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Stefan Majewski Names His Squad. Jerzy Dudek Makes An Unlikely Return, Artur Boruc Makes An Unlikely Exit.

September 25th, 2009 | By: tomasz | 39 Comments »

I haven’t seen that coming. Remember the piece I wrote about the goalkeepers who should be in contention for the spots in the national team? How could I know that the mind of our temporary coach Stefan Majewski can surpass any expectations. Jerzy Dudek returns to the national team straight from Real Madrid’s bench to prove that he’s still up to the task. Artur Boruc is sidelined, at least till the end of the year.

Here’s the squad chosen by Majewski for our remaining qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Slovakia:

Goalkeepers:

Jerzy Dudek (Real Madrid), Sebastian Przyrowski (Polonia Warsaw), Wojciech Kowalewski (Iraklis Thessaloniki)

Defenders:

Tomasz Jodlowiec (Polonia Warsaw), Arkadiusz Glowacki (Wisla Krakow), Seweryn Gancarczyk (Lech Poznan), Jaroslaw Bieniuk (Widzew Lodz), Adam Kokoszka (Empoli), Mariusz Pawelec (Slask Wroclaw), Piotr Polczak (Cracovia), Jakub Rzezniczak (Legia Warsaw)

Midfielders:

Rafal Murawski (Rubin Kazan), Ludovic Obraniak (Lille), Slawomir Peszko (Lech Poznan), Jakub Blaszczykowski (Dortmund), Roger Guerreiro (AEK Athens), Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk), Maciej Iwanski (Legia Warsaw), Lukasz Piszczek (Hertha Berlin), Euzebiusz Smolarek (no club), Jakub Wilk (Lech Poznan)

Strikers:

Dawid Janczyk (Lokeren), Ireneusz Jelen (AJ Auxerre), Robert Lewandowski (Lech Poznan), Pawel Brozek (Wisla Krakow), Kamil Grosicki (Jagiellonia Bialystok)

Apart from Boruc, other players that Majewski decided to get rid of include Michal Zewlakow, Jacek Krzynowek, Marek Saganowski, Wojciech Lobodzinski, Bartosz Bosacki, Lukasz Zaluska and Dariusz Dudka. The omission of the latter is quite a surprise, at least for those who haven’t been following the Ekstraklasa for the last ten years or so. Those who have know that Majewski worked with Dudka at Amica Wronki, a spell that ended in a fully blown conflict with the players. It seems that our temporary Stefan still bears a grudge. The other left outs were expected, though I hope that both Zewlakow and Krzynowek will be bid farewell in a more civilised way (a testimonial match or at least an official goodbye during an opening of one of the new Euro stadiums). Boruc’s absence remains the most shocking; I think that Majewski, a strong character he is, was afraid of a clash of personas with the Holy Goalie. Another theory is that he just wanted to get rid of the party/alcohol group (remember who took part in the Lvov incident? Yep, Boruc and Dudka). Or maybe he just thought that Boruc lost us enough games in those qualifiers. I wouldn’t make any binding conclusions at the moment; Majewski is just a temporary coach and the situation should also be viewed as such (I hope he doesn’t consider Dudek our goalie in 2012).

How about the new faces? I would divide them into two groups: first there are experienced players who weren’t considered good enough by Leo. Those include Glowacki, Bieniuk and Iwanski. The Wisla centre back has earned his first call up since 2006. He’s still one of the best defenders in the Ekstraklasa, but at 30 it’s hard to view him as something more than a temporary option. Plus he always had a talent for mistakes anytime he got a chance in the Bialo Czerwoni starting lineup. Bieniuk was on the verge of the national team when Pawel Janas was the coach, he currently plays in the second division Widzew Lodz. He owes the call up to the good opinion Majewski has of him, they worked together at Amica and Bieniuk must have made a very good impression on the coach. Just as Bieniuk, Maciej Iwanski has also never been an established player in the national team. He’s one of the top Ekstraklasa playmakers, though his current form doesn’t really impress. To be honest, I don’t think that any of those three players is able to bring a new quality to our side. The other group of new faces are young players who were sometimes picked by Leo, but never given a chance in a serious game: Kokoszka, Polczak, Pawelec, Janczyk or Grosicki. I think that by calling them up Majewski wants to give an impression that he thinks about the future, hence he doesn’t want to be considered only a temporary option (he’ll surely run for the permanent position after the qualifiers). I don’t really know what Pawelec is doing there, I never viewed him a national team material. What’s more, he’s the only back up full back we have in the squad. Finally, players like Jodlowiec, Gancarczyk, Piszczek, Peszko or Wilk, who didn’t have a strong position in Leo’s team, will be given a chance to test themselves in international football under Majewski.

