Squad Watch: Week 11. We Are The Champions.

May 24th, 2011 | by: tomasz | Comments(34)

The national team earns poor results and has no style, but at least Polish players abroad achieve a very respectable amount of success. After a week ago Jakub Błaszczykowski, Łukasz Piszczek and Robert Lewandowski celebrated the Bundesliga championship, this weekend Ludo Obraniak’s goal was the first step for Lille to claim the French Ligue 1 title. In Turkey, Arek Głowacki and the Brożek twins were a whisker away from winning the local championship (they lost to Trabzonspor only on goal difference). What does it all mean? We’ll have an exciting Champions League next season, even if Wisła Kraków doesn’t qualify.

Goalkeepers:

Artur Boruc (Fiorentina): not in the squad against Brescia
Tomasz Kuszczak (ManUtd): not in the squad against Blackpool
Sebastian Małkowski (Lechia Gdańsk): on the bench against Lech
Grzegorz Sandomierski (Jagiellonia Bialystok): 90 minutes against Korona, note 7
Wojciech Szczęsny (Arsenal London): 90 minutes against Fulham
Przemyslaw Tytoń (Roda Kerkrade): no in the squad against ADO, injury
Łukasz Załuska (Celtic Glasgow): on the bench against Motherwell in the cup final

Defenders:

Blażej Augustyn (Catania): on the bench against Inter
Piotr Brożek (Trabzonspor): 90 minutes against Karabukspor
Piotr Celeban (Śląsk Wrocław): 90 minutes against Górnik, note 6
Dariusz Dudka (AJ Auxerre): 90 minutes against Brest
Kamil Glik (Bari): not in the squad against Bologna, red card ban
Arkadiusz Głowacki (Trabzonspor): not in the squad against Karabukspor
Tomasz Jodłowiec (Polonia Warsaw): 90 minutes against Ruch, note 6
Marcin Kikut (Lech Poznań): not in the squad against Lechia, injury
Łukasz Piszczek (Borussia Dortmund): no match
Jakub Rzeźniczak (Legia Warsaw): 90 minutes against Wisła, note 6
Maciej Sadlok (Polonia Warsaw): 90 minutes against Ruch, note 5
Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht): no match
Grzegorz Wojtkowiak (Lech Poznań): 90 minutes against Lechia, note 5
Hubert Wołąkiewicz (Lech Poznań): 90 minutes against Lechia, note 6
Michał Żewłakow (free transfer): cancelled his contract with Ankaragucu

Midfielders:

Tomasz Bandrowski (Lech Poznan): not in the squad against Lechia, injury
Jakub Błaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund): no match
Ariel Borysiuk (Legia Warsaw): not in the squad against Wisła
Mateusz Cetnarski (GKS Belchatow): 90 minutes against Zagłębie, note 4
Tomasz Cywka (Derby County): no match
Janusz Gol (Legia Warsaw): 90 minutes against Wisła, note 6
Roger Guerreiro (AEK Athens): 87 minutes against Olympiakos Volos
Maciej Iwański (Manisaspor): not in the squad against Istanbul BB, injury
Jacek Kiełb (Lech Poznań): 11 minutes against Lechia
Tomasz Kupisz (Jagiellonia Bialystok): 90 minutes and two goals against Korona, note 8
Grzegorz Krychowiak (Stade Reims): 32 minutes against Evian
Radosław Majewski (Nottingham Forest): no match
Patryk Małecki (Wisla Krakow): 90 minutes against Legia, note 6
Adam Matuszczyk (FC Koeln): no match
Adrian Mierzejewski (Polonia Warsaw): 90 minutes and two assists against Ruch, note 7
Rafał Murawski (Lech Poznań): 90 minutes against Lechia, note 5
Ludovic Obraniak (Lille): 74 minutes and a goal against PSG
Sławomir Peszko (FC Koeln): no match
Maciej Rybus (Legia Warsaw): 68 minutes against Wisła, note 5
Bartosz Salamon (Foggia): no match
Cezary Wilk (Wisła Kraków): not in the squad against Legia

Attackers:

Paweł Brożek (Trabzonspor): 56 minutes against Karabukspor
Kamil Grosicki (Sivasspor): 90 minutes against Fenerbahce
Michał Janota (Go Ahead Eagles): no match
Ireneusz Jeleń (AJ Auxerre): not in the squad against Brest, injury
Michał Kucharczyk (Legia Warsaw): 86 minutes against Wisła, note 5
Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund): no match
Andrzej Niedzielan (Korona Kielce): 90 minutes against Jagiellonia, note 2
Dawid Nowak (GKS Belchatow): 78 minutes against Zagłębie, note 6
Szymon Pawłowski (Zagłębie Lubin): 90 minutes against Bełchatów, note 6
Dawid Plizga (Zagłębie Lubin): 76 minutes and a goal against Bełchatów, note 7
Marcin Robak (Konyaspor): 90 minutes against Galatasaray
Ebi Smolarek (Polonia Warsaw): 90 minutes and a goal against Ruch, note 6
Artur Sobiech (Polonia Warsaw): not in the squad against Ruch, injury

Summary: I’ve already written a lot about Dortmund’s performances this season. This was one of the most joyful teams to watch in Europe and the Polish element made their games even more exciting. What’s best, our trio didn’t serve the Tomasz Kuszczak role in Dortmund, but were one of the most important elements in Borussia’s championship campaign. I’ve seen many Dortmund games this season and I hope I can judge our players’ input rightly:

