Squad Watch- Week 4.

Here is the new, compact version of the Squad Watch. It’s getting closer and closer to the Euro Champs and the number of Euro candidates is getting smaller and smaller. I’ve decided to keep track of the thirty players called up by Leo for the USA game plus the ones that I personally think are worth keeping an eye on.

Here is how high the Eagles flew last weekend:

Goalkeepers:

Artur Boruc (Celtic Glasgow)- match against Motherwell postponed
Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal London)- not in the squad against Middlesbrough
Wojciech Kowalewski (Korona Kielce)- 90 minutes against Polonia Bytom, note 6
Tomasz Kuszczak (ManUtd)- not in the squad against Derby, suspension
Sebastian Przyrowski (Groclin Grodzisk)- 90 minutes against LKS, note 5

Defenders:

Jacek Bak (Austria Vienna)- 90 minutes against Austria Kaernten
Grzegorz Bronowicki (Red Star Belgrade)- 90 minutes against OFK Belgrade
Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bucarest)- 90 minutes against Unirea Urziceni
Mariusz Jop (FC Moscow)- on the bench against Luch Energiya
Adam Kokoszka (Wisla Cracow)- not in the squad against Lech, injury
Marcin Kus (Korona Kielce)- not in the squad against Polonia Bytom, injury
Tomasz Lisowski (Widzew Lodz)- on the bench against Ruch
Arkadiusz Radomski (Austria Vienna)- not in the squad against Austria Kaernten
Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht)- on the bench against KSV Roeselare
Jakub Wawrzyniak (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Zaglebie, note 6
Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos Pireus)- 90 minutes against Atromitos

Midfielders:

Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund)- not in the squad against HSV, injury
Dariusz Dudka (Wisla Cracow)- 90 minutes against Lech, note 6
Lukasz Gargula (GKS Belchatow)- 45 minutes against Odra, note 5
Michal Golinski (Zaglebie Lubin)- 73 minutes against Legia, note 4
Przemysław Kazmierczak (FC Porto)- 15 minutes against Leixoes
Kamil Kosowski (Cadiz)- 24 minutes against Poli Ejido
Jacek Krzynowek (VFL Wolfsburg)- on the bench against Werder Bremen
Mariusz Lewandowski (Shachtar Donieck)- 90 minutes against Metalist Charkov
Wojciech Lobodzinski (Wisla Cracow)- 68 minutes and an assist against Lech, note 6
Radoslaw Majewski (Groclin Grodzisk)- 87 minutes and two assists against LKS, note 7
Rafal Murawski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Wisla, note 6
Michal Pazdan (Gornik Zabrze)- 90 minutes against Cracovia, note 4
Roger (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Zaglebie, note 6
Marek Zienczuk (Wisla Cracow)- 90 minutes, a goal and an assist against Lech, note 8

Attackers:

Pawel Brozek (Wisla Cracow)- 90 minutes and a goal against Lech, note 7
Dawid Janczyk (CSKA Moscow)- on the bench against Shinnik Yaroslavl
Radosław Matusiak (Wisla Cracow)- 22 minutes against Lech, note 5
Lukasz Piszczek (Hertha Berlin)- 17 minutes against Hansa Rostock
Grzegorz Rasiak (Bolton)- 47 minutes against Wigan
Marek Saganowski (Southampton)- on the bench against Hull City
Ebi Smolarek (Racing Santander)- 90 minutes and a goal against Getafe
Artur Wichniarek (Arminia Bielefeld)- 90 minutes against Hannover 96
Tomasz Zahorski (Gornik Zabrze)- 90 minutes against Cracovia, note 5
Maciej Zurawski (Larissa)- 78 minutes and a goal against OFI Crete

Summary: A great weekend for our two most important strikers. Both Magic Zurawski and Ebi Smolarek managed to score for Larissa and Santander respectively. It was a typical goal by Zuraw, who rounded the keeper and blasted the ball into an empty net. It reminded me of his times at Wisla and the first season at Celtic; it was a dynamic and confident Magic. It seems that a move to a lower profile club is paying off, he still may be ready to play a leading role at the Euro. Ebi scored with his head in the game against Getafe. The Racing coach decided to rest his most important players (Tchite, Munitis, Garay) before wednesday’s Copa del Rey semi final. It’s great that Smolarek decided to use this chance to prove that he deserves the place in the first squad. According to Spanish press he was one of the best players on the field. That was his fifth goal of the season (three in the league and two in the cup). Mariusz Lewandowski played for the first time for Shachtar after the winter break. Hopefully, this marks the end of his problems with regular play. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about Krzynowek, who watched his Wolfsburg teammates defeat Werder 1-0 from the bench. It was also a poor start for Polish players in the Russian league. Mariusz Jop didn’t manage to impress FC Moscow’s new coach (Oleg Blochin) and probably spent the game wondering why he didn’t accept Lech Poznan’s offer in the winter. Jop’s very useful when he’s in form (one of the most ambitious players I’ve ever seen), when he’s not, we end up losing with Ecuador (ok, the whole team was awful in this game). As expected, Dawid Janczyk is still not good enough to replace Vagner Love or Jo in CSKA’s first eleven. What he needs, in my opinion, is a loan move. Another impressive performances by Brozek and Zienczuk in the Polish league. The latter is an interesting case; he’s a big local star who has never managed to make the step up to the international level. I very much hope that Broziu won’t follow his footsteps. To achieve that he should be transfered abroad next season. Another positive sign is that Radek Matusiak returned from an injury for Wisla. It was also another good weekend for Majewski, who is now heralded as the best Polish playmaker in the league.

Highlights:Zurawski scores his third for Larissa, Ebi’s header and a disallowed goal against Getafe, Brozek scores after Zienczuk’s assist, Zienczuk gets his goal after Lobodzinki’s cross, Majewski’s assist against LKS

Acquafresca update: Roberto’s mother, Ewa, asked to give her son some time to decide. Pierluigi Casiraghi wants to call up the player for the Olympic games. Acquafresca says that he’s 90% sure which country to play for. I’ve got a strange feeling it’s Italy.