PS: Come to think of it, our defense looks rather poor. On the other hand, it’s high time players like Jodlowiec and Rzezniczak were tested in a serious game. It’s good our attack is the strongest possible.

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 39 comments.

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By Car,Boat,Helicopter,Chess Games,Airplane,Transmitter,Tanks,NI-MH Batteries | September 25th, 2009 at 8:23 pm

Im an Arsenal fan.Wow

By SD | September 25th, 2009 at 11:04 pm

Widzew Lodz really is too good for 2nd division but the PZPN keeps screwing them and not letting them get promoted.
Anyway Strikers and midfield are looking mouth watering. My boy Peszko is back in the mix finally, as a back up for Kuba if he’s off his game(North Ire game). And Radolsaw Majewski deserves a call up but the midfield is crouded as is. Janota deserves one too but Majewski is looking to qualify so there is still plenty of time after qualifiers for him to get a go.
What can I say about the D, still the Achilles Heel of Poland. For real we need those French players in defence cause they’re are not only good, they’re all young too. Perquis is the only safe bet b/c his mind is set for only the Polish NT. Koscielny is in the wait and see stage like Ludo was to see if France stil lwant him. Kolo is a Polish, French, and I think Guatemalan but I doubt he’d want to play for the last one.
Dudek deserves a chance because Fabi is still injured and Boruc is inconsistant. Sometimes he pulls off amazing saves like one eralier this season in the SPL. Other times he lets easy ones go thru. Some games he’s the man of the match(Like our First 2 Euro matches) others he’s complete shite(No need to list examples for this one). If Real Madrid with all their expensive buyings didn’t go out and buy another back up goalie,that means they still have a lot of confidence in Dudek’s ability. I say give him a try. Maybe if Kuszczak gets more playing time with Man U, he could be another goalie to watch.

By Peter | September 25th, 2009 at 11:39 pm

Dudek will not be here in 2012 though… FOR SURE.

We might as well not piss off the guys who actually might be here and/or give some playing time to them seeing as these are the last two competitive matches for the next two years.

By SD | September 25th, 2009 at 11:40 pm

You know what I would really get a kick out of, a video of Dudek speaking Spanish. That’d be as cool as when I first saw Roger speaking Polish. Kuba speaks good German, so I’d imagine Dudek should be somewhat good at speaking Spanish.

By zaraza | September 26th, 2009 at 11:24 am

Kuszczak remained on the bench.. Ferguson prefers to keep faith in the great English hope, Foster, hoping he’ll improve with more games.. Today Foster kept a clean sheet so no doubt he’ll continue in goal.

Szczesny remains fourth choice choice despite the fact that he’s always looked more impressive than Mannone (in reserves, pre-season, CC). It seems that merit has no bearing on Wenger’s decisions, the only thing that matters is seniority… Szczesny should find a loan move ASAP. He’s too talented to rot on the bench as someone who flunked out at Barnsley is chosen over him.

Posted from United States

By zaraza | September 26th, 2009 at 1:31 pm

Jelen – he along with a Grenoble player were sent off in the 21st minute for fighting..
http://soccernet-assets.espn.go.com/commentary?id=271382&cc=5901&league=FRA.1

Dudka – on the bench as usual…
Janczyk – starting the match against Charleroi
Salamon – came on in the 63rd minute
Janota – came on in the 76th minute

Injuries or other health problems (most of them should be back next week):
Blaszczykowski
Majewski
Kokoszka

Piszczek – should play some part tomorrow, they like to use him as a sub because his pace is useful against tiring defenders.

