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Squad Watch-Week 11. Saganowski Saves The Saints, Fabianski Has To Prove His Worth.

May 5th, 2008 | By: tomasz | 5 Comments »

In the last weekend before Leo Beenhakker reduces Poland’s Euro squad to 26 names it is Southampton’s Marek Saganowski that uses the opportunity to impress Don Leo. These are also very important weeks for Lukasz Fabianski who is given an extended run in the first squad by Arsene Wenger and must convince him that Arsenal doesn’t need to buy a new keeper in the summer.

Here’s how Poland’s best performed at the weekend:

Goalkeepers:

Artur Boruc (Celtic Glasgow)- 90 minutes against Motherwell
Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal London)- 68 minutes against Everton
Wojciech Kowalewski (Korona Kielce)- 90 minutes against Groclin, note 7
Tomasz Kuszczak (ManUtd)- on the bench against West Ham
Sebastian Przyrowski (Groclin Grodzisk)- 90 minutes against Korona, note 5

Defenders:

Jacek Bak (Austria Vienna)- end of season
Grzegorz Bronowicki (Red Star Belgrade)- not in the squad against Mladosta, injury
Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bucarest)- not in the squad against Dinamo, red card ban
Mariusz Jop (FC Moscow)- 90 minutes against Spartak Nalchik
Adam Kokoszka (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutes against LKS Lodz, note 6
Marcin Kus (Korona Kielce)- not in the squad against Groclin
Tomasz Lisowski (Widzew Lodz)- not in the squad against Zaglebie Sosnowiec
Arkadiusz Radomski (Austria Vienna)- end of season
Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht)- 45 minutes against FC Brugge
Jakub Wawrzyniak (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Ruch, note 6
Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos Pireus)- end of season

Midfielders:

Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund)- 90 minutes against FC Nurnberg
Dariusz Dudka (Wisla Krakow)- not in the squad against LKS Lodz, yellow card ban
Lukasz Gargula (GKS Belchatow)- 90 minutes against Gornik, note 8
Michal Golinski (Zaglebie Lubin)- 56 minutes and a red card against Cracovia, note 0
Kamil Grosicki (FC Sion)- on the bench against St Gallen
Przemysław Kazmierczak (FC Porto)- not in the squad against Nacional Funchal
Kamil Kosowski (Cadiz)- 65 minutes against Racing Ferrol
Jacek Krzynowek (VFL Wolfsburg)- 30 minutes against Bayern
Mariusz Lewandowski (Shachtar Donieck)- 90 minutes and an assist against Kryvbas
Wojciech Lobodzinski (Wisla Krakow)- 71 minutes against LKS Lodz, note 5
Radoslaw Majewski (Groclin Grodzisk)- 60 minutes against Korona, note 5
Rafal Murawski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes and an assist against Jagiellonia, note 7
Michal Pazdan (Gornik Zabrze)- 90 minutes against GKS Bełchatów, note 6
Roger (Legia Warsaw)- not in the squad against Ruch, resting
Marek Zienczuk (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutes, a goal and an assist against LKS Lodz, note 8

Attackers:

Pawel Brozek (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutes and two golas against LKS Lodz, note 8
Dawid Janczyk (CSKA Moscow)- match against Zenit postponed
Radosław Matusiak (Wisla Krakow)- not in the squad against LKS Lodz
Lukasz Piszczek (Hertha Berlin)- 90 minutes against Karlsruher SC
Grzegorz Rasiak (Bolton)- on the bench against Sunderland
Marek Saganowski (Southampton)- 73 minutes and a goal against Sheffield United
Ebi Smolarek (Racing Santander)- 17 minutes against Real Murcia
Artur Wichniarek (Arminia Bielefeld)- 90 minutes against VFL Bochum
Tomasz Zahorski (Gornik Zabrze)- 90 minutes against GKS Bełchatów, note 4
Maciej Zurawski (Larissa)- end of season

Summary: Marek Saganowski has finally made a claim for a place in the Polish Euro squad after he scored a goal to help Southampton avoid relegation (the Saints won 3-2 against Sheffield United). However, this shouldn’t hide the fact that it was only his third of the season and the first one since 22nd of September 2007. Saganowski’s name was the biggest surprise on Poland’s initial Euro squad list. After imressing last year for the Saints (11 goals in 13 matches) this season was horrible for Sagan. He rarely found a place in the first squad and was constantly weakened by minor injuries. As a result, instead of becoming a star in the Championship (like Rasiak) and attracting interest of Premiership clubs he became just a fringe player at Southampton. Is it really enough to go to Euro? Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always appreciated Sagan for the hard work he’s doing on the field and his never-say-die attitude. Moreover, I think that he’s perfectly suited for the Championship level and has a real chance to grow next year. On the other hand, he was never able to leave a mark on the national team (3 goals in 20 matches). His only goals were scored against the likes of Azerbaijan and Faroe Isles (if I remember correctly). He got a chance from Leo in the games against Armenia, Finland or Kazachstan but was unable to get on the scoresheet (and the whole team didn’t look well, remember the first half against the Kazachs?). I know that Leo is looking for a powerful lone striker but considering Sagan’s poor club season I wouldn’t feel confident watching him play for Bialo Czerwoni in June.

