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Squad Watch: Week 8. Wisla Krakow Stumble For The First Time In The Ekstraklasa.

October 19th, 2009 | By: tomasz | 44 Comments »

It can be said that the Ekstraklasa season was saved on Sunday. If it wasn’t for the Lech’s victory against Wisla the reigning champions would be the sole leaders at the top of the table. Thanks to Robert Lewandowski’s strike, however, the season is still open with Legia and Lech having a chance to catch Wisla.

Goalkeepers:

Artur Boruc (Celtic Glasgow)- 90 minutes against Motherwell
Jerzy Dudek (Real Madrid)- on the bench against Vallaloid
Wojciech Kowalewski (Iraklis Thessaloniki)- 90 minutes against Panionios
Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal London)- not in the squad against Birmingham, injury
Tomasz Kuszczak (ManUtd)- on the bench against Bolton
Sebastian Przyrowski (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Odra, note 6
Lukasz Zaluska (Celtic Glasgow)- on the bench against Motherwell

Defenders:

Blazej Augustyn (Catania)- 90 minutes against Cagliari
Jaroslaw Bieniuk (Widzew Lodz)- match today
Dariusz Dudka (AJ Auxerre)- 90 minutes against Bordeaux
Seweryn Gancarczyk (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Wisla, note 7
Kamil Glik (Pisat Gliwice)- 90 minutes against Legia, note 6
Arkadiusz Glowacki (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutes against Lech, note 6
Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bucharest)- 79 minutes against Politehnica
Tomasz Jodlowiec (Polonia Warsaw)- not in the squad against Odra, injury
Adam Kokoszka (Empoli F.C.)- 90 minutes against Mantova
Marcin Kowalczyk (Dinamo Moscow)- 90 minutes against Tomsk
Mariusz Pawelec (Slask Wroclaw)- 90 minutes against GKS Belchatow, note 5
Piotr Polczak (Cracovia Krakow)- 90 minutes and an own goal against Polonia Bytom, note 3
Jakub Rzezniczak (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Piast, note 5
Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos Pireus)- on the bench against Asteras

Midfielders:

Tomasz Bandrowski (Lech Poznan)- 6 minutes against Wisla
Rafal Boguski (Wisla Krakow)- not in the squad against Lech, injury
Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund)- 85 minutes and an assist against Bochum
Roger Guerreiro (AEK Athens)- 27 minutes against Panthrakikos
Maciej Iwanski (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes and a goal against Piast, note 7
Jacek Krzynowek (Hannover 96)- 9 minutes against Eintracht
Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk)- not in the squad against Karpaty
Wojciech Lobodzinski (Wisla Krakow)- 25 minutes against Lech, note 5
Radoslaw Majewski (Nottingham Forest)- 61 minutes and an assist against Newcastle
Patryk Malecki (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutes against Lech, note 6
Rafal Murawski (Rubin Kazan)- 90 minutes against Chimki
Ludovic Obraniak (Lille)- not in the squad against Rennes
Szymon Pawlowski (Zaglebie Lubin)- not in the squad against Jagiellonia, injury
Sławomir Peszko (Lech Poznan)-90 minutes against Wisla, note 6
Lukasz Piszczek (Hertha Berlin)- not in the squad against Nurnberg, injury
Bartosz Salamon (Brescia)- not in the squad against Cesena
Jakub Wilk (Lech Poznan)- not in the squad against Wisla, injury

Attackers:

Pawel Brozek (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutes against Lech, note 7
Kamil Grosicki (Jagiellonia)- 90 minutes against Zaglebie, note 5
Dawid Janczyk (Lokeren)- 90 minutes against Cercle Brugge
Michal Janota (Excelsior Rotterdam)- 11 minutes against FC Zwolle
Ireneusz Jelen (AJ Auxerre)- 90 minutes against Bordeaux
Robert Lewandowski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes and a goal against Wisla, note 8
Dawid Nowak (GKS Belchatow)- 13 minutes against Slask
Grzegorz Rasiak (Reading)- 18 minutes against West Bromwich
Marek Saganowski (Southampton)- not in the squad against Oldham
Ebi Smolarek (no club)- season not yet started
Artur Wichniarek (Hertha Berlin)- 90 minutes against Nurnberg
Maciej Zurawski (Omonia Nicosia)- the Cypriot league paused

