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Squad Watch: Week 2. Artur Wichniarek Already Has Problems At Hertha.
Comments(30)It was a bold move from Artur Wichniarek to return to Hertha Berlin. After all, it is a club that almost ruined his career. The second time around was supposed to be different, Konig Artur was brought to become Hertha’s leading striker. Unfortunately, the first two games weren’t very promising for Artur.
Goalkeepers:
Artur Boruc (Celtic Glasgow)- 90 minutes against Aberdeen
Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal London)- not in the squad against Everton, injury
Tomasz Kuszczak (ManUtd)- on the bench against Birmingham
Sebastian Przyrowski (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Lech, note 5
Lukasz Zaluska (Celtic Glasgow)- on the bench against Aberdeen
Defenders:
Barosz Bosacki (Lech Poznan)- 4 minutes against Polonia
Dariusz Dudka (AJ Auxerre)- on the bench against Lens
Seweryn Gancarczyk (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Polonia, note 5
Kamil Glik (Pisat Gliwice)- 90 minutes and a goal against Zaglebie, note 6
Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bucharest)- 90 minutes against Unirea
Tomasz Jodlowiec (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes and a goal against Lech, note 6
Adam Kokoszka (Empoli F.C.)- 90 minutes against Bari in Coppa Italia
Marcin Komorowski (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Cracovia, note 5
Marcin Kowalczyk (Dinamo Moscow)- 79 minutes against Rostov
Piotr Polczak (Cracovia Krakow)- 90 minutes against Legia, note 5
Jakub Rzezniczak (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Cracovia, note 5
Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht)- 90 minutes against Westerlo
Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos Pireus)- season not yet started
Midfielders:
Tomasz Bandrowski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Polonia, note 5
Rafal Boguski (Wisla Krakow)- not in the squad against GKS Belchatow, injury
Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund)- 90 minutes and an assist against HSV
Roger Guerreiro (Legia Warsaw)- 11 minutes against Cracovia
Grzegorz Krychowiak (Bordeaux Reserves)- started the game against Colomiers
Jacek Krzynowek (Hannover 96)- 75 minutes against HSV
Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk)- no games this weekend
Wojciech Lobodzinski (Wisla Krakow)- 74 minutes and an assist against GKS Belchatow, note 6
Radoslaw Majewski (Nottingham Forest)- 55 minutes against West Brom
Patryk Malecki (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutes against GKS Belcgatow, note 6
Rafal Murawski (Rubin Kazan)- 30 minutes against Terek
Ludovic Obraniak (Lille)- 62 minutes against Marseille
Szymon Pawlowski (Zaglebie Lubin)- not in the squad against Piast, injury
Sławomir Peszko (Lech Poznan)-71 minutes, a goal and a red card against Polonia, note 4
Lukasz Piszczek (Hertha Berlin)- 68 minutes against Borussia M.
Bartosz Salamon (Brescia)- 72 minutes against Reginna in Coppa Italia
Lukasz Tralka (Polonia Warsaw)- 64 minutes against Lech, note 5
Jakub Wilk (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Polonia, note 5
Attackers:
Pawel Brozek (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutes and a goal against GKS Belchatow, note 7
Kamil Grosicki (Jagiellonia)- 86 minutes and an assist against Korona, note 6
Dawid Janczyk (Lokeren)- 35 minutes against St. Truiden
Michal Janota (Excelsior Rotterdam)- 90 minutes and a goal against Den Bosh
Ireneusz Jelen (AJ Auxerre)- not in the squad against Lens, injury
Robert Lewandowski (Lech Poznan)- not in the squad against Polonia, injury
Dawid Nowak (GKS Belchatow)- not in the squad against Wisla, injury
Grzegorz Rasiak (Southampton)- 90 minutes against Huddersfield
Marek Saganowski (Southampton)- on the bench against Huddersfield
Ebi Smolarek (no club)- season not yet started
Lukasz Sosin (Anorthosis Famagusta)- season not yet started
Artur Wichniarek (Hertha Berlin)- 68 minutes against Borussia M.
