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Squad Watch: Week 6. Lech Poznan In Crisis.

September 29th, 2009 | By: tomasz | 43 Comments »

After losing to Legia Warsaw 0-2 in the Polish classic, Lech Poznan is already nine points behind the leaders Wisla Krakow in the Ekstraklasa. The team that last year represented Poland proudly in the European competition made a huge step backwards this term. What are the reasons behind this temporary downfall? Click to check.

Goalkeepers:

Artur Boruc (Celtic Glasgow)- 90 minutes against St Mirren
Jerzy Dudek (Real Madrid)- on the bench against Tenerife
Wojciech Kowalewski (Iraklis Thessaloniki)- 90 minutes against Kavala
Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal London)- not in the squad against Fulham, injury
Tomasz Kuszczak (ManUtd)- on the bench against Stoke
Sebastian Przyrowski (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Wisla, note 5
Lukasz Zaluska (Celtic Glasgow)- on the bench against St Mirren

Defenders:

Blazej Augustyn (Catania)- not in the squad against Roma
Jaroslaw Bieniuk (Widzew Lodz)- match postponed
Dariusz Dudka (AJ Auxerre)- on the bench against Grenoble
Seweryn Gancarczyk (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Legia, note 6
Kamil Glik (Pisat Gliwice)- 90 minutes against Korona, note 5
Arkadiusz Glowacki (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutes against Polonia Warsaw, note 6
Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bucharest)- not in the squad against FC Brasov
Tomasz Jodlowiec (Polonia Warsaw)- 88 minutes against Wisla, note 5
Adam Kokoszka (Empoli F.C.)- not in the squad against Cittadella
Marcin Kowalczyk (Dinamo Moscow)- 90 minutes against Saturn
Mariusz Pawelec (Slask Wroclaw)- 90 minutes against Ruch, note 5
Piotr Polczak (Cracovia Krakow)- 90 minutes against Jagiellonia, note 5
Jakub Rzezniczak (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Lech, note 6
Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos Pireus)- 90 minutes against Panionios

Midfielders:

Tomasz Bandrowski (Lech Poznan)- 73 minutes against Legia, note 6
Rafal Boguski (Wisla Krakow)- not in the squad against Polonia Warsaw, injury
Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund)- not in the squad against Schalke, injury
Roger Guerreiro (AEK Athens)- 71 minutes against Panathinaikos
Maciej Iwanski (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes and an assist against Lech, note 6
Jacek Krzynowek (Hannover 96)- 90 minutes and an assist against Wolfsburg
Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk)- not in the squad against Obolon
Wojciech Lobodzinski (Wisla Krakow)- 14 minutes against Polonia Warsaw
Radoslaw Majewski (Nottingham Forest)- 90 minutes against Plymouth
Patryk Malecki (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutesand a goal against Polonia Warsaw, note 7
Rafal Murawski (Rubin Kazan)- on the bench against Amkar
Ludovic Obraniak (Lille)- 90 minutes against Nice
Szymon Pawlowski (Zaglebie Lubin)- not in the squad against Lechia, injury
Sławomir Peszko (Lech Poznan)-90 minutes against Legia, note 5
Lukasz Piszczek (Hertha Berlin)- 90 minutes against Hoffenheim
Bartosz Salamon (Brescia)- 27 minutes against Grosseto
Jakub Wilk (Lech Poznan)- 81 minutes against Legia, note 7

Attackers:

Pawel Brozek (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutes and a goal against Polonia Warsaw, note 6
Kamil Grosicki (Jagiellonia)- 90 minutes against Cracovia, note 6
Dawid Janczyk (Lokeren)- 85 minutes and two goals against Charleroi
Michal Janota (Excelsior Rotterdam)- 14 minutes against FC Omniworld
Ireneusz Jelen (AJ Auxerre)- 21 minutes and a red card against Grenoble
Robert Lewandowski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Legia, note 6
Dawid Nowak (GKS Belchatow)- not in the squad against Odra, injury
Grzegorz Rasiak (Reading)- 90 minutes and a goal against Watford
Marek Saganowski (Southampton)- on the bench against Carlisle
Ebi Smolarek (no club)- season not yet started
Artur Wichniarek (Hertha Berlin)- on the bench against Hoffenheim
Maciej Zurawski (Omonia Nicosia)- played against Apep Pitsilia

