Squad Watch: Week 10. Fabianski Not Yet Arsenal’s Nr 1.

Only two goals were scored this weekend by Poles being observed in the Squad Watch, so I decided to concentrate on a goalkeeper, Lukasz Fabianski. Unfortunately, he’s still to earn Arsene Wenger’s trust and replace Manuel Almunia as Arsenal’s nr 1. Moreover, I decided to translate extracts from an interesting interview with Jacek Bak that was published on Friday.

Lack of spectacular performances by Poles this weekend:

Goalkeepers:

Artur Boruc (Celtic Glasgow)- not in the squad against Motherwell, preparing for surgery
Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal London)- 12 minutes against ManUtd
Wojciech Kowalewski (Iraklis Thessaloniki)- 90 minutes against Levadiakos
Tomasz Kuszczak (ManUtd)- on the bench against Arsenal
Mariusz Pawelek (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutes against LKS Lodz, note 5
Sebastian Przyrowski (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Jagiellonia, note 5
Lukasz Zaluska (Dundee United)- 90 minutes against Aberdeen

Defenders:

Barosz Bosacki (Lech Poznan)- on the bench against Lechia
Grzegorz Bronowicki (Red Star Belgrade)- not in the squad against , injury
Seweryn Gancarczyk (Metalist Kharkiv)- 3 minutes against Kryvbas
Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bucharest)- didn’t play against Rapid
Mariusz Jop (FC Moscow)- 80 minutes against CSKA Moscow
Adam Kokoszka (Empoli F.C.)- 90 minutes against Frosinone
Marcin Kowalczyk (Dinamo Moscow)- not in the squad against Luch Energiya
Tomasz Jodlowiec (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Jagiellonia, note 6
Piotr Polczak (Cracovia Krakow)- 90 minutes against GKS Belchatow, note 3
Arkadiusz Radomski (NEC Nijmegen)- on the bench against PSV
Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht)- 90 minutes against Lokeren
Jakub Wawrzyniak (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Polonia Bytom, note 5
Grzegorz Wojtkowiak (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Lechia, note 6
Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos Pireus)- 37 minutes against Panathinaikos

Midfielders:

Tomasz Bandrowski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Lechia, note 6
Rafal Boguski (Wisla Krakow)- 69 minutes against LKS Lodz, note 5
Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund)- 45 minutes against HSV
Dariusz Dudka (AJ Auxerre)- 89 minutes against Bordeaux
Lukasz Gargula (GKS Belchatow)- 90 minutes and a goal against Cracovia
Roger Guerreiro (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Polonia Bytom, note 4
Przemysław Kazmierczak (Derby County)- on the bench against Reading
Jacek Krzynowek (VFL Wolfsburg)- 17 minutes against Energie
Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk)- 90 minutes against Tavriya
Wojciech Lobodzinski (Wisla Krakow)- 21 minutes against LKS Lodz, note 4
Radoslaw Majewski (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Jagiellonia, note 4
Rafal Murawski (Lech Poznan)- not in the squad against Lechia
Szymon Pawlowski (Zaglebie Lubin)- 90 minutes against Dolcan
Michal Pazdan (Gornik Zabrze)- 90 minutes against Odra, note 5
Sławomir Peszko (Lech Poznan)- 76 minutes against Lechia, note 5

Attackers:

Pawel Brozek (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutes against LKS Lodz, note 5
Dawid Janczyk (CSKA Moscow)- on the bench against FC Moscow
Michal Janota (Feyenoord Rotterdam)- on the bench against Utrecht
Ireneusz Jelen (AJ Auxerre)- not in the squad against Bordeaux, injury
Robert Lewandowski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes, a goal and an assist against Lechia, note 8
Lukasz Piszczek (Hertha Berlin)- not in the squad against Hoffenheim, injury
Grzegorz Rasiak (Watford)- 72 minutes against Swansea
Marek Saganowski (Aalborg)- 80 minutes against Broendby
Ebi Smolarek (Bolton Wanderers)- 13 minutes against Hull
Artur Wichniarek (Arminia Bielefeld)- 90 minutes against Borussia MG
Tomasz Zahorski (Gornik Zabrze)- 90 minutes against Odra, note 6
Maciej Zurawski (Larissa)- 90 minutes against Ergotelis