Summary: The Lech-Legia game was one of the most thrilling Ekstraklasa games this season. Kudos to Wisla for not playing a defensive football and coming out on the pitch with a strong desire to win. Hence the game was very open with both teams exchanging “punches” throughout 90 minutes. Robert Lewandowski together with Semir Stilic proved that on their day they are unstoppable even for the best centre backs in Poland. I was very satisfied with the way Lewy was playing yesterday; he fought hard for every ball, made good decisions and scored when he had to. For me, it was Lewy’s best game so far this season. He said afterwards that he plays better when the opposing teams aren’t only concentrating on defense but try to play a game of football. It’s an interesting fact that Lewy is often criticized this season even though he’s the league’s top scorer at the moment. It just shows the level of expectations that the fans put on his shoulders, especially after he became a household name due to FIFA 10 advertising campaign (quite heavy in Poland, Lewy is smiling at you from every media store). I hope the Kolejorz striker wins the Golden Boot this year, a prize that may win him an interesting transfer offer in the summer of 2010. Slawomir Peszko had another energetic game for Lech, though his finishing left much to be desired. The game also marked Grzegorz Wojtkowiak’s return to the starting lineup after a long injury caused pause. One more player that has to be picked up for praise after the match is the 18 year old Mateusz Mozdzen. It’s the first time I’ve seen the youngster and he left quite a good impression. What’s surprised me most was his confidence on the ball, a characteristic rarely met in young Polish players who usually lack the skill of keeping possession. Mozdzen wasn’t impressive enough to call him the hope of Polish football, but he was on the same level of performance with the rest of Kolejorz squad and didn’t make stupid turnovers. Jacek Zielinski will certainly give him another chance in the coming months. As for Wisla, they had their own chances and could’ve easily scored if it wasn’t for Jasmin Buric. Patryk Malecki wasted their best chances, but he was dynamic enough to claim a call up to the Bialo Czerwoni for me. Pawel Brozek, as usual in the league, presented a level of performance unavailable for the majority of Polish strikers. Wisla remains at the top of the table with three points clear of the sensational Ruch Chorzow and five points clear of equally sensational Polonia Bytom. Legia is seven points behind, whereas Lech is trailing by eight. There is still hope for an interesting season.

Stefan Majewski will remain the national team coach for this year’s remaining friendlies (first one against Romania, the second most probably against Turkey). PZPN should have made the decision about who’s our permanent coach a long time ago, now they’re just wasting time. Unless they want to make Majewski permanent, a threat that seems more and more serious as the days go by. Franz Smuda, Henryk Kasperczak and Piotr Nowak are the other candidates. Nowak is a very interesting option; unfortunately he’s refrained from speaking to the polish press so far. It’s a shame as I’m really curious his ideas concerning the national team. He’s achieved enough success in the US to be considered a serious contender (any MLS fans here to give their opinion on Nowak?).

Rafal Murawski and Blazej Augustyn both had surprise starts for their teams this weekend. I don’t know much about Rubin, but I predict that some players were just rested before CL’s third round. I’m glad that Augustyn got another chance after a disastrous first game of the season. Dariusz Dudka finally played, but he failed to impress and gave away a penalty for Bordeaux. Ludovic Obraniak wasn’t in Lille’s squad this weekend, I think that his statements about leaving the club didn’t help him much. He should move in the winter transfer window as the current situation is bad both for the club and the player. Finally, a horrible month for Piotr Polczak. First he became the laughing stock after the game against Czechs (he was very bad, but the critique was sometimes too harsh for my liking, I think he paid for being considered Majewski’s pupil), now he scored an own goal which cost his Cracovia a point. The only way is up for the guy.

Highlights:

Robert Lewandowski scores the decisive goal against Wisla

Kuba Blaszczykowski’s assist against Bochum

Radoslaw Majewski’s assist

Dariusz Dudka gives away a penalty

Maciej Iwanski scores a very nice curved goal here

Tags: Augustyn, Brozek, Buric, Dudka, Group A, Iwanski, Majewski, Malecki, Mozdzen, Murawski, Nowak, Obraniak, Peszko, Poland, Polczak, Robert Lewandowski, Squad Watch, Stefan Majewski, Stilic

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By Tomek | October 21st, 2009 at 1:09 pm

Our boy Rafal Murawski played the game of his life against the best team in the world, FC Barcelona, and winning! He got high ratings from Russian and other press. I hope Kazan will trust him now, and he’ll regularly feature in the 1st team.