It’s a disappointing end of the season for Arsenal as they have nothing left to fight for. However, one player is still battling for his future. It’s the Polish goalkeeping prodigy (hopefully it isn’t an exaggeration) Lukasz Fabianski. Arsene Wenger decided to give Fabian a chance in the last games of the season to show what he’s capable of. Now, you may think that those games won’t change anything in Arsenal goalies’ picking order. You’re wrong; bear in mind that Jens Lehmann is leaving at the end of the season (he waved goodbye to the fans at the weekend). The big question is: will Arsene Wenger buy a new goalie in the summer? There was already some speculation about Gomes from PSV. It is Fabianski’s time to prove to Wenger that he’s ready for a Premiership challenge. Knowing that Arsene has a snake in the pocket (a very big one it has to be said) and that he likes to grow his own talent I see Fabianski as a second choice keeper next year. And a second choice behind Almunia may easily turn into a starting spot, although the Spaniard had a good season. Fabianski did ok in the two games he was given and received positive comments from both Wenger and his coleagues from the Gunners team. The future looks bright for Fabian.

Other than that, no highlights on the part of Poland’s hopefuls. Pawel Brozek scored twice, but he’s no longer concerned as a Euro candidate by Leo. Lukasz Gargula supposedly had a very good game for GKS Belchatow, but I can’t really comment on that as watching GKS Belchatow-Gornik Zabrze game is the last thing I’d think of doing at the weekend. What I thought about at the weekend, however, was how will Don Leo compose his 26 man strong squad for the training camp before the Euro Champs. Here are my guesses on who’s going to be axed from the initial squad (and I’m quite a good expert if you recall my Polish Squad Lotto):
Wojciech Kowalewski (Korona Kielce): does ok for Korona but ok is not enough if your rivals are goalies from Celtic, ManUtd and Arsenal.
Adam Kokoszka (Wisla Krakow): not a regular for Wisla, not as versatile as Wawrzyniak.
Michal Pazdan (Gornik Zabrze): his time will come in four years time (I really trust Leo’s judgement on this boy).
Michal Golinski (Zaglebie Lubin): with an inclusion of Roger the need of a left footed central midfielder is not that great.
Dawid Janczyk (CSKA Moscow): haven’t played since the initial squad was called up, didn’t have a chance to convince Leo.
Marek Saganowski (Southampton): one goal since september is simply not enough.

These are my bets, we’ll see on Wednesday if I can read Leo’s mind once again. What are your guesses, who’ll stay at home?

Highlights: You’ll download Sagan’s goal here , and here are Brozek and Zienczuk’s goals.

Tags: Almunia, Arsenal, Beenhakker, Brozek, Fabianski, Gargula, Golinski, Group A, Janczyk, Kokoszka, Kowalewski, Lehmann, Pazdan, Poland, Saganowski, Southampton, Squad Watch, Wenger

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Comments

By gregorio | May 5th, 2008 at 3:48 pm

the only controversies, i guess, are with the attackers, the rest that shouldn’t be going is fairly predictable, (which means i agree with your types, Tomasz). i don’t know about sagan, it may well be wichniarek, who is to be left out, or piszczek. the former has never really been considered by leo, 45min in a friendly tells a lot. on the other hand, wichniar has an estabilished position and one can easily tell what to expect from him. the latter, having played also as winger, seems not to be the right candidate, position-wise.
the choice is hard because all of the mentioned have scored 1 goal since the shortlist announcement, but if i’m to bet, i bet piszczek and janczyk to stay at home. by the way, isn’t leo going to take only 4 forwards? then also wichniarek should be ommitted.

as for fabiański, i heard the papres weren’t impressed by his play, and that he didn’t seem to confident sometimes. it’s too early to say he’ll be the gunners’ nr 2 next season. until an official statement is given, i’ll hold my fingers crossed.

Posted from Poland

By M. Zurawski | May 6th, 2008 at 9:56 am

In all fairness i thought Fabianski preformed adequately, despite what the papers may say. Earlier in the season when Almunia begun monopolizing the #1 jersey he certainly didn’t impress. Just like it takes most strikers a few touches on the ball before they feel comfortable i think its fair to say it takes a goalie a few touches as well. He should have come out a bit more in the last game, but he did a fair job. Wagner, i think, will not buy another goalie over the summer. Lets hope. As for Almunias hopes of gaining English citizenship and playing for the English national team, i think he’s delusional.

By tomasz | May 6th, 2008 at 9:59 am

The choice between attackers is the hardest one. Matusiak and Janczyk don’t play at all but the former will go to the training camp because he’s one of Leo’s ‘inventions’ and ought to be given a chance for what he’s done in the qualifiers. Piszczek will go, in my opinion, because of his versatility and regular play at the end of the season, but I don’t think he’s good enough to be in the ultimate squad. The biggest rivalry is between Sagan and Wichniar. I’d find it strange if King Artur was eliminated at this point, even Brozek got his final chance. If Leo was to exclude Wichniar after the Czech game why would he include him in the initial squad in the first place? It’s a strange situation. Leo said that he’ll take 3 attackers for Euro but you can always treat Ebi, Zuraw, Piszczek or even Zahorski as midfielders so it’s hard to foresee how many he’ll take for the camp.

Posted from Poland

By tomasz | May 6th, 2008 at 10:05 am

As for Fabianski, I heard some criticism after his game against Derby but we must take into account that it’s a British press. They can crucify Kuszczak and praise Foster after both having a similar game. We must remember that Arsenal had to pay for Fabian and that Lukasz was already an established player with international experience when he went there. It’s not a case of Szczesny who may never play in Arsenal’s first team. The most important fact is that he receives positive reviews from Wenger, that’s what counts, not the press. And Arsenal didn’t lose the season because of the keepers, so I don’t think they splash money on this position (they’d have to pay at least 10M for the likes of Gomes).

Posted from Poland

By gregorio | May 8th, 2008 at 4:49 pm

I hope you guys are right about fabian’s position; it’s just that Wenger may want not to discourage him, that’s why he spreads good opinions about him. but the money argument sounds convincing to me, arsenal has enough blanks to fill (now that flamini letf) to pay Ł10 mln for a goalie.

cheers

Posted from Poland

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