Squad Watch

These are the last moths before the selection of the squad for the Euro 2008. That’s why I’ve decided to keep track of the players with even a slightest chance of making it into the chosen 23. When it comes to players from the Polish League I’m providing a note from Przeglad Sportowy (biggest Polish sports newspaper, rating scale 1-10). So, here is how our eagles have done this weekend:

Goalkeepers:

Artur Boruc (Celtic Glasgow)- 90 minutes against St Mirren
Jerzy Dudek (Real Madrid)- on the bench against Getafe
Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal London)- not in the squad against Birmingham
Bartosz Fabiniak (Widzew Lodz)- 90 minutes against Odra, note 7
Wojciech Kowalewski (Korona Kielce)- 90 minutes against Wisla, note 6
Tomasz Kuszczak (ManUtd)- on the bench against Newcastle
Mariusz Pawelek (Wisla Cracow)- not in the squad against Korona
Sebastian Przyrowski (Groclin Grodzisk)- 90 minutes against Legia, note 6

Defenders:

Jacek Bak (Austria Vienna)- 90 minutes against Salzburg
Grzegorz Bartczak (Zaglebie Lubin)- 90 minutes against GKS Belchatow, note 6
Marcin Baszczynski (Wisla Cracow)- on the bench against Korona
Grzegorz Bronowicki (Red Star Belgrade)- winter break
Piotr Brozek (Wisla Cracow)- 90 minutes against Korona, note 6
Lukasz Broz (Widzew Lodz)- not in the squad against Odra
Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bucarest)- 80 minutes against Politehnica
Arkadiusz Głowacki (Wisla Cracow)- 90 minutes against Korona, note 6
Mariusz Jop (FC Moscow)- winter break
Adam Kokoszka (Wisla Cracow)- 90 minutes and a goal against Korona, note 7
Marcin Kus (Korona Kielce)- 90 minutes against Wisla, note 6
Tomasz Lisowski (Widzew Lodz)- 90 minutes and a goal against Odra, note 6
Mariusz Pawelec (Gornik Zabrze)- on the bench against Lech
Arkadiusz Radomski (Austria Vienna)- not in the squad against Salzburg
Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht)- not in the squad against Zulte Waregem
Jakub Wawrzyniak (Legia Warsaw)- on the bench against Groclin
Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos Pireus)- on the bench against PAOK

Midfielders:

Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund)- not in the squad against Hansa, injury
Rafal Boguski (Wisla Cracow)- 90 minutes against Korona, note 6
Dariusz Dudka (Wisla Cracow)- not in the squad against Korona, injury
Lukasz Gargula (GKS Belchatow)- 81 minutes against Zaglebie, note 6
Michal Golinski (Zaglebie Lubin)- 82 minutes against GKS Belchatow, note 6
Konrad Golos (Gornik Zabrze)- 90 minutes against Lech, note 6
Rafal Grzelak (Skoda Xanthi)- 90 minutes and a goal against Larissa
Maciej Iwanski (Zaglebie Lubin)- 90 minutes against GKS Bełchatów, note 6
Przemysław Kazmierczak (FC Porto)- 4 minutes against Pacos Ferreira
Kamil Kosowski (Cadiz)- 90 minutes and an assist against Cordoba
Jacek Krzynowek (VFL Wolfsburg)- not in the squad against Hertha
Piotr Kuklis (Widzew Lodz)- 7 minutes and a goal against Odra, note 2
Mariusz Lewandowski (Shachtar Donieck)- winter break
Wojciech Łobodziński (Wisla Cracow)- 78 minutes against Korona, note 5
Radoslaw Majewski (Groclin Grodzisk)- 90 minutes against Legia, note 8
Rafal Murawski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Gornik, note 7
Szymon Pawlowski (Zaglebie Lubin)- 90 minutes against GKS Bełchatów, note 4
Michal Pazdan (Gornik Zabrze)- 90 minutes against Lech, note 6
Marek Zienczuk (Wisla Cracow)- 90 minutes and an assist against Korona, note 7

Attackers:

Pawel Brozek (Wisla Cracow)- not in the squad against Korona, injury
Kamil Grosicki (Sion)- not in the squad against Young Boys
Radosław Matusiak (Wisla Cracow)- 73 minutes against Korona, note 5
Dawid Nowak (GKS Belchatow)- 39 minutes against Zaglebie, note 4
Lukasz Piszczek (Hertha Berlin)- on the bench against Wolfsburg
Grzegorz Rasiak (Bolton)- 45 minutes against Aston Villa
Marek Saganowski (Southampton)- 90 minutes against Scunthorpe
Ebi Smolarek (Racing Santander)- 84 minutes against Almeria
Artur Wichniarek (Arminia Bielefeld)- 90 minutes against Duisburg
Tomasz Zahorski (Gornik Zabrze)- 90 minutes against Lech, note 6
Maciej Zurawski (Larissa)- 90 minutes against Skoda Xanthi

Summary: Not the best weekend for Leo’s pupils. None of the strikers has managed to score. Moreover, Kus and Nowak were injured and are unavailable for the upcoming friendly against Estonia. Shame to see Radomski and Krzynowek not even making the bench. Radomski is propably one of the best players at Austria Vienna, but he decided not to prolong a contract there and, as a result, he’ll be watching the rest of the season from a perspective of a supporter. I’ve already written about Krzynowek’s situation; he won’t get a sniff of action unless he goes on loan somewhere (preferably to Wisla, time is ticking away). Good to see Zurawski finally playing regularly and Smolarek fighting successfully for a place in Racing Santander’s squad (although his goalscoring record should be better there). Apart from that, impressive performances by Majewski and Murawski in the Polish League and, on the other hand, poor debuts by Lobo and Matusiak in Wisla’s colours. Next is wednesday’s thrilling friendly against Estonia, I’ll report on it as soon as possible.
Aha, as you can see Gargula still plays for GKS, instead of Wisla. It is because his manager has huge problems with mastering the ability of reading comprehension. He has somehow found a minimum fee release clause in Gargula’s constract, which, needless to say, wasn’t there. Something tells me that it has something to do with the fact that his contract with the player ends in July.Hmmm………