Łukasz Piszczek (33 games, 2662 minutes, 0 goals, 7 assists, 3,09 average rating in Kicker): the biggest success story in Polish football this season. Came to Dortmund as a rotation player of the relegated Hertha Berlin and was supposed to fill the same spot in his new club, if not play even less time. What we didn’t know was the fact that Piszczek’s transfer was carried out due to Jurgen Klopp’s personal request. There is no better proof of manager’s trust in player’s skills. In the beginning of the season Łukasz was playing every second game, but an injury to Patrick Owomoyela meant that he naturally became Borussia’s starting right back. And he flourished incredibly when he got the starting spot. I think I wrote it before, but I’ve never seen such a good, offensive minded Polish right back. Whether it was Gotze or Kuba, Piszczek cooperated with them flawlessly, made himself available for forward passes and one two plays and usually finished his moves with a driven cross. Seven assists is an incredible result for a full back. In the national team Piszczek had no problems to win himself a place in the starting lineup and became our most reliable defender. There is no doubt that he’ll stay in Dortmund next season and earn CL experience. The only drawback of the season was the corruption scandal Piszczek was involved at Zagłębie Lubin, but he already announced that he has no plans of resigning from the national team.

Jakub Błaszczykowski (29 games, 1528 minutes, 3 goals, 4 assists, 3,56 average rating in Kicker): was the biggest Polish star at Borussia in the beginning of the season, but in the end he was used as a squad rotation player due to Mario Gotze’s emergence as the brightest prospect in German football. Kuba didn’t make a huge step forward, didn’t improve his game as much as Piszczek or his other teammates and wasn’t the leader of the team he was in the previous seasons. Nevertheless, his cooperation with Piszczek had to bring a smile to Polish fans’ faces. There’s hope that next season Kuba will get even more playing time, not only because of the CL involvement. There is little chance of replacing Gotze on the right wing, but Nuri Sahin’s transfer to Madrid may mean that the young German will be used more often in the middle of the field, just like in Dortmund’s last game of the season. This would mean a place for Kuba on the right wing. Finally, it was a good season for Błaszczykowski in terms of injury problems. Hopefully, his body got used to the aggresive style of the Bundesliga.

Robert Lewandowski (33 games, 1586 minutes, 8 goals, 3 assists, 3,58 average rating in Kicker): the former biggest star of the Ekstraklasa had a good first season on the German pitches. Maybe Lewy wasn’t spectacular and didn’t make the jaws drop, but he confirmed that Dormund made a good decision to acquire him from Lech Poznań. In the first half of the season he played the role of the joker and managed to score a handful of goals after coming on from the bench. In 2011, after Shinji Kagawa’s injury, Lewy became a starter for Dortmund, though he had to be satisfied with a link up player role, as he played in the spot between Lucas Barrios and the midfield. His goal tally isn’t impressive, but he clerly improved his first touch, long shot and keeping the ball under pressure. The only irritating disadvantage that Lewy can’t eliminate is his lack of effectiveness in front of goal. He could, and should, score more than eight goals in the league. Next season, provided Barrios and Kagawa stay, he should be the first offensive player to come off the bench and start at least half of the games for Dortmund. Definitely our biggest attacking prospect.

It was a crazy fortnight in the career of Ludovic Obraniak. After a disapponting season marked by poor form and beng warming, Ludo scored two most important Lille goals this season. At least he’ll be remembered for something this season; when you look at Ludo’s numbers they are far from impressive (26 games, but only 5 in the starting lineup, 2 goals and 2 assists). Obraniak lost the rivalry with Gervinho, Moussa Sow and Eden Hazard, one of the biggest young talents in Europe. He accepted his role in the team without controversy, but will have to move in order to play more next season (there is no sign that Lille will sell their stars, especially with CL in perspective). It was visible in the recent national team games that, in the long run, bench warming has a very negative form on Ludo. I hope he’ll have no problems finding a mid table club in France or Germany that would make him prepared 100% for the Euros.

Finally, the Polish trio at Trabzonspor were extremely close to winning the Turkish championship in their first season in Turkey. Arkadiusz Głowacki couldn’t establish himself as much as he’d like to in Trabzon due to injury problems. Still, when he was 100% healthy he usually had a stable place in the starting lineup. Trabzonspor’s good results meant that Głowacki returned to the national team. The Brożek twins took much time to assimilate in Turkey; Piotr was faster as he played every second game on the left back position (he also had some injury problems). If he continues to play regularly next season Smuda will have no other choice but to call him up. Paweł won himself a place in the lineup during the last stages of the season. He only scored two goals, but showed enough promise to stay in Trabzon for the next season. He’ll probably be used in squad rotation system.

Other news:

- Koeln publicly announced Sławomir Peszko’s financial demands (he wanted to earn 50% more after only half a year at the club). This means that Peszko won’t probably stay at Koeln. His manager, Andrzej Grajewski, says that they have lots of other offers, but he may only be bluffing to earn a better negotiating position. In my opinion, to move clubs so frequently is an idiotic move from Peszko.
- Lech Poznań won’t play in Europe next season, which means that the ranking points they scored this year will account for nothing next term. Kolejorz will sell at least one of their star players (most likely Semir Stilic) and probably won’t invest a lot of money in incoming transfers. This will stop the club’s development for a year.
- Slovakia’s national team coach Vladimir Weiss may manage Legia Warsaw next season. He’s a very successful manager and a good choice, if it wasn’t for the fact that he wants to manage Slovakia at the same time. That’s a huge risk for Legia.
- Wisła is interested in strengthening their defensive line with Marcin Wasilewski. Sounds like they want to improve the Polish element in the team. Wasyl is clearly good enough to aid Wisła in their CL campaign. Knowing Smuda’s reluctance to travel, this move may also be his only chance to return to the national team.
- Jerzy Dudek played his last game for Real and received a farewell worthy of a champion.

Highlights:

Tomasz Kupisz scores twice for Jagiellonia

Ebi Smolarek’s goal for Polonia and two assists from Adrian Mierzejewski