Posted from United States

By zaraza | September 26th, 2009 at 1:56 pm

Janczyk scored twice!

Posted from United States

By Casimir | September 27th, 2009 at 1:14 am

Re: our goalkeepers

Szczesny is very very young still, that’s why even though Mannone (who looks like a deer in headlights) got the start Saturday – and I didn’t see the game due to my own obligations, but all the Gunner fans are raving about the performance he put in. The Arsenal offside blog even going to the point of questioning passing Fabianski. With that in mind Lukasz is still hurt, hence the no call up here, and out for probably another month. Cartilage injuries can take awhile, chondrocytes are very slow replicating cells and just something that we all have to be patient with.

Dudek? lolwhat? Whatever, at this point with all the injuries and that bum Foster still playing ahead of Kusczak, who else is talented enough to play at this stage? Even though Dudek is a bench warmer now at Real, he’s got the experience, and hopefully can bring a positive attitude to the team. Most would agree Boruc should start but if Majewski is trying to make a statement or give Boruc a kick in the rear to get his stuff together, managers have to do these things when taking over a team.

The defense worries me, and it’ll be a big test for these youngsters (if they play) or for the older Eks and foreign league guys who haven’t really played NT before. See what happens on that front, Dudek may have to pull out a Liverpool heroic performance. Midfield is the usual suspects, hopefully they put together a good performance. I’m amped about the attack though. The speed of having Jelen and Jancyzk on the field? Wow. I don’t know who you even start up there. Do you begin with Brozek and Lewy and then bring on one of the speedsters later? I guess it depends on the pace and physicality of Czech and Slovakia defenders.

By Wejher | September 27th, 2009 at 8:34 am

Would’nt play Brozek. He’s not ambitious enough, I’d start with Lewandowski, he’s good in the air and would be a good target man to flick headers on or hold the ball up for Jelen. This is a tactic England use very effectively with Heskey and Owen and now Rooney (also crouch is an option too)also Czech Republic used to do it with Koller and Baros, Look how effective it was for those teams, as soon as they took those partnerships away look what happened to the teams performances. If you play a 4-4-2 then its always a good option to have a big man up front and a quick guy playing off of him. In fact I remember us having success with Krysalowicz and Olisadebe using those tactics too.

Posted from Greece

By Tomek | September 27th, 2009 at 9:39 am

^Also Rasiak (but dare god don’t ever call him up again) and Smolli made us able to defeat Portugal.

Posted from Netherlands

By Wejher | September 27th, 2009 at 2:23 pm

True

Posted from Greece

By zaraza | September 27th, 2009 at 3:06 pm

Radoslaw Majewski has recovered from his injury. Played 90 minutes today in a 1-0 away win at Plymouth. Although he looked a bit rusty at first, he was one of Nottingham’s best players, controlling their midfield. It seems he’s having no problems adjusting to the English style of football. I’m glad to be proven wrong.
Stefan Majewski should move Radek over to the senior squad, there’s no sense in him playing for the U-23s.

90 minutes for Obraniak (1-1 draw versus Nice)

90 minutes for Piszczek playing as a right midfielder. Unfortunately Hertha was crushed 5-1 by Hoffenheim, sounds like they need some new defenders…

Posted from Canada

By SD | September 27th, 2009 at 5:59 pm

How is Marcin Kowalczyk? He seems to get regular playing time in the Russia PL for Dynamo Moscow and wiki says he can play LB or RB. Sounds like he should be given a call up.

By ian | September 28th, 2009 at 6:49 am

People are talking about how are defense is weak, well why doesn’t anybody ever mention Augustyn. He is the only Polish league in Serie A. I understand he doesn’t play a lot, but still…

Posted from Germany

By ian | September 28th, 2009 at 7:00 am

With Zewlakow gone, is it time for the team to select a new captain? Will there be a captain for the next 2 games? Any suggestions? Ebi should get some consideration on that.

Posted from Germany

By Casimir | September 28th, 2009 at 10:45 am

Ebi shouldn’t be captain, the guy hasn’t even broken into a club yet. If I was a player I wouldn’t want someone who’s clubless as my leader. I have a feeling it’ll most likely be Lewandowski as he’s the most senior member of the team now, with the except of Dudek but you never know they may pick a GK as captain.

