Squad Watch: Week 2. Pawel Brozek Is Scoring His Way Out Of Poland.

Another two goals this weekend by Pawel Brozek, who’s slowly becoming the hottest transfer item in Poland. It looks as if this is the last season that fans in Poland are able to watch Brozek live. What are the possible transfer destinations for Broziu? Plus news about Robert Lewandowski, Dawid Janczyk and Polish goals from the weekend.

Goalkeepers:

Artur Boruc (Celtic Glasgow)- 90 minutes against St Mirren
Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal London)- 90 minutes against Burnley
Wojciech Kowalewski (Iraklis Thessaloniki)- not in the squad against Panionios
Tomasz Kuszczak (ManUtd)- not in the squad against Fulham
Sebastian Przyrowski (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Wisla, note 6
Lukasz Zaluska (Dundee United)- didn’t play this weekend

Defenders:

Barosz Bosacki (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Jagiellonia, note 6
Dariusz Dudka (AJ Auxerre)- 90 minutes against Rennes
Seweryn Gancarczyk (Metalist Kharkiv)- 90 minutes against FC Lvov
Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bucharest)- 90 minutes against FC Brasov
Adam Kokoszka (Empoli F.C.)- not in the squad against Salernitana, injury
Marcin Komorowski (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes and an assist against Odra, note 6
Marcin Kowalczyk (Dinamo Moscow)- season break
Tomasz Jodlowiec (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Wisla, note 6
Michal Pazdan (Gornik Zabrze)- 90 minutes against Arka, note 5
Piotr Polczak (Cracovia Krakow)- 90 minutes against LKS Lodz, note 4
Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht)- 90 minutes and a goal against Zulte
Jakub Wawrzyniak (Panathinaikos)- 90 minutes against Larissa
Grzegorz Wojtkowiak (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Jagiellonia, note 5
Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos Pireus)- 90 minutes against PAOK

Midfielders:

Tomasz Bandrowski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes and an assist against Jagiellonia, note 7
Rafal Boguski (Wisla Krakow)- 71 minutes against Polonia Warsaw, note 5
Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund)- on the bench against Stuttgart
Roger Guerreiro (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes, a goal and an assist against Odra, note 6
Jacek Krzynowek (Hannover 96)- 70 minutes against Bayern
Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk)- 90 minutes against Dnipro
Wojciech Lobodzinski (Wisla Krakow)- on the bench against Polonia Warsaw
Radoslaw Majewski (Polonia Warsaw)- 71 minutes against Wisla, note 5
Rafal Murawski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Jagiellonia, note 6
Szymon Pawlowski (Zaglebie Lubin)- mid season break
Sławomir Peszko (Lech Poznan)- not in the squad against Jagiellonia, injury
Bartosz Salamon (Brescia)-not in the squad against Rimini
Lukasz Tralka (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Wisla, note 5

Attackers:

Pawel Brozek (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutes and two goals against Polonia Warsaw, note 8
Dawid Janczyk (Lokeren)- 28 minutes and a goal against Kortrijk
Michal Janota (Feyenoord Rotterdam)- not in the squad against Breda
Ireneusz Jelen (AJ Auxerre)- 73 minutes against Rennes
Robert Lewandowski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes and a goal against Jagiellonia, note 7
Lukasz Piszczek (Hertha Berlin)- not in the squad against Cottbus, injury
Grzegorz Rasiak (Watford)- 50 minutes and a goal against Charlton
Marek Saganowski (Southampton)- 90 minutes against Birmingham
Ebi Smolarek (Bolton Wanderers)- didn’t play this weekend
Artur Wichniarek (Arminia Bielefeld)- not in the squad against Eintracht, injury
Tomasz Zahorski (Gornik Zabrze)- 45 minutes against Arka, note 4
Maciej Zurawski (Larissa)- 90 minutes against Panathinaikos