Summary: So, what the hell happened to Lech Poznan? Well, there are numerous reasons why the club that last season should have won the championship is now nine points behind the leaders:

1) Firing Franciszek Smuda. It’s true that Lech lost the championship last season in inexplicable fashion (draws at home against minor teams), but Smuda had the ability to get the best from the team in the most important matches. Lech played great in the Uefa Cup eliminating Austria Vienna or Feyenoord and fighting bravely against the likes of CSKA Moscow or Udinese. They also lost none of the games against the big three opponents (Legia and Wisla). Under Jacek Zielinski Lech lost this ability to perform well against top class opponents and didn’t learn to easily defeat the minor ones at the same time.
2) Selling Rafal Murawski. Lech’s board agreed to letting go one important player in each transfer window. It turned out that Muras was THE MOST important player. He was Lech’s leader, a player that took the team forward, organized the play in the middle of the pitch and scored important goals (as the one against Austria). Without him to help Semir Stilic looks like a small baby lost in a forest.
3) Robert Lewandowski, Semir Stilic and Hernan Rengifo underperforming. Have you ever played Football Manager? In the game it very often happens that when you don’t allow a player to move abroad they lose their motivation and start underperforming. I think that’s what happened to Stilic and Lewandowski. They both wanted to leave Poland in the summer, Lewy even had a very serious offer from Dortmund, but after selling Murawski Lech’s board couldn’t allow for losing more players. Now Lewy is criticized even by his own teammates for being egoistic and Stilic just looks like he didn’t care anymore. It will be hard for Lech to get the amount of money for them they could’ve received this summer. Rengifo’s contract, on the other hand, runs out in December and he’s so far rejected to sign a new one. His mind is already elsewhere.
4) No jackpot in the transfer market. Last year Lech brought Bandrowski (January), Arboleda, Peszko, Lewandowski and Stilic (July), all of them became an instant success at the club. This year Lech’s transfer committee wasn’t so lucky. Kasprzik is an ok keeper and Seweryn Gancarczyk is probably the top left back in the league, but players like Golik, Handzic, Chrapek or Mikolajczak have almost no influence on the team whatsoever. Golik was to be Murawski’s replacement, but the games he played didn’t convince anybody that he’s capable of filling Muras’ shoes. Handzic is young, that’s all I’m able to say about him. Chrapek and Mikolajczak, both strikers from lower divisions, were brought in hope to repeat Lewandowski’s success, but they are seriously struggling to have a decent game this season (scored 0 goals between them). Slovak Jan Zapotoka is the newest addition to the team, but it’s hard to judge him after just two games. Without serious reinforcements Lech won’t stand a chance to catch Wisla Krakow.
5) Building of a new stadium in Poznan. Due to the building of new facilities Lech has to play their home games on a small stadium in the nearby Wronki. There’s a huge difference between playing for 5 000 people and 25 000 people. Even when you watch the game on TV you notice that the atmosphere is just not the same. Kolejorz’s fans were always called the team’s 12th man, but they’re unable to recreate the feeling of a big spectacle at the small Wronki ground.

Highlights: Dawid Janczyk makes a name for himself in Belgium

Grzegorz Rasiak scores his first of the season in nice fashion

Ireneusz Jelen got red carded

Goals by Pawel Brozek and Patryk Malecki here.

Highlights from Legia-Lech game here.

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 43 comments.

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By Wejher | October 1st, 2009 at 10:12 am

Oh… and Jelens Red card was harsh, he did’nt raise his hands and he had every right to be angry after somebody went through the back of him like that. It was the other players reactions that got him sent off. they pissed the ref off instead of letting him get on with restoring order.