By a | September 28th, 2009 at 11:35 am

In my opinion, the possible candidates for the interim captain are Jeleń, M. Lewandowski, Guerreiro, or Kuba. It might be too soon for Kuba to take over. It is easy to question his maturity and leadership, from the outside. Will Majewski be looking to make a bold statement and call Roger’s name? Either way, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone like Głowacki got the armband for the last two games.

Janczyk is on fire. He would have had a hat-trick if not for a bad offside call.

@janusz – I just meant that ever since Boruc was given the number one shirt, we always knew who would be in net. It was only recently (2010 world cup qualifiers) that people started to question him, probably deservedly so.

By zaraza | September 28th, 2009 at 11:59 am

No to Smolarek as well as M. Lewandowski, the captain should be someone who plays regularly for their club.
Guerreiro? You can’t be serious, how’s he going to communicate and motivate the players if he can barely speak Polish.

We don’t have a lot of options, I guess I would go with Kuba for now.

ian, I agree with you that Augustyn is a player we should be keeping an eye on. He was reportedly one of Catania’s best players in pre-season. Unfortunately, his Serie A debut was pretty disastrous, it’ll be difficult for him to regain the manager’s trust. But maybe next year he’ll get another chance.

Posted from United States

By ian | September 28th, 2009 at 12:08 pm

Yeah, the Janczyk call up is looking pretty good now. No way I would choose Guerreiro as the captain, he barely has any caps and can’t speak Polish. Lewandowski would be a good choice, that guy gives 100% every game.

By JZ | September 28th, 2009 at 1:15 pm

Can anyone verify a report I seen that Werder Bremen defender Sebastian Boenisch will be called up to the last FIFA World Cup qualifier against Slovakia.
If it is true then I say take him because if he is a success then it might persuade other dual citizenship players to join the Polish NT instead of sitting on the fence. He is only 22 and a starter for Bremen. If he sucks then no great loss but if he is decent then we took one from the Germans.
How many of our defenders are starting in the Bundesliga?

When Obraniak had a great first game other French players that might be eligible for Poland started to show interest in playing for Poland.

Do not forget Boenisch WAS born in Poland.

By Wejher | September 28th, 2009 at 3:54 pm

No to Lewandowski! that guy was one of our worst players in the last few games, taking wild shots, nearly gifting a goal to Ireland with a ridiculous pass back and basically just giving the ball away all the time. I’d go with Jelen or brink Tomasz Adamek into the squad just to beat the shit out of players if they performed with no heart, they should learn from that guy. (this was only a joke but it should inspire and humble the team just being in his presence) Kuba is another player I would’nt mind seeing as captain but he would need to show a bit more back bone than he did in the last game.

Posted from Greece

By MarcinO | September 28th, 2009 at 4:37 pm

http://zmurawy.blox.pl/2009/09/PZPN.html

By msudzi | September 28th, 2009 at 4:39 pm

We have 30 other good goal keepers that was never a worry for me, now with the call up of DUdek come on. Is it me or we love calling people up who dont see the pitch. Were are we going with players from the EK and bench wormers.

Posted from United States

By Toys | September 29th, 2009 at 4:23 am

it’ll be a big test for these youngsters (if they play) or for the older Eks and foreign league guys who haven’t really played NT before. See what happens on that front, Dudek may have to pull out a Liverpool heroic performance. Midfield is the usual suspects, hopefully they put together a good performance. I’m amped about the attack though. The speed of having Jelen and Jancyzk on the field? Wow. I don’t know who you even start up there. Do you begin with Brozek and Lewy and then bring on one of the speedsters later? I guess it depends on the pace and physicality of Czech and Slovakia defenders.

By zaraza | September 29th, 2009 at 3:22 pm

JZ, that report originated at Futbol News, a very unreliable source… I wouldn’t put much stock in it. Frankly I can’t say I would be interested in having Boenisch play for us, he may have been born in Poland but it’s rumored that his family are volksdeutsch and he himself has always been clear that he feels more German.

Posted from Canada

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