Polish Football Online
Articles / Analysis

Building a Successful Team

by Chris Kwiatkowski
2010-07-22 17:57 CET  |  PFO

There are only two full years for the Poland coach Franciszek Smuda, to assemble a team that will compete at the 2012 European Championships in Poland and Ukraine. This is an extremely important event, not only for Polish football, but also for the entire nation. There are many factors that have to be taken into account in order to have a successful tournament.

In the last three tournaments Poland has competed in (World Cup 2002, World Cup 2006, and EURO 2008), the results have come drastically short of expectations. There are various arguments can be made for the poor results in each tournament. However, with a combined record of 2-1-6 with 6 goals for and 15 goals against, something needs to be changed for 2012.

How do we define success in 2012?

Before discussing the ingredients for success, it is important to define the goal. A minimum expectation from all Polish fans is to see Poland get past the group stage. Anything less than this would be seen as a complete failure. Once past the group stage, only 16 countries remain in a knockout tournament where anything can happen. It is early to realistically predict how far Poland can go. Polish fans want to see a confident team that they can be proud of which will control the flow of play and keep possession.

Team Chemistry

A fundamentally important aspect in building a successful team is chemistry. Smuda will have some time to test out what players he will want to build his team around. It will be important for him to finalize a group of players early on that he sees as definite players for 2012. Once this core set of players is chosen, they will have two years to fine tune their chemistry on the field.

Top Level Experience

To be ready to play against the best in the world, a player has to be used to that level of competition. Whether playing in European cups or playing regularly at a top league, this top level experience is one of the most important success factors for players in an international tournament.

Unfortunately, many Polish clubs have not seen success on the European stage in many years. The last time a Polish club qualified to the Champions League was in 1996. This has prevented many Polish players from competing against top level teams on a big stage. This aspect is out of the hands of the coach and completely dependant on the players and their teams. Recently, the only Polish outfield players that have played more than a few games in the Champions League, have been Michal Zewlakow (b.1976) and Mariusz Lewandowski (b.1979). Both of them have experience in these games, but they are also both above 30 and have seen their playing time at their respective clubs, drastically decrease.

Currently Smuda is favouring Rafal Murawski for the defensive midfield position and has not called up Mariusz Lewandowski. Michal Zewlakow is still being called up, but is expected to play more of a mentoring role for young defenders like Sadlok and Glik. Whether Zewlakow will still be playing at a high enough level to make the Euro 2012 squad is still questionable. The players that currently play regularly in a top league or play for a club that appears regularly in European Cups are Murawski (Rubin Kazan), Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund), Majewski (Nottingham Forest), Obraniak (Lille), Piszczek (Borussia Dortmund), and Jelen (Auxerre). For players without top level experience, expectations at Euro 2012 have to be limited.

Youth

Having experience is definitely important, but a team also needs young players that have something to prove. An international tournament like the European Championships is the perfect stage for a young player to promote himself to bigger clubs. This ambition mixed with the right amount of experience is needed for a team to be successful.

Regular Playing Time

Although many of our players belong to top clubs, some of them spend more time sitting on the bench rather than playing. The best example of this is our current keeper situation. Both Tomasz Kuszczak (Manchester United) and Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal) are second choice keepers at their clubs. Without playing regular football, it will be risky to expect them to perform at their top level at Euro 2012. I expect this to be the focus of many Polish players in the coming year. They will sacrifice bigger paychecks for playing time so that they will be in form and noticeable by coach Smuda.

With all these factors to take into consideration, it will not be easy for Smuda to bring together a successful and confident team. For the next two years, we will be monitoring the progress of the national team and bringing the most relevant information to our readers. Hopefully all the pieces fall into place and in two years, we will all have a team we will be proud of.

Positions Summary

Goalkeepers:

At this position, Poland has its best players. The keepers with the most realistic chances of being our top goalkeeper in 2012 are Tomasz Kuszczak (Manchester United), Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal), Artur Boruc (Fiorentina), and Wojciech Szczesny (Arsenal). Although it looks like we have a wealth of goalkeeping talent at top clubs, the situation is currently not the best.

Artur Boruc

A fresh start for Artur Boruc
© Empics

Let's start with the starting keeper for both WC2006 and EC2008, Artur Boruc. During both those tournaments and Celtic's games in the Champions League, Artur was brilliant. He was touted as one of the best keepers in the world and was expected to move to a top club in Europe. For various reasons, his form dropped and is currently not being taken into consideration for the NT. Recently, Artur surpisingly chose to move to Fiorentina and will compete with Alexander Frey for the number 1 spot. Nobody needed a change of scenery more than Boruc, but whether this move will help his career and move him closer to the Polish NT is yet to be determined.

The situations for Kuszczak and Fabianski are almost identical. Both play for top English clubs who compete for the title every year and reach late stages in the Champions League. There is only one problem, they are back-up keepers. Keepers need regular playing time in order to keep their form, and currently neither of them have that. Kuszczak stated that he is looking to move to a club this summer, where he is guaranteed to be the team's first choice keeper. However, the summer is almost over and it doesn't look like he's moving. Then there is the young prospect Wojciech Szczesny (b.1990). Many predict an amazing career for this young keeper, but at his age, it would be a huge surprise if he was anything more than a 3rd keeper for Poland at Euro 2012.

Defenders:

In recent years, this has been the weakest area of the Polish team. It is up to a group of young players to change this in a short period of time. With the aging of our top defender Michal Zewlakow, we are left with young and inexperienced players to stop the best goal scorers in Europe. The main goal for young players like Maciej Sadlok (b.1989), Kamil Glik (b.1988), and Tomasz Jodlowiec (b.1985) is to learn as much as they can from the experienced defenders and test themselves against top opposition in the friendly matches that Poland will play in the next two years. The right and left back positions are basically up for grabs between a handful of average players. The top contenders for these positions are Piotr Brozek, Dariusz Dudka, Marcin Kowalczyk, Jakub Rzezniczak, and Marcin Wasilewski.

Midfielders:

Ludovic Obraniak

Ludovic Obraniak has firmly established himself in Poland's midfield
© Gazeta

This is definitely Poland's strongest area. With an excellent mix of youth and experience, Smuda will have many players to choose from. It is expected that the heart of the midfield will be anchored by Jakub Blaszczykowski, Rafal Murawski, and Ludovic Obraniak. Smuda has a group of young players that are eager to compete for the starting positions. Players like Radoslaw Majewski, Slawomir Peszko, Lukasz Piszczek, and Maciej Rybus all have excellent chances of making the squad and possibly the starting lineup. The most important factor in the midfield is the chemistry between the players.

Forwards:

Robert Lewandowski

Robert Lewandowski is a key part of Smuda's vision
srodmiesce.it.pl

The number of forwards will depend on the lineup Smuda will use. If he uses his favorite 4-3-2-1, a single forward will be supported by attacking wingers. The top choice for Smuda when it comes to forwards is without a doubt, Robert Lewandowski. The young Lech Poznan forward has impressed and is expected to move to a bigger club. Second on the list is Ireneuz Jelen who has played very well for Auxerre. Both are very fast and have excellent finishing skills. It is possible that Smuda will put one of them on the wings if he decides to play them both at the same time. After Lewandowski and Jelen there is a drop in quality in forwards. Players like Pawel Brozek, Dawid Janczyk, Dawid Nowak, and Ebi Smolarek all have chances to make to the squad, but unless they drastically improve their form, they will not be counted on to make the starting 11.

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