Posted from Greece

By zaraza | October 1st, 2009 at 12:27 pm

Focus, the ones I’ve heard the most about are Bartosz Salamon, Patryk Podrygala, and Michal Jonczyk.

nick, Kokoszka had some injury or health problem, it’s not really clear, but in any case, he was NOT dropped.
http://news.google.ca/news/search?um=1&cf=all&ned=ca&hl=en&q=kokoszka+%2Bempoli&cf=all&scoring=n&nolr=1
Ignore the Polish articles, it seems simple fact-checking is too difficult for them..
He seemed to be doing OK prior to the injury
http://www.calciotoscano.it/empoli-frosinone-2-0-le-pagelle-degli-azzurri-19-09-2009.htm
To check how a player is doing, just type their name into Google News, choose “any language” and then sort by date.

Posted from Canada

By Focus | October 1st, 2009 at 3:27 pm

Zaraza, thanks for the reply.

Does anybody know if the youth games will be streamed online? I’d rather watch the youth play with heart, then to watch the party boys play.

Posted from Canada

By SD | October 1st, 2009 at 8:08 pm

Guys I hate to inform you but, you’ve all been duped. Blazej Nowak is a fake. I go on this blog and polishsoccer.com forum, and one guy there exposed him for what he is, a most likely mentally unstable liar. Why do you think he keeps getting injuries like every other week. He even had on his facebook a photoshopped picture of him in a legia uniform but he’s not even on Legia Warsawa. Take a look for yourself if you don’t beleive me. Go to polishsoccer.com, go to off-topic, and look at the Blazej Nowak exposed thread. Someone even posted pictures of his facebook page there and honestly its so ridiculous that its funny. However i will give the guy this, he is must be really good con artist if he can make himself into seeming like a young polish soccer prospect.

By Casimir | October 1st, 2009 at 9:34 pm

Blazej Nowak got pwned

By zaraza | October 2nd, 2009 at 12:42 pm

Focus, I hope someone will post a link to the U-21 match against Holland but I’m not holding my breath. I’m not even sure if any broadcaster will air it.

Final squad for the matches against the Czech Republic and Slovakia
http://www.90minut.pl/news/104/news1044951-Majewski-zredukowal-kadre-na-mecze-eMS.html
Sebastian Przyrowski has dropped out due to injury while Murawski, Kokoszka and Smolarek have been cut due to lack of game time… That seems reasonable but why not drop M.Lewandowski as well? He seems to spend more time on the bench than on the pitch. And Blaszczykowski hasn’t been playing either. Granted, he had an injury/illness which prevented him from playing but so did Kokoszka.. Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

Posted from Canada

By Wejher | October 2nd, 2009 at 4:08 pm

Especially the Smolarek bit. He showed more fight and spirit than any other player in the last couple of games and it was’nt untill he came on that we cased ireland or slovakia problems – thats really unfair on Ebi.

Posted from Greece

By MarcinO | October 2nd, 2009 at 5:31 pm

I think this sends a clear message to the rest of the potential national team members. No matter who your name is or what you have done recently, if you’re not playing regularly you’re not fit enough for the NT. That would be fine for fringe players but a guy like Smolarek, that is just unacceptable. Smolarek has done more for this team than most so I think he has earned a spot no matter what. Even without a club, he was the most effective in the last qualifying round. He is going through a rough patch in his career but is far from finished. I think Majewski has just created another controversy.

By SD | October 2nd, 2009 at 7:15 pm

Am I the only one here who thinks Pawel Brozek is useless? He has had 3 goals in 18 appearances for the NT, 1 in 2005, 1 2008, and 1 in 2009. and assists aren’t much better, 1 in ‘07, 1 in ‘08, and 2 in ‘09. Honestly Jancczyk should have been called up a long time ago and Brozek dropped because playing internationally isn’t the same as playing in the Ekstraklasa. Im curious to see how he would have done if West Ham or Fulham did sign him but I think he would have flopped. Radoslaw Majewski I read might be swapped up by an EPL team next season if his good form continues. This is the best way to go to the EPL unless you’re a goalie. Go thru the Championship and work your way up. Not a stupid loan move like Smolarek did. Only exception I think is if Kuba goes cause he kicks ass no matter where he is. If only Liverpool did sign him for that Right Wing position, that would have been awesome. And before you guys say he’s fragile like glass, his injuries have become less and less as he gets older.