Posted from Netherlands

By Hieronim | October 21st, 2009 at 4:44 pm

@ Tomek

yah I saw that Murawski got to play for around 58min, I believe because Sergey Semak got injured. I saw that Rafal picked up a yellow card and I assumed it was good for him to be playing against such good competition, but I had no idea he performed so well. It’s good that Kazan won, and hopefully you’re right that Murawski will see more action consistently for them. His last performances for the NT were very poor.

Posted from United States

By ADAM | October 21st, 2009 at 5:04 pm

I think that Radolsaw Majewski should get called up to the NT.
http://polandsports.blogspot.com/

Posted from United States

By Paradowski | October 21st, 2009 at 10:42 pm

Great to hear Murawski got high ratings! I wanted to post about the Rubin Kazan win over Barcelona and Rafal coming in at 43″ (yes for an injured Sergey Semak; and yellow card at 78′) but didn’t see the game or have other info about his performance.

Smuda would be a great choice for the NT coach, and that news should be should be great to hear, but any coach with no change in the PZPN doesn’t sound good for the future of Polish football.

I agree that Piotr Nowak is also an interesting option and would be a great choice too, but he may have other plans for now (?). (See the last link below for US and MLS fan comments about Nowak as a coach). He has a strong winning history in the MLS as a player for the Chicago Fire and as a coach of DC United and as coach and assistant coach with US NTs. He is hard working as a player and coach. He was recently hired to be the first coach of the MLS expansion team Philadelphia Union for the 2010 season. Here are some links regarding Nowak: http://www.ussoccer.com/News/Mens-National-Team/2009/05/Nowak-Resigns-From-Mens-National-Team-Staff.aspx http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piotr_Nowak http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/yb/136029528 and may be too fired-up presently with the challenge to “build a team from scratch”. He is still young and could be great one for Poland (or US) some day. Here’s maybe the best link — a good article with fan comments about the selection of Nowak as Philadelphia Union’s first head coach (as one comment states “…that choice was a slam dunk”) http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2009/05/nowak-to-be-named-philadelphia-unions-first-head-coach.html

Posted from United States

By MarcinO | October 22nd, 2009 at 1:47 pm

I don’t think Piotr Nowak is going anywhere soon. However, money does talk. If the PZPN along with a (beer) sponsor work together they can make this job attractive to anyone. I don’t know how much Nowak is making now but I’m sure he would love to jump at the opportunity, for the right price.

@Paradowski
What can you tell us about Robert Warzycha. Is he someone who would be able to take over the NT now or does he still have to prove himself.

Also, do you know if any managers who started out in MLS who then made the move to Europe had any success?

By Paradowski | October 22nd, 2009 at 5:58 pm

Like Piotr Nowak, Robert Warzycha was a successful, among the of best of player in the MLS, and is a proven winner as a coach and gets the most of his players. http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/blog.php?b=2614
http://web.mlsnet.com/players/bio.jsp?team=t102&player=warzycha_robert ; “In the midst of that tenure, Warzycha distinguished himself during a 16-game stint as interim head coach from July 12, 2005 through the end of that season. Warzycha took over a 4-10-2 team and went 7-6-3 the rest of the way, including an impressive 4-4-2 mark on the road.”
He took over a winning Columbus Crew team and are the best team (best record) in theMLS this season. Columbus Crew histroy at: http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/mls/columbus/crew.html = see 2005, 2008.

By Paradowski | October 22nd, 2009 at 5:58 pm

By Casimir | October 22nd, 2009 at 8:04 pm

@rydzynski

Witsel has been playing for awhile still. I saw him play against Arsenal a month ago (essentially a week after the Wasyl injury) in the CL. I don’t understand what happened with his suspension. Is it only league play? Does it not include international?

By rydzynski | October 22nd, 2009 at 10:38 pm

@ Casimir

yeah i don’t know, i was surprised when i saw his name in the squad this last week. i don’t follow the belgian league so i don’t know if it is just a domestic suspension or what. adas mentioned earlier that Wasyl was no superstar, but still it seems like the teams, league, and uefa should all have an interest in preventing this type of behavior.

Posted from United States

By rydzynski | October 22nd, 2009 at 10:45 pm

also obraniak scored today in the europa league against genoa, very nice header!!! video clip is on uefa.com

Posted from United States

By Paradowski | October 22nd, 2009 at 11:06 pm

Sorry guys, … surprised to see the triple post; I did hurry then as my wife was saying ‘honeeeey, we got to go!” (no worries, we made it to the symphony on time.)

