Countdown to Euro'08 - friendlies, team news [R]

Discussion in 'Poland' started by Rafael Vasco da Gama, May 13, 2008.

  1. Rafael Vasco da Gama

    Jul 4, 2004
    Information about national polish team

    Hi, fellows,

    I need information about polish team that is going to play Euro 2008. I`d be very glad if you could help me.

    1) Does Beenhakker use 4-4-2? If so, the midfield format is a diamond, or not?

    2) Who are the players Beenhakker is going to use in defense? I suppose Wasilewski is the righy back, but who are the others?

    3) What are the strong and the weak points of this team?

    Thanks a lot,

    Rafael
     
  2. Smoga

    Smoga Member

    Jan 28, 2002
    Brooklyn, NYC
    Re: Information about national polish team

    I'm short on time, so I'll be brief....maybe someone else can chime in and add or elaborate on this:

    1) It's a basic 4-4-2 with two defensive mids, but Leo tends to experiment up front (probably because the NT lacks good true strikers but has some relatively decent offensive midfielders), playing recently with one attacker in a true striker role and another little farther back. So you may see Smolarek as a striker, with Zurawski just behind him. This may change with Roger added to the NT, who I understand is at his best when playing as a playmaker or offensive mid, but may just be utilized as a defensive mid as well. Everyone is curious to see how Leo plays him, if indeed Roger does get to see minutes at the Euros. But Dariusz Dudka (Wisla) and Mariusz Lewandowski (Schahtar) will probably be the two DM's.

    2) On defense, well, its both simple and complicated. Michal Zewlakow and Jacek Bak are two true veterans and solid, and whereas Bak is a traditional central defender, Zewlakow can play both center defense and the left flank, where he truly excels. And while Bak has been showing his age lately, Zewlakow seems to get better as the years go on, and has just won the Greek league with Olympiakos. Alternatively, Bronowicki (Red Star Belgrade) can start at the left spot and Zewlakow in the center, but Bronowicki sucked for the NT lately, in fact he only had one truly awesome game, the one where we beat Portugal in the qualifiers.

    Wasilewski will probably get to start at the right back, he is one of Leo's "boys". Mariusz Jop, who plays for FC Moscow may be another candidate for central defense.

    3) Strong points: BORUC and BEENHAKKER. That's about it. Sure, there is Smolarek who can score if he is having a good game, and Zurawski seems to have gotten a second wind in Greece. Kuba Blaszczykowski can be awesome as well on the right midfield or even as a right wing back, but he's had injury problems in Germany this past season and hasn't so far lived up to his potential - but we're all hoping for a good Euro performance from him as well. The defensive mids can be very good and can effectively block any team from advancing through the center.

    Weak points: no true star. No real striking power. Defense can be suspect, especially if Zewlakow is not playing. Many key players (Zurawski, Krzynowek, Bak, Zewlakow) are aging.
     
  3. Marbur66

    Marbur66 New Member

    Nov 27, 2007
    Canada
    Re: Information about national polish team

    You seem to have summed it up pretty well. Good analysis.:cool:
     
  4. johnmatrix

    johnmatrix New Member

    Jun 1, 2005
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Nat'l Team:
    Poland
    23 maja 2008, 19:00 - Donaueschingen
    Polska 1-0 FC Schaffhausen
    Jacek Krzynówek 74

    Polska: 22. Łukasz Fabiański (70, 12. Wojciech Szczęsny) - 13. Marcin Wasilewski (61, 25. Jakub Wawrzyniak), 2. Mariusz Jop (46, 14. Michał Żewłakow), 24. Adam Kokoszka (61, 6. Jacek Bąk), 4. Paweł Golański (69, 16. Jakub Błaszczykowski) - 23. Radosław Majewski (61, 17. Wojciech Łobodziński), 15. Michał Pazdan (46, 5. Dariusz Dudka), 19. Rafał Murawski (69, 8. Jacek Krzynówek), 10. Łukasz Garguła (46, 21. Tomasz Zahorski) - 11. Radosław Matusiak (46, 20. Roger), 26. Marek Saganowski (46, 9. Maciej Żurawski).

    FC Schaffhausen: 1. Reto Bolli - 6. Thomas Stamm, 13. Rosemir Pires dos Santos, 10. Paulo Diogo da Cruz (46, 16. Gennaro Frontino), 7. Daniel Pavlovic (46, 4. Sanjin Glisic) - 25. Newton Ben Katanha (46, 20. Kevin Kisyna), 17. Allmir Ademi, 14. Genc Mehmeti, 9. Salvatore Amirante (79, 23. Benjamin Ciglar), 27. Gezim Sadiku (46, 15. Cyril Schiendorfer) - 8. Carlos da Silva (84, 21. Alin Cosmin Franyov).


