed to score four goals after coming back from injury. The question is whether Leo Beenhakker sees the Auxerre striker in the Bialo Czerwoni squad. The last time Jelen played for the national team was against Ukraine just after Euro 2008. He played as a striker and, just as the whole team, failed to impress. However, he was the only player to be written off after this game. The question is, does Leo consider Jelen a striker or a winger? If Jelonek is a striker for Leo then he doesn’t have much chances for a call up. Pawel Brozek and Robert Lewandowski established a strong position in the national team and Leo clearly prefers them to the likes of Wichniarek, Jelen or Saganowski. On the other hand, if Leo sees Jelen as a possible alternative for Kuba Blaszczykowski on the right wing then he has bigger chances of being picked. All our right wingers (Kuba, Lobo, Piszczek) are currently injured and it’s unknown whether they will be ready for the game against Northern Ireland. I read reports today that both Kuba and Piszczek are to return in the near future, but we must wait till next week to confirm that. Moreover, the players’ form after coming back from injury doesn’t have to be the highest. Even though Leo clearly stated that there won’t be any surprises in the squad against the Irish, the situation demands giving Jelen a chance. I’m not claiming that he should be given the place in the starting lineup; I prefer healthy Kuba to healthy Jelen. Still, just imagine how many options Jelen would give us from the bench. We are in the lead and need a fast player for counters? Jelen comes in. We’re losing and need to strengthen our attack? Jelen comes in. Kuba is not fit enough to play for ninety minutes? Jelen comes in. I don’t think the Polish national team is in the position to resign from such a versatile player. Even though Jelen was never the leader of the team, he was always a useful asset to it. Giving him a chance doesn’t have to cure our problems on the right wing, but he certainly looks the best available medicine at the moment.

The Polish Ekstraklasa played for the first time since November this weekend. Apart from Lech Poznan’s game, the level of performance was rather dramatic. The Warsaw derby between Legia and Polonia failed to satisfy even the least demanding fans. Both Roger and Radoslaw Majewski, players tipped to shine as playmakers for the Bialo Czerwoni, didn’t present the international level. I don’t know if it still even makes sense to rate Roger’s league performances. It’s been a while since he acted as a leader for Legia. I don’t think the level of motivation is high enough for Roger to shine in the Ekstraklasa. He is to be sold at the end of the season and will probably concentrate on the national team games to attract the potential buyers. Moreover, he always performs better when the summer is approaching. Majewski, on the other hand, must prove his worth in the league. He’s made no progress in the last twelve months; he’s no longer considered the hottest prospect in the Ekstraklasa. This spring may prove decisive for the Polonia player in terms of the national team. Because of Gargula’s injury, he’s got a realistic chance to become an important part of the Bialo Czerwoni team. The only thing he has to do is to rise above the usual mediocre level of the Ekstraklasa.

This weekend was also marked by the comeback of Tomasz “the Goal Hunter” Frankowski to Poland. Franek showed that he’s still got the skills and scored twice for Jagiellonia Bialystok. I hope that other Polish strikers will learn how to convert goalscoring chances watching him play. One of them may be Robert Lewandowski who saved three points for Lech with a nice volley in the 90th minute. It was a very important goal for Lewy since his latest performances weren’t as impressive as the ones at the beginning of the season. Finally, other two players returning to Poland, Kamil Grosicki and Jaroslaw Fojut, had nice debuts for Jagiellonia and Slask Wroclaw respectively. Leo Beenhakker considers both as the ones for the future; it will be interesting to see if they can recover from unsuccessful “adventures” abroad.

Highlights: Irek Jelen’s sixth of the season

Magic Zurawski scores his seventh goal of the season

Rafal Boguski makes use of Bytom’s defenders mistake

Robert Lewandowski proves his talent

Frankowski’s comeback goals

Lukasz Piszczek returns to fitness

piszczek – piszczek