Summary: Pawel Brozek is Wisla Krakow, simple as that. When Broziu finds the net, Wisla wins, when he fails to do that, Biala Gwiazda has a lot of problems. This time Brozek delivered; he scored twice in the game against Polonia Warsaw and is on the best way to become Ekstraklasa’s top goalscorer for the second season in a row. He’s described by most players as the one playing above the usual Polish league’s level. This season he’s finally earned respect from Leo Beenhakker and became Poland’s starting striker. He’s most likely to be our sole striker against Northern Ireland. What can it all lead to? A transfer abroad seems to be the natural consequence of Brozek’s two great seasons. The forever young and talented Pawel Brozek is already twenty six; the time seems right to test yourself elsewhere. Brozek shouldn’t repeat Magic Zurawski’s mistake, who left Poland at least two years too late. Zuraw managed only to have one great season abroad, Brozek has an opportunity to have at least three. Together with his manager they openly state that they’ll consider offers in the summer, the transfer should be worth around 3M€. The crucial question is what kind of offer should Broziu choose? I would stay as far away from the Premiership and SPL as possible. I know that Premiership clubs would easily be able to satisfy Wisla’s financial demands (there was already some speculation about West Ham), but such a move would be deadly for Broziu. I can’t imagine a player of his physique to conquer the Premiership, just look at Ebi Smolarek. I was very happy to hear that Primera Division is Broziu’s favourite league, the only problem is that Spanish mid table clubs (I think only those would consider buying Brozek) very rarely spend 3M€ on a player. What we’re left with then? Bundesliga might be a good option if a good club comes knocking. By good I mean the likes of HSV, Stuttgart or Dortmund; I don’t think it would be a good idea to fight against relegation your first season abroad. France is also an interesting option, a club from the upper part of the table would be a good destination for Brozek. Serie A? I’m not convinced, especially after Matusiak’s spell at Palermo. The tactical gap may prove too big for a player straight from Ekstraklasa. Finally, top teams from Holland (Ajax, PSV), Portugal (Porto, Sporting, Benfica) or Russia (CSKA, Rubin, Spartak) may be interested. This would give Brozek the opportunity to play in the Champions League sooner or later, but at the same time he wouldn’t play against Europe’s top clubs week in, week out. Personally, I’d like to have an opportunity to watch him regularly in a more respected league. The upcoming summer should bring one of the most exciting transfer sagas in Ekstraklasa’s history. The player who’s been the hope of Polish football for the last eight years will finally leave the motherland. What destination would you choose for Broziu?

Robert Lewandowski proves not to be a one round wonder and started scoring regularly immediately after the winter break. Nice to see our strikers in form before the upcoming qualifiers. Lewy is also highly tipped for a transfer this summer, but I’m not entirely convinced if it’s the right time for him to be honest. In case of Lech’s winning the league I think he should stay and help Kolejorz in CL qualifiers. We all saw against Udinese that Lewy may still find it hard to compete against top clubs on weekly basis. On the other hand, the younger he is the more expensive he’ll be.

Dawid Janczyk is a player that left Poland early and whose career didn’t go as good as everyone expected. Now he’s trying to rebuild his form at Lokeren and, even though he starts his games on the bench, he managed to score twice in four outings. Moussa Maazou, Lokeren’s starting striker, has 14 goals to his name so it’s not a surprise that Janczyk must wait a bit longer for his chance. What’s interesting, Maazou has just been acquired by CSKA Moscow, the club that Janczyk is loaned out from. What does it mean for our starlet? First of all, I don’t think Janczyk will be called back in the summer as Maazou is bound to get a chance in Moscow and I didn’t here of Vagner Love moving anywhere. CSKA just doesn’t need Janczyk at the moment. The key to Janczyk’s success now? Use every possible opportunity at Lokeren to prove worthy of replacing Maazou next season (Janczyk is loaned out till the end of 2009). Then, using individual training sessions with Wlodzimierz Lubanski, become Lokeren’s top goalscorer. Return to CSKA as a respected player or choose an offer from a club that is convinced of your abilities. Hopefully, 2009 will be the year when Janczyk saves his international career.

Good news from all over Europe, just look at our starting eleven: Boruc (regular at Celtic)- Wasilewski (regular at Anderlecht), Zewlakow (plays rather regularly), Dudka (started last three games for Auxerre), Wawrzyniak (regular at Panathinaikos)- M.Lewandowski (starts playing regularly for Shakhtar), Murawski (regular for Lech), Krzynowek (regular for Hannover), Blaszczykowski (already on the bench, should return next week), Roger (regular at Legia)- Brozek (regular at Wisla). We should be in shape for Northern Ireland. The only important player missing games is currently Ebi Smolarek. Not to get too optimistic, Lukasz Piszczek injured himself once again and will miss further two weeks of training. Hopefully, he’ll end the season as the Bundesliga champion.

Ludovic Obraniak’s citizenship case is in full motion. The soon to be Bialo Czerwony is to hand in two last documents in Lille’s consulate today. The papers should reach Poland until the end of the month, then it shouldn’t take our president more than 3-4 months to grant Obraniak Polish citizenship (as was the case with Oilisadebe and Roger). If everything goes according to plan Obraniak may earn his first cap in one of our summer’s friendlies.

Finally, today’s Przeglad Sportowy speculates that Ireneusz Jelen will be called up for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. I’d like their source of information to prove trustworthy.

Highlights: Brozek’s double against Polonia

Robert Lewandowski earns another three points for Lech

Roger scores against Odra

Dawid Janczyk’s nice goal for Lokeren

Wasyl’s trademark header

Wow, Grzegorz Rasiak has a talent for spectacular goals