Squad Watch: Week 4. Robert Lewandowski Is On Fire.

This weekend the most important event in Polish football was the game between Wisla Krakow and Lech Poznan, in which almost a half of Bialo Czerwoni squad took part. Lech won 4-1 after a great game and a brace by Robert Lewandowski. The 20 year old striker can now officially be called the biggest talent in the Polish league. Kuba Blaszczykowski had another impressive performance for Dortmund provoking to red cards for Schalke players.

This how Bialo Czerwoni performed this weekend:

Goalkeepers:

Artur Boruc (Celtic Glasgow)- 90 minutes against Motherwell
Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal London)- on the bench against Blackburn
Wojciech Kowalewski (Iraklis Thessaloniki)- 90 minutes against OFI Crete
Tomasz Kuszczak (ManUtd)- on the bench against Liverpool
Mariusz Pawelek (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutes against Lech Poznan, note 2
Sebastian Przyrowski (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Polonia Bytom, note 6
Lukasz Zaluska (Dundee United)- 90 minutes against Hibernian

Defenders:

Barosz Bosacki (Lech Poznan)- not in the squad against Wisla, injury
Grzegorz Bronowicki (Red Star Belgrade)- not in the squad against Cukaricki, injury
Seweryn Gancarczyk (Metalist Kharkiv)- no game
Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bucharest)- not in the squad against Farul Constanta, injury
Mariusz Jop (FC Moscow)- not in the squad against Spartak Moscow
Adam Kokoszka (Empoli F.C.)- illegible to play
Marcin Kowalczyk (Dinamo Moscow)- 21 minutes against Rubin
Tomasz Jodlowiec (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Polonia Bytom, note 7
Piotr Polczak (Cracovia Krakow)- 90 minutes against Ruch Chorzow, note 6
Arkadiusz Radomski (NEC Nijmegen)- 85 minutes against Twente
Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht)- 90 minutes and a goal against Mons Bergen
Jakub Wawrzyniak (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Arka, note 6
Grzegorz Wojtkowiak (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Wisla, note 7
Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos Pireus)- 90 minutes against Skoda Xanthi

Midfielders:

Tomasz Bandrowski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes and a goal against Wisla, note 7
Rafal Boguski (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutes and a goal against Lech, note 6
Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund)- 90 minutes against Schalke
Dariusz Dudka (AJ Auxerre)- on the bench against Nancy
Lukasz Gargula (GKS Belchatow)- 85 minutes and an assist against Slask Wroclaw
Roger Guerreiro (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Arka, note 5
Przemysław Kazmierczak (Derby County)- 45 minutes against Sheffield United
Jacek Krzynowek (VFL Wolfsburg)- not in the squad against Hertha Berlin
Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk)- no game
Wojciech Lobodzinski (Wisla Krakow)- 45 minutes against Lech, note 3
Radoslaw Majewski (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes and an assist against Polonia Bytom, note 7
Rafal Murawski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes and a goal against Wisla, note 8
Szymon Pawlowski (Zaglebie Lubin)- 90 minutes against Znicz
Michal Pazdan (Gornik Zabrze)- 45 minutes against Piast, note 6
Sławomir Peszko (Lech Poznan)- 64 minutes and an assist against Wisla, note 7

Attackers:

Pawel Brozek (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutes against Lech, note 4
Dawid Janczyk (CSKA Moscow)- on the bench against Luch Energiya
Michal Janota (Feyenoord Rotterdam)- 5 minutes against Volendam
Ireneusz Jelen (AJ Auxerre)- 90 minutes against Nancy
Robert Lewandowski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes and two goals against Wisla, note 8
Lukasz Piszczek (Hertha Berlin)- 8 minutes against Wolfsburg
Grzegorz Rasiak (Watford)- not in the squad against Sheffield Wednesday, injury
Marek Saganowski (Aalborg)- 28 minutes against AGF Aarhus
Ebi Smolarek (Bolton Wanderers)- not in the squad against Fulham
Artur Wichniarek (Arminia Bielefeld)- 90 minutes against Bochum
Tomasz Zahorski (Gornik Zabrze)- 90 minutes against Piast, note 6
Maciej Zurawski (Larissa)- not in the squad against Asteras, injury

Summary: I watched the Wisla-Lech game mainly to check if the hype surrounding Robert Lewandowski at the moment is justified. It is. Lewandowski played as a lone striker for Lech and did great. I’m not only talking about the goals (though they’re obviously crucial), but about movement, aggresiveness, speed and the ability to keep the ball. I’m really surprised that Leo voiced concerns about him playing alone upfront. Lewandowski didn’t have problems with playing with his back to the goal. He was able to pass the ball to wingers, wait for teammates, earn a foul or just dribble past defenders. The guy is incredibly dynamic. At 20 he can only get better and better. We should, however, bear in mind that Lewandowski won’t play in each single game as Franz Smuda uses rotation in attack (Lewandowski, Rengifo, Reiss). I think that’s a good idea, let’s give the guy a rest from time to time, he’s still too young to play twice a week. Other Lech national team players (Wojtkowiak, Bandrowski, Murawski) also did much better than for Poland. Murawski is Lech’s jersey is just a different kind of player; confident, taking risk, shouting at others. It’s such a shame that he loses these abilities when playing with an eagle on his chest. Bandrowski was also playing a more offensive role than in national team colours. As always, he kept the ball well, but also took part in many counters and scored after Pawelek’s mistake. As for Wisla players, Pawel Brozek had a rather poor game. He wasn’t given enough support from the midfield and was unable to create anything all by himself. Rafal Boguski was one of the most active Wisla players, especially in the second half. The goal he scored was no coincidence. Wojciech Lobodzinski, on the other hand, is one of the poorest Wisla players at the moment; he poses no threat at all. In such form he shouldn’t be considered by Leo as worthy of wearing a national team jersey.

A Polish star of the Bundesliga is rising in front of our eyes. Jakub Blaszczykowski was one of the heroes of a derby game against Schalke. He was just too good for Schalke defenders, there was no other way to stop him but constant fouling. Kuba ‘earned’ two red cards for Schalke players and a penalty for Dortmund. What I like most about Blaszczykowski is that his style of play is so unPolish. By this I mean that he’s a dynamic dribbler, a type of player we associate with South America, Spain or Portugal. We had some good players in the Bundesliga in the last decade (Matysek, Hajto, Waldoch, Krzynowek in Leverkusen, Wichniarek or Ebi), but I think Kuba may be the most influential Pole since Piotr Nowak in TSV 1860 Munich. This is a season where he should earn a star status at Dortmund.

Something bad is happening to Dariusz Dudka. First the drinking and now losing a place in Auxerre’s starting lineup. This was Dudka’s secong game in a row on the bench. Something that I really didn’t expect at the start of the season. Dudka did well in Euros, Auxerre paid good money for him, he played in almost all friendlies. Unfortunately, he was far from impressive in the league games. Will this be another case of a Polish failure abroad or does Dudka just need more time to switch to a different style? Let’s hope for the latter, but still his situation is quite worrisome.

Marcin Wasilewski scored for Anderlecht. Wasyl was well known for his scoring abilities in the past but has lately failed to confirm them. Good that he’s finally reminded everybody how dangerous he can be in the box. I demand a replay against the Czechs.

Finally, Lukasz Gargula has returned from injury. In the wake of Roger’s poor form that’s a very good information. Let’s keep an eye on him.

Highlights:

Wisla vs Lech with goals from Robert Lewandowski, Murawski, Bandrowski and Boguski

Kuba Blaszczykowski vs Schalke

Marcin Wasilewski scores for Anderlecht