Squad Watch: Week 12. Wichniarek’s Case Officially Closed.

Artur Wichniarek scored his ninth Bundesliga goal, yet there are less and less voices asking for a call up for the Bielefeld striker. What’s the reason behind it? Answer after a click.

Polish performances this weekend:

Goalkeepers:

Artur Boruc (Celtic Glasgow)- 90 minutes against St Mirren
Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal London)- on the bench against ManCity
Wojciech Kowalewski (Iraklis Thessaloniki)- 90 minutes against Olympiakos
Tomasz Kuszczak (ManUtd)- on the bench against Aston Villa
Sebastian Przyrowski (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Gornik, note 6
Lukasz Zaluska (Dundee United)- 90 minutes against Hamilton

Defenders:

Barosz Bosacki (Lech Poznan)- on the bench against Cracovia
Grzegorz Bronowicki (Red Star Belgrade)- not in the squad against Javor, injury
Seweryn Gancarczyk (Metalist Kharkiv)- 90 minutes and a goal against Zorja
Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bucharest)- 90 minutes against U.Craiova
Mariusz Jop (FC Moscow)- 90 minutes against Luch Energya
Adam Kokoszka (Empoli F.C.)- 90 minutes against Treviso
Marcin Kowalczyk (Dinamo Moscow)- didn’t play against Tomsk
Tomasz Jodlowiec (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Gornik, note 5
Piotr Polczak (Cracovia Krakow)- 90 minutes against Lech, note 6
Arkadiusz Radomski (NEC Nijmegen)- on the bench against Breda
Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht)- not in the squad against Westerlo, yellow card ban
Jakub Wawrzyniak (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Ruch, note 7
Grzegorz Wojtkowiak (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Cracovia, note 6
Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos Pireus)- not in the squad against Iraklis, injury

Midfielders:

Tomasz Bandrowski (Lech Poznan)- 5 minutes against Cracovia
Rafal Boguski (Wisla Krakow)- 65 minutes against Slask, note 5
Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund)- 89 minutes against Karlsruher
Dariusz Dudka (AJ Auxerre)- on the bench against Caen
Lukasz Gargula (GKS Belchatow)- 90 minutes and a goal against Jagiellonia, note 7
Roger Guerreiro (Legia Warsaw)- 45 minutes against Ruch, note 6
Przemysław Kazmierczak (Derby County)- 50 minutes against Ipswich
Jacek Krzynowek (VFL Wolfsburg)- 45 minutes against VFB Stuttgart
Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk)- not in the squad against FC Lviv
Wojciech Lobodzinski (Wisla Krakow)- 25 minutes against Slask, note 4
Radoslaw Majewski (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Gornik, note 6
Rafal Murawski (Lech Poznan)- not in the squad against Cracovia, injury
Szymon Pawlowski (Zaglebie Lubin)- mid season break
Michal Pazdan (Gornik Zabrze)- 90 minutes against Polonia Warsaw, note 5
Sławomir Peszko (Lech Poznan)- 85 minutes against Cracovia, note 5

Attackers:

Pawel Brozek (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutes against Slask, note 5
Dawid Janczyk (CSKA Moscow)- 16 minutes against Shinnik
Michal Janota (Feyenoord Rotterdam)- on the bench against Den Haag
Ireneusz Jelen (AJ Auxerre)- not in the squad against Caen, injury
Robert Lewandowski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Cracovia, note 5
Lukasz Piszczek (Hertha Berlin)- not in the squad against Bochum, injury
Grzegorz Rasiak (Watford)- not in the squad against QPR
Marek Saganowski (Aalborg)- 57 minutes against Vejle
Ebi Smolarek (Bolton Wanderers)- 6 minutes against Middlesbrough
Artur Wichniarek (Arminia Bielefeld)- 89 minutes and a goal against Bayer
Tomasz Zahorski (Gornik Zabrze)- 90 minutes against Polonia Warsaw, note 4
Maciej Zurawski (Larissa)- 90 minutes against Ergotelis

Summary: Is it me or did the discussion about Artur Wichniarek’s call up to the national team simply die out? Normally, after King Artur’s goals there would be at least five different journalists writing about how Wichniarek is needed by the national team. Can we say we’re officially through with Wichniar’s turmoil? I feel that the answer is yes. First of all, Leo Beenhakker was very consistent in his decision not to include the Bielefeld’s legend in the squad. Most of the coaches would call up the Bundesliga star, just for the sake of good relationship with press. Leo was stubborn with this one. Secondly, Wichniarek, a temperamental player he is, resigned himself from playing for the national team (an absurd situation as he resigned from something he didn’t have). Still, the Wichniarek case wasn’t closed at that point. What did finally close it were performances by both Pawel Brozek and Robert Lewandowski for the national team. The Wisla goal machine proved that he can bear the position of the starting striker for the Bialo Czerwoni. He played well in the last three games, earning a goal and an assist in the process. He’s also matured tactically; his movement is much better nowadays, he simply learnt how to play as a lone striker. Brozek is currently the best player of the Ekstraklasa and Leo simply has no choice but to keep calling him up. Robert Lewandowski is the biggest striking talent in Poland. His scoring rate is exceptional; he managed to score regularly in the league, European and international competition. I fail to remember any other player with such impressive entrance to the professional football (maybe Wojciech Kowalczyk and Andrzej Juskowiak at the beginning of the 90s, later Marek Saganowski to some extend). Anyone who would now say that it’s still too early for Lewandowski to play for the Bialo Czerwoni would be called a heretic. Currently, we’ve got two strikers whose position in the national team is very strong. Remember, we play with a lone striker, so one of them still has to end up on the bench. That’s why the third striker can’t be anyone who’d expect to play in the starting lineup (Wichniarek). This can be a player like Saganowski, Sosin, Janczyk, Zahorski or Dawid Nowak; a striker that knows his place in the pecking order. It’s the good form of both Brozek and Robert Lewandowski that ended the discussion about Konig Artur.

Radoslaw Majewski is having a poorer season than anyone expected. The most talented Polish playmaker plays well, but he doesn’t play exceptionally well. He’s yet to score his first goal of the season. This weekend, Polonia’s coach (Jacek Zielinski) decided to change his position; Majewski played the whole game on the right wing. Is it a good idea? The player himself states that he feels best in the centre, but the coach praised him for his performance on the wing. Personally, I think Majewski is a born playmaker. His main attribute is the ability to play a surprising diagonal pass, he’s also too slow for a winger as far as I’m concerned. Still, Majewski is facing a huge problem in terms of the national team if he doesn’t progress. Roger and Lukasz Gargula are ahead of him when we consider central attacking midfielders, whereas Kuba Blaszczykowski, Rafal Boguski and Slawomir Peszko will probably monopolize the right wing for the next year. What’s the future for Majewski then? We’ll see where Beenhakker sees him during the friendly against Serbia. Time to make that leap forward Radek.

Jacek Krzynowek managed to play for the whole second half for Wolfsburg, his longest performance of the season. Is it a sign of better times to come or just an exception? To be honest, regardless of what it is, Krzyniu must change a club in the forthcoming transfer window. He still has something to offer to the national team, but he performs best when playing regularly for his club. I hope that recent performances for Wolfsburg will put his name on the transfer market and earn him a deal. Anywhere where he can play week in week out.

Highlights:

A classy finish from Artur Wichniarek

Goals from Dawid Nowak and Lukasz Gargula

A well taken free kick from Seweryn Gancarczyk