Maciej Zurawski (Omonia Nicosia)- season not yet started
Summary: It’s only two games, but Artur Wichniarek is already receiving a lot of criticism. He has so far failed to score and was even booed by the Berlin crowd after the first game of the season. There are already rumours about Andriy Voronin returning to Hertha. It all shows that the trust in Konig Artur is not that unshakeable in Berlin. For me this season will show if Wichniarek is only a one club player (Arminia Bielefeld) or whether he can make it on a higher level. His goalscoring record in the Bundesliga is quite good, but he scored almost all the goals for a team that didn’t achieve more than fighting against relegation. He was a perfect example of a big fish in a small pond, this season will show whether he can survive in a bigger pond. It will also show if the whole argument about his absence in the national team is timeworthy. At the moment, he has absolutely no chance of being called up by Leo, he’s resigned from playing for the team himself. However, he’s still got many supporters that would like to see him wearing the white and red and they will voice their opinions once Wichniarek starts scoring. In my opinion Artur deserved a bigger chance in the past, but he’s not needed at the moment. He’s a very good player, but he’s not a saviour that many consider him to be. Moreover, his attitude often proves problematic; Pawel Janas admitted in a recent interview that Wichniar is a bit of a primadonna, he needs constant attention and needs to feel the manager’s constant support. It’s rather impossible to form this kind of relationship in the national team as the coach can manage the players only for a few days before the game. Maybe this explains why Konig Artur was never a success story for the Bialo Czerwoni. Nevertheless, I’d like him to succeed at Hertha; at the same time I don’t think that even the best of performances will open the doors to the national team for him.
Lech Poznan lost their first game in the Ekstraklasa. It’s a rather pessimistic sign before the Thursday meeting with FC Brugge. Kolejorz were without Robert Lewandowski and his absence proved detrimental for them. Lech plays with two strikers upfront nowadays, but had to change their tactics due to Lewy’s absence and started with a single striker (Rengifo). Now it’s clear that they need to play 4-4-2 against the Belgians.
Michal Janota scored his first goal in the Dutch second division. I don’t know how he’s doing there, but at least he’s regularly playing 90 minutes each weekend. Grzegorz Krychowiak, Tomasz Cywka and Tomasz Kupisz should take notice.
Rafal Murawski earned his debut for Rubin Kazan and played for 30 minutes against Terek Grozny. He should be playing regularly from now on, which solves one of our problems before the September qualifiers.
Blazej Augustyn played for 90 minutes in a Coppa Italia game for Catania. Who knows, maybe we’ll be given an opportunity to watch him on Serie A pitches this season. This would be a biggest surprise since Slawomir Wojciechowski’s move to Bayern Munich.
Pawel Brozek claims that he can still leave Krakow in the recent transfer window. The interest from Hannover 96 cooled off, but AS Monaco is the newest club reported to be interested. The French league would be a great destination for Broziu. No new info regarding Ebi Smolarek’s situation is available.
Laurent Koscielny, who was brought to our attention by Zaraza, considers playing for Poland seriously. He was visited by our scout and his family started collecting documents for him to gain the Polish citizenship. I’d have to watch a Lorient game to check if he’s a quality player, though the fact that he plays regularly in France means that he rather is.
Highlights:
Michal Janota’s goal from a penalty spot
Kuba Blaszczykowski’s assist
Goals by Jodlowiec and Peszko in Lech-Polonia (2:4) game
Pawel Brozek’s forst goal of the season here
Kamil Glik scores for Piast Gliwice
Kamil Grosicki’s assist
Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 30 comments.
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Its a joke that Ebi has’nt got a club, it just shows that Polish players are looked down upon and not taken seriously like Wichniarek has said in the past. He’s one of the top goal scorer in the World cup qualifiers for gods sake and has a better goals per minute ratio than anyone else in the competition and that include Torres, Villa, Rooney,and Podolski. Players who play for the “Powers” of europe. I feel sorry for him and support him totally and wish him all the best. I hope he gets the chance to rub peoples faces in it one day by bangin in a couple of goals against the people who have shit on him in the past.
Posted from 
Greece
The Smolarek situation is difficult to fathom.Ebi is a good player and would add needed depth to the national team when he is playing regularly for any club.Maybe a Polish club will take his services.He would look good in a Lech uniform.
The team looked good last game against Greece.Jelen,Kuba,Boruc,Roger,M+R Lewandowski,Obraniak plus I wouldnt toss Ebi,Jancyk or Saganowski for possible future contributions for the national team.Poland is slowly but surely adding to the talent base and if Poland can find a couple of young defensive backs things could become fun.
Go Poland
Posted from 
United States
Good point drewsky. I’m surprised that no Polish team has nabbed him.Why not? He’s got experience if nothing else, and if he plays really well and gets transfered, that’s money for the team. Oh well, I’m sure something will happen. He won’t be jobless forever.
He’s got offers from RB Salzburg, some mid table french clubs, dutch teams, and i think Polish but he knows or atleast thinks he’s above all them. He wants La Liga or Premiere League or nothing. But as the trasnfer window closes I’m sure he’ll cave in to most likely a French or Dutch club.
When does the transfer window close?