By adam7 | October 2nd, 2009 at 9:45 pm

i think that Stefan Majewski should call up Kamil Glik. Glik is one f the best defenders in Polish League.

Posted from United States

By Tomek | October 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 pm

The absolute legend that is Majewski scored again for the mighty Forest. Amazing accomplishment, I’m proud that at least one Pole is doing a great job.

Posted from Netherlands

By zaraza | October 3rd, 2009 at 12:48 pm

I don’t want Brozek to be a starter for us but as a third or fourth choice striker I guess he deserves to be there. After Jelen, Janczyk and Lewandowski, we don’t have a lot of options.

Radek Majewski definitely should be called up soon. I haven’t seen Kamil Glik in action but he’s said to be our best U-21 defender so he should get a chance in some friendly for the senior team.

Stefan Majewski maybe was a little too hasty in dropping Adam Kokoszka. He recovered from his injury and immediately returned to Empoli’s starting line-up today.

Bartosz Bialkowski played today in a 2-1 win over Ipswich in the Championship.
http://www.barnsleyfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10309~1811987,00.html
It appears he did well, however this was only a one-week loan to fill in for an injured keeper. Still, better than warming the bench for Southampton in League One.

Bartosz Salamon – 11 minutes for Brescia in Serie B

Posted from Canada

By zaraza | October 3rd, 2009 at 1:03 pm

The new spokesperson for the PZPN claims that we could lose Euro 2012 if the boycott goes ahead. Who is he trying to kid? UEFA is not going to throw away their chance to grow the CEE market… over a boycott. There is no rule anywhere that says fans have to support their NT. These crazy claims only demonstrate how desperate the PZPN is getting. So well done to the people organizing this action!

Posted from Canada

By Focus | October 3rd, 2009 at 1:23 pm

Good to see Majewski is playing well. Grosicki scored two goals against Legia and has been very impressive. Whats everyone opinion on Grosicki?

Posted from Canada

By chester | October 3rd, 2009 at 1:34 pm

Grosicki if he wasnt a heavey drinker and gambler he would be probably be starting for the nt. He has great dribbling and can get open for shots just his finishing fails him. But hey it looks like that may be changing. Good for Majewski to be scoring proves how polish coaches dont know their ass from their elbows.

By SD | October 3rd, 2009 at 2:20 pm

Well looking quickly at Uefa.com I see Augustyn got subbed in the 87th minute in the game against Bari. Atleast the coach is regaining confidence in him. Also I see Man U tied Sunderland. I’m not sure but I’m thinking Foster may have fudged up in the goal maybe Kuszczak will get more playing time now. Krznowek got a late 90 min sub for Hannovers win. Kuba got subbed in for Dortmunds win.

By Ian | October 3rd, 2009 at 2:36 pm

I agree with what Majewski is doing. He is building the right type of culture within the NT. Punishing people for their behavior and saying to the players that you need to be on a team to play for the kadra. Smolarek is good, but there is no reason he should not be playing for a club. I think Jelen and Brozek will make up for his absence. Also good news that Majewski said he will go after Acquafresca.

By SD | October 3rd, 2009 at 2:39 pm

Oh ya after reading thru on the Man U forum, no one wants to see Foster in the gaol anymore. But Van Der Sar is coming back soon anyway but atleast Kuszczak is gonna be #2 again and not 3.

By adas | October 3rd, 2009 at 3:42 pm

The Smolarek situation is unusual. Its almost like he’s not really getting any chances. I’m not saying he’s a phenominal player, but he’s good for some professional team. I don’t know. Its not fair to punish him. Like someone else said, he’s one of the hardest working guys on the team. He’s got heart that the team as a whole lacks.

By Wejher | October 3rd, 2009 at 3:49 pm

I would just like to point out that I told you Majewski would be successful in the championship whilst people were critisizing him and saying its too physical for him.

