Squad Watch- Week 6.

As we won’t be able to watch the national team for two months the only thing left for the Polish fans is to check how our ’stars’ are doing at their clubs. This should indicate, to some extend at least, what we can expect in the summer. For some players every league game should be a World Cup final as they still have to convince Leo to take them to the Euros.

This is how the future Germany beaters played this weekend:

Goalkeepers:

Artur Boruc (Celtic Glasgow)- 90 minutes against Rangers
Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal London)- not in the squad against Bolton
Wojciech Kowalewski (Korona Kielce)- 90 minutes against Legia, note 5
Tomasz Kuszczak (ManUtd)- 90 minutes against Aston Villa
Sebastian Przyrowski (Groclin Grodzisk)- 90 minutes against Zaglebie Sosnowiec, note 5

Defenders:

Jacek Bak (Austria Vienna)- 90 minutes and an own goal against Sturm Graz
Grzegorz Bronowicki (Red Star Belgrade)- not in the squad against Mladost
Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bucarest)- 90 minutes against FC Vaslui
Mariusz Jop (FC Moscow)- 45 minutes and a red card against Tom Tomsk
Adam Kokoszka (Wisla Cracow)- 90 minutes against Polonia Bytom, note 6
Marcin Kus (Korona Kielce)- not in the squad against Legia, injury
Tomasz Lisowski (Widzew Lodz)- 90 minutes against Cracovia, note 5
Arkadiusz Radomski (Austria Vienna)- 90 minutes against Sturm Graz
Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht)- 90 minutes against Cercle Bruges
Jakub Wawrzyniak (Legia Warsaw)- 36 minutes against Korona, note 5
Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos Pireus)- not in the squad against AEK, illness

Midfielders:

Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund)- not in the squad against VFL Bochum, injury
Dariusz Dudka (Wisla Cracow)- 16 minutes against Polonia Bytom
Lukasz Gargula (GKS Belchatow)- 90 minutes and a goal against Jagiellonia, note 8
Michal Golinski (Zaglebie Lubin)- 90 minutes against LKS Lodz, note 3
Kamil Grosicki (FC Sion)- 36 minutes and a goal against FC Aarau
Przemysław Kazmierczak (FC Porto)- 5 minutes against Belenenses
Kamil Kosowski (Cadiz)- not in the squad against Elche
Jacek Krzynowek (VFL Wolfsburg)- 33 minutes and a goal against Hansa
Mariusz Lewandowski (Shachtar Donieck)- 69 minutes against Arsenal Kiev
Wojciech Lobodzinski (Wisla Cracow)- 90 minutes and a goal against Polonia Bytom, note 7
Radoslaw Majewski (Groclin Grodzisk)- not in the squad against Zaglebie Sosnowiec, yellow card ban
Rafal Murawski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Ruch, note 6
Michal Pazdan (Gornik Zabrze)- 90 minutes against Odra, note 7
Roger (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes and a goal against Korona, note 7
Marek Zienczuk (Wisla Cracow)- not in the squad against Polonia Bytom, yellow card ban

Attackers:

Pawel Brozek (Wisla Cracow)- 83 minutes and an assist against Polonia Bytom, note 7
Dawid Janczyk (CSKA Moscow)- not in the squad against Saturn
Radosław Matusiak (Wisla Cracow)- 63 minutes against Polonia Bytom, note 6
Lukasz Piszczek (Hertha Berlin)- 78 minutes against Energie Cottbus
Grzegorz Rasiak (Bolton)- 9 minutes against Arsenal
Marek Saganowski (Southampton)- not in the squad against Cardiff
Ebi Smolarek (Racing Santander)- 25 minutes against Espanyol
Artur Wichniarek (Arminia Bielefeld)- 88 minutes against HSV
Tomasz Zahorski (Gornik Zabrze)- 90 minutes and two golas against Odra, note 8
Maciej Zurawski (Larissa)- 90 minutes, a goal and an assist against Apollon

Summary: This week I decided to concentrate on the strikers. Everybody who experienced the pleasure of watching the USA game had to come to the conclusion that this is our squad’s weakest link. Apart from Zurawski and Smolarek (who both don’t play as typical strikers in the national team) there are no dead certs for a Euro call up. Magic managed to score his fourth Greek goal this weekend. He looked horrible in the Poland’s game so I don’t know if the Greek league’s level is so low or if it just wasn’t Zuraw’s game on wednesday. Don’t get me wrong, I still view Magic as our crucial player; hopefully his passion for the game and confidence will rise even more during his time in Greece. Tomasz Zahorski had a great game in the Polish league, scoring two goals (a header and a great volley from outside the penalty area). After dismal performances by Brozek and Piszczek in Cracow Zahor now seems one of our best attacking options. It’s no secret that Leo has confidence in him (remember when he called him up as a virtual unknown). One of the best things about Zahorski is that he can also play on the left wing. And the best thing about him is that he comes from Olsztyn, the city of my childhood. Dawid Janczyk, another Euro hopeful, was injured this weekend during a CSKA’s youth team match. He won’t play for as much as a month; bad news as I really liked his performance in the U21 game against England. Artur Wichniarek, even though he plays regularly, extended his goalless run for Arminia. I don’t know much about his current form but I hope that Leo considers him an Euro candidate. Both Rasiak and Saganowski can’t get a game in England and their chances of a Euro call up are diminishing every week. I won’t cry after them as they were never able to show their full potential in the national team. Matusiak and Brozek formed Wisla’s striking force this weekend. Both had a good game, but after the USA friendly even Brozek himself doesn’t believe he has what it takes to play on the international level. Piszczek got a chance in Hertha’s first squad (on the right wing apparently), but unforunately he caused a penalty kick for the opponents. The striker of the weekend? Clearly Zahorski.

Other than that, the most important news of the weekend is that Jacek Krzynowek got on the scoresheet for Wolfsburg. It was a typical left footed strike from Krzyniu, this time from inside the penalty box. I look forward to seeing him more often in the future. Two central defenders, Jacek Bak and Mariusz Jop, didn’t impress this weekend. The former scored an own goal, the latter got a red card. Better now than than in June ( I try to be as optimistic as possible). Oh, and Bronowicki didn’t play for Red Star second week in a row. The Serbians probably saw the USA game. Tomasz Kuszczak has a chance to play in the CL after van der Sar’s fitness is in doubt. To end on a good note, Kamil Grosicki scored his debut goal for FC Sion. The guy has potential; I just hope Leo won’t forget about him when he’ll anounce his 30 player shortlist for the Euro next week.

Highlights: Zurawski’s goal , Lobodzinski’s 1st goal for Wisla, Roger’s goal against Korona, Grosicki’s debut goal for Sion, you can find Zahorski’s and Gargula’s goals here, Jacek Bak’s own goal, Krzynowek’s last minute goal.