Warzycha has two sons playing college football in the US, didn’t find much on younger Bartosz. Konrad appears to be doing quite well: http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17300&ATCLID=1146330 http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=87752&SPID=10409&DB_OEM_ID=17300&ATCLID=204816404

By Paradowski | October 22nd, 2009 at 11:59 pm

I just saw an aol news report (from Sept 5) that Witsel’s suspension was reduced by three games to 8 with no more appeal options. The Standard Liege website shows they played 11 games since the August 30 red card. Maybe the champions league games are not part of suspension. The link below reports Wasilewski is suing Witsel — hope that is successful. http://www.goal.com/en/news/1549/rest-of-europe/2009/09/23/1518481/anderlecht-defender-marcin-wasilewski-sues-axel-witsel-for

By Michal | October 23rd, 2009 at 12:18 pm

……guy’s a question. Does Fr. Smuda speak any other languages fluently??????? ie english, german..etc

Posted from Canada

By adas | October 23rd, 2009 at 2:06 pm

I’m assuming he speaks some other language. The guy played outside of Poland and must have picked up something. Also, he’s coached teams from Cyprus and Gabon, countries that probably don’t speak any Polish.

By rydzynski | October 23rd, 2009 at 10:30 pm

Wasilewski definitely has a civil claim against axel butthole witsel, at the very least covering the medical costs, the amount of salary that Wasyl is losing plus possible bonuses, etc.

Posted from United States

By pAwEl | October 24th, 2009 at 12:30 am

Frank Smuda should become the next manager of Poland.
http://polandsports.blogspot.com/

Posted from United States

By rydzynski | October 25th, 2009 at 7:44 pm

Jelen had a double today against Lille

Posted from United States

By tomasz | October 26th, 2009 at 2:47 pm

Sorry, but I’m unable to post the today’s Squad Watch. There are some problems with the new version of wordpress. I’ll try again tomorrow.

By Hieronim | October 27th, 2009 at 8:31 pm

how did Arka finish against West Ham? I know Ham was playing their reserves but Arka didnt look too bad they let in a sloppy goal and were down 1-0 at half…

Posted from United States

By a | October 28th, 2009 at 10:39 am

Arka Gdynia drew with WestHam 2-2. Filip Burkhardt 68,and Bartosz Ława 87 scored.

We keep hearing more and more about Smuda being the new NT manager. Is it a done deal or is it still just speculation?

Does anyone know what is going on with Smolarek? His extended vacation has put his career in the crapper. I would like to see him in the EK.

By Focus | October 28th, 2009 at 2:48 pm

Good to see Lukasz Jutkiewicz is playing well in one of the lower leagues of England, 3 goals in the last 2 games. Tomasz, I’m looking forward towards the new squad watch.

By Hieronim | October 28th, 2009 at 3:58 pm

@ Focus

I thought he was on loan somewhere in the Scottish Premier League…

Posted from United States

By zaraza | October 28th, 2009 at 7:02 pm

a, Smuda as the new manager is just speculation at this point, the vote will take place tomorrow.

As for Smolarek, his father believes he’ll have a new club within the next week or two.
http://www.sports.pl/Pilka-nozna/Ebi-Smolarek-wkrotce-znajdzie-nowy-klub,artykul,61136,1,379.html

Jutkiewicz is playing for Motherwell in the Scottish league but after two years he still doesn’t have a Polish passport and it’s said he’s not really interested in playing for Poland, he was just seeking attention.

Fabianski returned to action today after a long injury layoff. He conceeded one goal in a 2-1 win over Liverpool in the Carling Cup.

Szczesny was on the bench, I hope he’s not going to turn into another Kuszczak or Fabianski. They’ve spent years training at MU and Arsenal respectively yet have made absolutely no progress. I read forums and fans of these clubs just shudder at the thought of seeing them in goal. They say these keepers have great reflexes but lack crucial decision-making skills needed to be the #1 of a top club. If they had spent these years playing real games they probably would have developed these skills but it may be too late now. It’s a shame because they both had so much potential but they wasted key development years.
I hope Szczesny plans his career more intelligently and he’s not so blinded by the prestige of being at a big club that he’ll allow himself to miss out on getting important experience.

Posted from Canada

By zaraza | October 28th, 2009 at 7:20 pm

Poland is set to play Romania on November 14, probably at Legia’s stadium in Warsaw but it hasn’t been confirmed yet. Interesting that the PZPN chose a stadium that’s still under construction, I suspect they wanted an excuse for the probable low ticket sales as a result of the ongoing boycott.

On November 18 it’ll be Poland vs Canada in Bydgoszcz. Hopefully no fans show up for that either!

Posted from Canada