    * Tomorrow, May 26th, vs. Macedonia
     
  5. johnmatrix

    johnmatrix New Member

    Jun 1, 2005
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Nat'l Team:
    Poland
    Starting line-up v Macedonia

    Tomasz Kuszczak - Paweł Golański, Mariusz Jop, Adam Kokoszka, Grzegorz Bronowicki - Tomasz Zahorski, Mariusz Lewandowski, Rafał Murawski, Łukasz Garguła, Radosław Majewski - Radosław Matusiak.
     
  6. johnmatrix

    johnmatrix New Member

    Jun 1, 2005
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Nat'l Team:
    Poland
    Poland 1-1 Macedonia
    Radosław Matusiak 83 (pk) - Goran Maznov 45

    Polska: 12. Tomasz Kuszczak - 3. Grzegorz Bronowicki (46, 25. Jakub Wawrzyniak), 2. Mariusz Jop, 24. Adam Kokoszka, 4. Paweł Golański - 23. Radosław Majewski (59, 26. Marek Saganowski), 10. Łukasz Garguła (87, 15. Michał Pazdan), 18. Mariusz Lewandowski (46, 5. Dariusz Dudka), 19. Rafał Murawski - 11. Radosław Matusiak.

    Macedonia: Petar Miloševski - Goce Sedloski, Igor Mitreski, Nikolče Noveski (46 Aleksandar Vasoski), Vlade Lazarevski (46 Slavčo Georgievski), Darko Tasevski (46 Artim Položani), Vančo Trajanov, Goran Popov (61 Robert Petrov), Vlatko Grozdanovski, Goran Pandev (61 Aco Stojkov), Goran Maznov (46 Ilčo Naumoski).
     
  7. Smoga

    Smoga Member

    Jan 28, 2002
    Brooklyn, NYC
    awful match. no one played on "Euro" level, not even Rubik....errr Kuszczak. Only occasional bright spots were Lewan (although is stupid foul led to the goal), Gargula and Golanski, but they didn't raise above second division level. Everyone else was terrible. Matusiak and Saganowski both should be out of the squad. I surer hopeLaoknows what he's doing.
     
  8. Gunning4Chelsea

    Gunning4Chelsea Member+

    Aug 2, 2005
    chicago
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    A lot of people from polishsoccer.com for instance, are freaking out about these friendlies and I am not sure if that is warranted. Who cares if we get the result?....

    Considering that players are not in form just yet and Leo has been hevily experimenting with the squad - the lack of cohesion clearly shows but I think that at this point, it means very little.

    The team concentrated on the physical aspect of preparation during the first week and has done very little football-oriented training (if any at all)
    The tactics, strategies etc. all will be the main focus this week and on...

    With Leo's top 17/ 18 players determined by Wednesday...i am sure the emphasis on cohesion and match preparation will be pivotal....

    Yes, Croatia looked pretty decent against Moldovia mainly due to the fact that most of the starting XI was playing. Bilic's approach is much different than Leo's...

    While I trust Leo in his methods...I am concerned that leo was experimenting too much and didn't afford his top guys enough time to train and play together.

    We'll see....results in friendlies during the camp mean nothing....
     
  9. Marbur66

    Marbur66 New Member

    Nov 27, 2007
    Canada
    Friendly results may mean nothing, but I think the top players need some time to gel and develop chemistry on the pitch. All this experimentation is taking time from that. For now, I will trust Leo's methods, mainly since he knows a little bit more about the subject than me.
     
  10. marek

    marek Member+

    Lechia Gdańsk
    Jun 27, 2000
    Club:
    OSP Lechia Gdansk
    Nat'l Team:
    Poland
    throw in from Wasilewski goes to Roger in the penalty area who passes to Zurawski who scores in the 3rd minute to make it 1-0 against Albania
     
  11. marek

    marek Member+

    Lechia Gdańsk
    Jun 27, 2000
    Club:
    OSP Lechia Gdansk
    Nat'l Team:
    Poland
    forgot about the lineup...

    Lukasz Fabianski - Marcin Wasilewski, Jacek Bak, Michal Zewlakow, Jakub Wawrzyniak - Wojciech Lobodzinski, Dariusz Dudka, Mariusz Lewandowski, Jacek Krzynówek - Roger Guerreiro - Maciej Zurawski






    Zewlakow came off injured in the 9th to be replaced by Kokoszka

    don't know if its serious or not... he made his way to the dressing room after a brief talk with the Leo
     
  12. marek

    marek Member+

    Lechia Gdańsk
    Jun 27, 2000
    Club:
    OSP Lechia Gdansk
    Nat'l Team:
    Poland
    2nd half

    Smolarek on for Roger
     
  13. Smoga

    Smoga Member

    Jan 28, 2002
    Brooklyn, NYC
    Much better. Especially keeping possession against a physical team.
     
  14. Marbur66

    Marbur66 New Member

    Nov 27, 2007
    Canada
    Zurawski scored? Wow, that's impressive, even against Albania. Let's hope Roger adds something different to the team. Anyone know how they played against Albania? I know the line-up was full of regulars and probable starters in the Euros, minus Lobodzinski and Fabianski.
     
