Squad Watch: Week 8. Legia Defeats Wisla In The Polish El Classico.

The biggest game in the Polish league ended with Legia defeating Wisla 2:1. It was a very fast and entertaining match, even though sometimes the ambition outbalanced pure football skills. Several national team players were observed by foreign scouts. Will this game result in any specracular transfers? The press remains quiet about that.

Poles in Europe this week:

Goalkeepers:

Artur Boruc (Celtic Glasgow)- 90 minutes against Hibernian
Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal London)- on the bench against West Ham
Wojciech Kowalewski (Iraklis Thessaloniki)- 90 minutes against Panathinaikos
Tomasz Kuszczak (ManUtd)- on the bench against Everton
Mariusz Pawelek (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutes against Legia, note 6
Sebastian Przyrowski (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against GKS Belchatow, note 5
Lukasz Zaluska (Dundee United)- 90 minutes against St Mirren

Defenders:

Barosz Bosacki (Lech Poznan)- 11 minutes against Slask
Grzegorz Bronowicki (Red Star Belgrade)- not in the squad against OFK Belgrade, injury
Seweryn Gancarczyk (Metalist Kharkiv)- 90 minutes and an assist against Metalurg Donetsk
Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bucharest)- 90 minutes against Gloria
Mariusz Jop (FC Moscow)- not in the squad against Saturn, injury
Adam Kokoszka (Empoli F.C.)- on the bench against Pisa
Marcin Kowalczyk (Dinamo Moscow)- match today
Tomasz Jodlowiec (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against GKS Belchatow, note 5
Piotr Polczak (Cracovia Krakow)- not in the squad against Odra, injury
Arkadiusz Radomski (NEC Nijmegen)- 90 minutes and a goal against Vitesse
Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht)- 90 minutes against Ajax
Jakub Wawrzyniak (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Wisla, note 6
Grzegorz Wojtkowiak (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Slask, note 5
Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos Pireus)- 90 minutes against Aris

Midfielders:

Tomasz Bandrowski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Slask, note 6
Rafal Boguski (Wisla Krakow)- not in the squad against Legia, suspension
Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund)- 19 minutes against Hertha, got injured
Dariusz Dudka (AJ Auxerre)- 90 minutes against Lyon
Lukasz Gargula (GKS Belchatow)- 90 minutes against Polonia Warsaw, note 6
Roger Guerreiro (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Wisla, note 5
Przemysław Kazmierczak (Derby County)- 90 minutes against Coventry
Jacek Krzynowek (VFL Wolfsburg)- not in the squad against Bayern Munich
Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk)- 61 minutes against FC Kharkiv
Wojciech Lobodzinski (Wisla Krakow)- 65 minutes against Legia, note 4
Radoslaw Majewski (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against GKS Belchatow, note 5
Rafal Murawski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Slask, note 6
Szymon Pawlowski (Zaglebie Lubin)- 90 minutes against Flota, note 5
Michal Pazdan (Gornik Zabrze)- 90 minutes against LKS Lodz, note 6
Sławomir Peszko (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Slask, note 5

Attackers:

Pawel Brozek (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutes, and a goal against Legia, note 7
Dawid Janczyk (CSKA Moscow)- match today
Michal Janota (Feyenoord Rotterdam)- 13 minutes against Heerenveen
Ireneusz Jelen (AJ Auxerre)- 89 minutes against Lyon, got injured
Robert Lewandowski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes and a goal against Slask, note 6
Lukasz Piszczek (Hertha Berlin)- not in the squad against Borussia Dortmund, injury
Grzegorz Rasiak (Watford)- 90 minutes and a goal against Wolverhampton
Marek Saganowski (Aalborg)- 80 minutes and a goal against Randers FC
Ebi Smolarek (Bolton Wanderers)- on the bench against Tottenham
Artur Wichniarek (Arminia Bielefeld)- 87 minutes against Schalke 04
Tomasz Zahorski (Gornik Zabrze)- 81 minutes and a goal against LKS Lodz, note 6
Maciej Zurawski (Larissa)- 90 minutes against Panthrakikos

Summary: Wisla just can’t win with Legia this year, it’s slowly becoming a curse for them. Even though they’ve taken the lead, they couldn’t hold it till the 90th minute. It was a game of two well matched teams. Legia is definitely on the rise, whereas Wisla looks a bit, well, depressed after they were eliminated from the UEFA Cup by Tottenham. Too many Wisla players are out of form or in average form. It especially applies to both wingers, Marek Zienczuk and Wojciech Lobodzinski. The former was one of the league’s biggest stars last season, but has failed to make any sort of impact this year. Lobo has played for Wisla since February, but Biala Gwiazda supporters fail to remember any spectacular game from the former Zaglebie Lubin player. No wonder Leo sent his former favourite right winger to the stands in the last couple of national team games. The Wisla player that is currently playing on international level is Pawel Brozek. He scored a “clean” goal and had three other shots saved by Legia goalie Jan Mucha. Bologna, Tottenham, Feyenoord, Galatasaray and lately FC Nantes are listed as the clubs that are interested in the services of Poland’s starting striker. Wisla wants to receive at least 4M euros, which I think may be a price too high for a player from the Polish league. As for Legia players; Roger did well, but far from spectacular. He played a lot of fine diagonal passes, but what foreign scouts have surely observed is that he’s not dynamic enough for most of the Western leagues. Roger’s contract ends in a year’s time so the upcoming transfer window will be the last chance for Legia to cash in on Guerreiroski. Still, there’s no sign of any serious offers. Finally, Jakub Wawrzyniak had a quite good game; he dominated the left wing, both in defence and offense. He was certainly better than the other potential nt left back Piotr Brozek, who had his share in both goals for Legia. 1-0 for Wawrzyniak in this duel. What do you make of the Polish El Classico?

Two players that were some time ago concerned the lone strikers Poland is looking for reminded about themselves this weekend. Grzegorz Rasiak scored his debut goal for Watford; in my opinion the first of many to come. He’s just a player perfectly suited for Championship football and, at the same time, perfectly ‘unsuited’ for international football. Other former Polish hopeful, Tomasz Zahorski, scored what was only his first goal this season. A ray of hope in what has so far been a disastrous season for Zahor. A player who was to make a huge step forward this season has fallen in league’s mediocrity. The only hope for Zahorski is his current coach, Henryk Kasperczak. Next year we should learn if Zahor was a one season wonder or if he really has potential to be considered a national team candidate.

Highlights:

Legia-Wisla highlights

Robert Lewandowski scores againsr Slask Wroclaw

Tomasz Zahorski relieved to score his first goal of the season

Marek Saganowski continues his good run of form

Kuba Blaszczykowski gots elbowed in the face