End of August? Isn’t it only two months in the summer? It started in July, so I think its end in August.
Ebi would be very fine with a Dutch or French club. Mid-table club would be better than top, with likely more potential to play. If he can find confidence in himself, he should be happy to help improve any number of teams.
Posted from United States
Oh so they really got to get a move on. Also same goes for Brozek if he doesnt want to be stuck till december where he for sure wont be sold.
@SD – He should just go to one of those leagues. No shame there. He may think he’s better than that, but the public and managers don’t since he didn’t play at Bolton (for which ever reason, whether he didn’t cut it in the EPL or if the anti-Polish bias is true). A mid-table French team wouldn’t be a bad idea at all, and if he goes to the Eredivison at least he knows the language there. It may be a bit sentimental to go back to Feyenoord. Before he went on loan to Bolton, didn’t Toulese want him and he publicly turned them down since they were a “regulation team”.. well the finished high enough to make the Europa league this past season if I’m correct. Ebi needs to swallow his pride, at least for this season.
Janas and Beenhakker are both nothing but dancing primadonnas. Wichniarek is the Scythian God who can take this team to the World Cup and beyond. Otherwise dissolve PZPN.
Posted from 
Australia
Socrates, while I agree with the fact that Janas and Beenhakker are primadonnas, you made me laugh with your Wichniarek comment xD.
Posted from 
Netherlands
Let us all have fun then watching Poland qualify for the World Cup 2010.
Posted from Australia
Even if we don’t, it’s not ’cause of the lack of Wichniarek. We have decent strikers and a quite strong midfield, but our defense is balls (Boruc is really our only defense).
Posted from Netherlands
Rasiak is on the bench for a third division team.
Posted from United States
^Ya really? He’s literally the worst player I have ever seen in my entire life.
Posted from Netherlands
Our present strikers (excluding Jelen) are strikers by default only. Wichniarek simply needs focused service and he will score consistently against any defence. Hertha know it and everybody else knows it as well. Wichniarek will start scoring hips for Hertha soon. However, all these dunkoffs will cost Poland a place at the World Cup, that is for sure.
Cheers.
Posted from Australia
Ya ok… First of all hes 32 so he’s getting old and won’t be so amazing for long. Second he craves the spot light and wants to be pampered like a star. A soccer team isn’t about one star its about working together as a team. Leo won’t give him his sole attention so he got pissed off and left the NT. And Jelen got more goals that Artur last season even though Jelen was injured for half the season. Until he cools his ego I don’t want him on the NT.
What SD said. Also strikers are not Poland’s problem. What we need is a consisten defense.
Posted from Netherlands
(Reference the whole Wichniarek NT situation) – There’s no “I” in team but there’s a “U” in Cu*t – Sorry had to say it, thats what my manager would say to greedy selfish Primadonna players when I played, it was a good phrase. Made you learn quick
Posted from Greece
@Wejher
Absolutely brilliant. In Wichniarek case, there’s no “I” in team but there is an “M” and an “E”
Not a bad answer SD. I woudn’t get a headache having both Wichniarek and Jelen on the same project though (Jelen can always play an attacking midfield role). If it comes to player’s personality, it is the coach’s duty and responsibility to utilize the player’s mind to the best effect. A football team does not win if there is no one to score the goals. In my book, in the player psychology department Leo is not even good enough to wipe a donkey’s ass.
Posted from Australia
Woops just realized I posted my reply in wrong post. So now its in the right one.
Ok I will say this, after watching some videos of him on youtube it seems he’s cooled off a little. A couple of years ago his goal celebrations were ridiculous with him kicking and banging his head on the sideline and pulling his shirt up everytime. But last season he was much more mellow with his celebrations. But as long as Leo is coach he aint gonna play on NT cause they just but heads.
What sort of contract has Leo got and why he’s got it? He can’t be sacked and it will be a miracle if the team qualifies for the World Cup under his leadership. And this is the easiest qualifying group that we ever had.
Posted from Australia
The Euros qualifying was I think a bit easier and this qualifying group has completely changed since its drawing. Czechs fell a lot on the rankings which is good but Slovakia,Slovenia and N Ireland have all gotten a lot highger including N Ire passing Poland and I’m not sure if Slovakia did too since Fifa.com is busted. I mean Czechs were supposed to be the favorites and look at them now, they’re 5th place. And the matches against San Marino won’t mater when seeding for best 8 second places. And if you look at the other groups most have two easy teams like Group 2 with Louxemburg n Moldova or Group 6 with Khazakstan and Andorra. Concerning Leo, the whole team wants Leo to stay so don’t PZNP won’t touch him.
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