  15. Epirotian

    Epirotian New Member

    Mar 5, 2007
    Himare, Albania
    i watched the game. It was a good game from both teams. Albania played more open and offensive and poland played more shelled, especially in the second half. Is that the way poland plays? offensively to me it looked like Poland relies too much on the counter attack but the defense was ver solid for Poland. I could see why they set this type of gameplan. Anyway # 8 from poland is a very good player. This was a physical game on both sides. This was an even match with Albania controlling the posession but unable to break the Polish defense. Good luck in Euro.
     
  16. marcin79

    marcin79 New Member

    Jun 3, 2005
    Warszawa, Poland
    I think you've got the point. Poland has problems with posession game what is caused by generally poor level of technical abilities of our players. We are not good at creating situations against defensive sides, and I hope we can do something out of counterattacks.

    I had impression yesterday that Albania was on higher level of technical quality of single players, however results in qualifications show that probably this team has problems in other areas: tactics, condition or mentality.
     
  17. Smoga

    Smoga Member

    Jan 28, 2002
    Brooklyn, NYC
    I don't know if I agree with either of the above posts. I feel that Poland played a very good posession game yesterday, and did not rely as much on the counter as we did in the matches prior to Leo taking over. There were losts of one touch passes between players in various parts of the field, attempting to draw the Albania players in or to tire them out. And we started defending near the center line, and not at our penalty box as we had been doing in the past. Leo believes in keeping the ball as much as possible: the players who started against Macedonia were unable to do so, but the players we had on the pitch yesterday were much better at it.

    I do agree that the Albanians were quite good technically, but really not much better than our players.
     
  18. Epirotian

    Epirotian New Member

    Mar 5, 2007
    Himare, Albania
    Albania's problem is mental. We concede very strange goals early in games. Its like a tradition. We play better against stronger opponents and like shit on the games we should win. In the first half poland made a few nice passes together and got a few chances. # 18 from Shaktar Dontesk is a very good player and has a nice shot on him. Possession was not a problem in the first half for the Poles. I thought they lacked someone to make plays for them. With a gameplan of short passes and counter offense you are not going to have good opportunities. However there is a reason why your coach is playing of the counter attack. Your defense is really good. They made very nice plays. locked down their guys and did their job. This was our first game under the new coach. Arie Haan. The team has only practiced together for 5 days prior to this game to get to know the coach and his style of play.
     
  19. Gunning4Chelsea

    Gunning4Chelsea Member+

    Aug 2, 2005
    chicago
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Re: Information about national polish team

    I mostly agree with your assessment. As to the strong points, I would add Lewandowski. Maybe because he plays for Shakhtar and not for a club in a European tier 1 league, he tends to be very underrated. He's one of the few players if not the only, who has maintainted a high level of quality in the past two years for the NT (even in the US debacle).

    A great ball winner and tackler, industrious in the MF, capable of shutting down the team's #10, provides a calm and collected presence in the locker room, and while he may not be an imposing threat on offense through his playmaking, his offense has improved under Leo.
    As far as I am concerned, a top 3 player for Poland right now.

    I read somewhere recently where Pirlo raved about him and thought that he was Ukrainian when Milan played Shakhtar..lol....
     
  20. Marbur66

    Marbur66 New Member

    Nov 27, 2007
    Canada
    Re: Information about national polish team

    I've heard that Lewandowski has been an anchor on the Polish NT for a while now. Certainly he's one of the key players. I rate him more important than Zurawski.
     
  21. BMike86

    BMike86 Member

    Jun 26, 2005
    Minneapolis, Minnesota
    Club:
    FC Bayern München
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Leo loves Lobo, don't be surprised if he starts for the NT during the Euro, he sees something in Lobo for some reason :confused:
     
  22. BMike86

    BMike86 Member

    Jun 26, 2005
    Minneapolis, Minnesota
    Club:
    FC Bayern München
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Re: Information about national polish team

    i agree fully :cool:
     
  23. Smoga

    Smoga Member

    Jan 28, 2002
    Brooklyn, NYC
    I agree, Lewandowski has become pretty awesome. A great DM presence and a powerful shot. He may be one of the most underrated players on our NT, and who knows, maybe in the entire tournament.
     
  24. Smoga

    Smoga Member

    Jan 28, 2002
    Brooklyn, NYC
    OK guys, after watching Germany vs. Serbia, here's my brave prediction:

    If Lewandowski can shut down Ballack, we are going to win!


    And if he plays to his abilities, Lewan might just do that. Boruc of course has to be extra careful on Ballack set pieces as well.
     
  25. BMike86

    BMike86 Member

    Jun 26, 2005
    Minneapolis, Minnesota
    Club:
    FC Bayern München
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    if Boruc has easily handled Pirlo the last couple of years in the Champions League, i'm pretty positive he can handle Ballack... don't eat into all of Ballack's hype just because he is the face of German football and plays for Chelsea

    ... i'd be more worried about Mario Gomez, he is a sick striker that will be damn good at a huge club within the next year or two and will cost a large transfer fee to lure him away from Stuttgart :cool:
     

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