Posted from Greece

By MarcinO | October 3rd, 2009 at 3:55 pm

Majewski is going about it the right way. In English football, Polish footballers don’t get respect because of guys like Saganowski and Rasiak. They think no one from the EK can play. You can’t blame them. R. Majewski is skilled enough to play at that level. He just has to build his reputation from scratch, baby steps at the Championship level. Smolarek’s problem was his ego. Now when Majewski goes back to Polonia, there will be considerable interest in him. Now they can demand what they please because everyone knows he can play. A good example to follow for guys like Malecki or Grosicki, get exposure playing in a strong league not necessarily for a big club. The rest will take care of itself.

As for Brozek, I really don’t take the goal scoring into account at the national team level. I blame the midfield and a weak game plan for not creating opportunities for the strikers. NT games tend to be a lot closer with not a lot of scoring. For Brozek, he does not play against high class opposition every weekend. He does not do a good enough job adapting to games fast enough when with the NT. He would if he played in a stronger league. I don’t like him because he is satisfied with his current position. He likes being the big fish in a small pond. His ego won’t let him go to a team like Majewski did and be an integral part of the starting eleven for a small club (in a strong league). Like Smolarek he feels like he is owed something for being the leading scorer of the EK. The sooner he realizes that means very little the better.

By zaraza | October 3rd, 2009 at 5:00 pm

Actually, before taking him on loan, Nottingham Forest secured a buy option for 1.5 million euros. No other club can make an offer for him unless NottForest fail to exercise the option. I imagine he’ll play a couple of seasons in the Championship and then hopefully if he avoids injuries, a Premier League club will buy him. I agree with everyone that he made the right choice establishing himself at a “stepping stone” club first.

Posted from Canada

By Hieronim | October 4th, 2009 at 12:17 pm

@ MarcinO watch what you say about Rasiak and Saganowski. Both have had incredible runs in form during their times in England and they are very much respected. I know as a Southampton fan that Saga is liked as a person and respected as a player by the fans.

Posted from United States

By MarcinO | October 4th, 2009 at 4:27 pm

I didn’t mean to pick on those two in particular. I’m just going by the perception of Polish footballers they helped create. I’m not going to go into detail because I’m sure we all know what it is. However, you don’t have to look far to see they have been fairly weak in England. I’m just going by the stats on his wiki page so don’t quote me on this, Saganowski was great in his loan spell at Southhampton (10 goals in 13 games). When he singed a permanent deal, he was terrible (9 goals in 50 games. Now after his team got relegated, I have not heard if he has even scored this season. So he could say he loves the fans all he wants but the proof in is the pudding. Rasiak had some success but his goal scoring record was far from impressive. Once they get their foot in the door they don’t do anything to warrant a Premier league scout to show interest.

Props to Majewski for showing that prospects from the EK can play at a higher level, even if it is the Championship. Did you notice that scouts in England only scour the countries for prospects in which they have some familiarity with. Its no surprise that Southampton is a popular destination for our boys. Or look at Arsene Wenger, he found gold in Fabianski and he went back for another keeper. I don’t see him looking for outfield players any time soon. Why? Well that’s because of the perception of our youth system and league in general. A 22 year old in the EK is considered “young.” But if you compare that to a kid in England, the development is that of a kid around 17 or 18. Perfect example is Krzystof Chrapek, he has incredible pace but does not put himself in positions to take advantage of it. Lech still don’t know what they have in him and so far he has done nothing to impress. His development is way off track compared to that of a kid in a proper league. I think it all boils down to the coaching, at all the levels of Polish football. People talk about investing in the youth system but I’m not even sure what that really means. I guess Lech have the right idea with the http://www.lech98.com tournament coming up. Expose the youngsters to kids from teams that have quality youth systems so they can see where they are in their development. That will give the kids confidence going forward or it will show them how hard they have to work to keep up if they ever want to be quality footballers. It provides a stage and allows them to show what they can do to the coaches and scouts from big clubs.

By JZ | October 5th, 2009 at 9:17 am

It just seems every time Tomasz Jodlowiec gets a call up to the NT he has a minor injury. I want to see this guy play and develope but it seems like he is fine to play the week before & after the NT team game. I just see a trend with this guy.
With all of our problems on defense I hope this guy is not a headcase.

Comments are closed