Summary: There was a lot of rumours in the Polish press that Lukasz Fabianski would start against ManUtd. Arsene Wenger didn’t share those rumours and opted for Manuel Almunia. I remember writing at the beginning of the season that Fabian would become Arsenal’s nr 1 sooner or later and I still back it up. Almunia is a good keeper, but he’s not excellent; he’s not up there witch Buffons and van der Sars of this world. Fabianski’s situation is different to Jerzy Dudek’s; he can earn a starting spot anytime in the season. This time, however, Wenger was afraid of taking too much risk, if it wasn’t the game against ManUtd Fabianski might have played for the whole 90 minutes. He was faultless in a mid week Champions League game against Fenerbahce. Almunia, on the other hand, made some mistakes in recent games and the Gunners’ defence looked far from well organized. Still, after the win against the Red Devils it seems improbable that Wenger will change anything in the starting lineup. How long can Fabianski wait? End of the season is the deadline, as far as I’m concerned. It would be a huge mistake to spend three seasons in a row on the bench. There was some talk about a loan deal to PSG, but none of the clubs confirmed it. But the sole fact that Fabianski’s name is mentioned in a transfer context shows that the press, the player and the club are all aware that the Polish goalie won’t agree to sit on the bench for another season. I think we’re witnessing the crucial time in Fabian’s career.

Jacek Bak gets controversial. Since Polish players failed to do anything interesting this weekend I decided to translate some extracts from the interview that Jacek Bak gave to Magazyn Sportowy, for all those without an access to the Polish press. An interesting interview that was; since Bak retired from the national team he can now stop beating about the bush and say what’s really on his mind. Here are his most interesting opinions:

About resigning from the national team:

Maybe, at 37, I would be able to play in 2012 World Cup. But what for? To be eliminated after the first round? I’d be stressed out even before the tournament, I wouldn’t know where to run, left or right.

About him not being a tough guy, a charismatic captain:

I never was a star. I couldn’t criticize anybody, I was afraid that I can make the same mistake that the guy I was shouting at just a moment ago. I didn’t want to act like a tough guy. I never applied for the captain’s armband. I agree, however, that sometimes I should’ve said “Shit coach, I don’t like that. Either we play like this and this or I don’t give a shit and won’t play at all. Goodbye ”. I’ve never done something like that.

About the former players/experts, that criticized him during Euro 2008:

I didn’t want to talk to a guy that played five times in the national team and was wise enough to say what I do wrong. This Adamski (Marcin Adamski), what did he do in his career? He played in Rapid for a year and a half, started complaining about the coach and went to play in the French 4th or 5th division. Let’s not be silly (…) Zibi (Zbigniew Boniek) was a great player, but he wasn’t very brave when he managed the national team. A guy with such a renowned name shouldn’t have run away after things gone wrong. Hajto (Tomasz Hajto) is great, eloquent, and he’s right when he says that we fucked up the Euros, but he should also remember about what Pauleta made of him during the World Cup in Korea. Once I got Pauleta’s shirt after the game against PSG and I wanted to make a joke. I wanted to hire a messenger who would deliver the shirt to Hajto’s dressing room. In the end, I came to the conclusion that Tomek’s sense of humour is not that subtle. Kowalczyk I admire, if I had drunk as much as he did I’d be dead by now. He probably has two livers.

About his achievments:

I’m very happy with what I accomplished in the 35 years of my life (…) I played in the Champions League with Lyon and Lens. I scored with an overhead kick against Inter. Not many defenders can say something like that about themselves. I scored against the Italian national team. I’m healthy, I’ve got a great wife, a son, I’ve got enough money. What else can you expect from life?

About Lech Poznan fans:

To be honest, I don’t give a shit about their banners and booing, but I can’t tolerate their behaviour in the hotel. I was assaulted and spilled over with coke.

About Euro 2008:

Tactics was crucial, we weren’t prepared well enough in this respect (…) We played very high up the field as a defence, but we were totally unprepared to do it (…) I won’t, however, criticize the coach now as I didn’t do it when I had a chance to.

About the Polish league:

Firstly, none of the Polish clubs can afford me. Secondly, every player will say that playing in the Polish league is a total degradation.

Biggest personal regret?

Allowing Scholes to score with a header on Wembley.

Biggest success?

Successful covering of Ronaldo in a game against Inter.

Best coach?

Andrzej Strejlau.

His successor in the national team?

When I last time nominated Dariusz Dudka he decided to get so drunk to trigger a national scandal. I’m joking. The only player with a potential for an international career is Kuba Blaszczykowski.

I agree with Bak in almost all respects. It’s a shame that he didn’t have balls to talk with Leo about our defensive strategy at Euros. We all know what happened in games against Germany and Austria. As a captain and the leader of our defence Bak was in a position to question Leo’s ideas. He says, however, that he didn’t want to use a translator since Leo doesn’t understand Polish or English and he doesn’t know English. I hope that Michal Zewlakow knows English well.

Highlights:

Gargula scores from a close range

Another classy finish from Robert Lewandowski