Poland Stage = Sept 2007
Poland Article # 1 – Andrew Ziemer – 11:00 pm German Time
Sunday, September 2nd , 2:30pm.
In the middle of the Sonoma County Alliance tournament game
SCA – Atletico Santa Rosa U11 Boys, my mother gave me a ride
to the Sonoma County Airporter bus.
As I boarded the bus it hit me that a new “Football
Adventure” was about to begin.
Being an avid reader (mostly about Soccer), I packed several
books that I have not quite had the time to read.
The book I dove into on the bus and plane is Behind the
Curtain : Travels in Eastern European Football by, Jonathan
Wilson. It is a story of how eastern Europe has changed
since the Berlin Wall came down – told through football.
Vestiges of the old system coexist uneasily with the new,
and the result isn’t working: whatever else has changed for
the better, the football – with the possible exception of
the game in Russia – has grown immeasurably worse. So in an
indirect way, it is a story of capitalism, and its effect on
the socialist economies of the east, the story of how
football has dealt with the new ideology and its new set of
masters.
Searching for more information on Polish Football, I quickly
read the Prologue and Chaper 1 - Ukraine : Playing the
System.
Chapter 2 is named Poland: The Ugly Daughter and this is
what I found out.
In 2000, Jerzy Engel, coach of the World Cup Team, read
about a National Survey on the state of the nation. Asked
what the worst thing about Poland was, # 1 was the roads and
#2 was the National Football Team.
From 1986 – 2002 Poland had been to no major tournaments and
the objection of the National Team had become a joke rooted
in the Polish landscape.
In the early 1970’s a coach named Kazimerez Gorksi prepared
the Polish Team. Before Gorski, there was a socialist thing
“ coach was equal to a commanding officer like in the
military”. Gorki created a community and treated players
like younger friends. He had an assistant, his right hand
man Jacek Knoch a tactican who was an expert in scouting the
opponents.
Gorski was very calm and famous for catchphrases and a
gifted motivator, organizer and delegator with great humor.
Most important, he instituted a professional mentality two
decades before professionalism was legal.
In 1972, Poland won the Olympic Gold Medal in Munich and in
May of 1973 against England @ Wembley in front of 100,000
drew 1-1 and qualified for the World Cup in Germany in 1974.
So happy was the Vice President of the Polish Football
Federation (PZPN) that he jumped into the shower with the
players with his suit on.
In 1974, Poland finished 3rd which gave them belief and had
two more credible World Cup’s in 1978 in Argentina and 1982
in Spain. In 1986 there were again horrible and then most
recently exited in the first round in both 2002 and 2006.
Today, Poland continues to produce top talented players, but
do not translate it into competitive success. This is the
result of mismanagement at all levels from the government
downwards, and especially with the PZPN.
Many claim there is an old style , old fashioned thinking.
The PZPN’s director states “ The old guard has dominated too
long: Communism died in Poland in 1989, but only died in the
PZPN ten years later”.
Stadiums and fields are run down, owners are corrupt, and
clubs are not organized with TV and image rights. Although
several clubs have a rich tradition such as Polonia Warsaw,
Legia Warsaw and Wisla Krakow, most are struggling on all
aspects.
Currently, Poland has the so called G4 (the 4 leading clubs)
: Legia Warsaw, Wislaw Krakow, Amica and Groclin, with
strong investment and some success in European Football.
In 2005, the top clubs disestablished themselves from the
PZPN and founded a separate and self governing company.
Polish Soccer expert, Stefaniski quotes “ This could be a
landmark for Polish Football and a start of a New Age.
Defeatism is a common trait in Poland. The Poles are against
almost everything and have been fighting the Russians, the
Germans and also each other. That is why we do not create
anymore. It is a problem beyond sport. We are all children
of the Communist regime, even if we were against it or born
after the collapse of the system, it is still very , very
much inside of us. It’s in the mentality : the long
tradition of fighting against occupation, and fighting
against Communism.”
“Hopefully this new structure will help us compete more
equally with top European Clubs.”
After arriving in Germany on Monday, Sept 3rd at 3:00pm
German time , I took a taxi to the Hotel on the outskirts of
Frankfurt in a small village Mulhieim / Landerspiel (4,500
residents). I walked in met Frans Hoek, Leo Beenhakker and
the staff and within thirty minutes had checked into my room
as was walking with the team to nearby club TSV Landerspiel
for the first training session.
Training was from 5:00pm – 6:30pm followed by a meal and
short meeting at 7:30pm. Everyone was then off to bed,
because most had played European Club (UEFA Champions League
or UEFA Cup) in the middle of last week followed by league
fixtures on Saturday and Sunday.
Including myself and the 25 players and 11 coaches and
staff, people flew in from 15 different countries this
morning including: USA, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Holland,
Russia, Poland, England, Scotland, Belgium, Austria, Serbia,
Romania and Ukraine.
Training Session # 1 – Monday , 5:00 pm, Germany
For all the soccer coaches, a brief synopsis of the training
(full report with exercises to come).
Objective / Aim : To get the flight out of the players body
and to get the last weeks games out of their mind. To come
together as a team.
25 players – 2 were at the Doctor (Radoslaw Matusiak of SC
Heerenveen and Jacek Bak of Austria Wien). There could be a
problem with Jacek Bak (captain and most capped player) and
he may be out for up to 6 weeks with a back/disc problem.
The staff had a big discussion after training about who to
call in based on availability, needs of the team , level of
experience etc.
A - Warm-up – Rondo – 2 grids of 6V2, 1 of 5V2
B - Short talk with Leo Beenhakker and then a 15 minute slow
jog with the coordination coach, followed by coordination
and dynamic stretching.
C – Artur Boruc and Maciej Zurawski of Celtic FC, Marcin
Wasilewski of RSC Anderlecht, Mical Zewlakow of Olympiacos
CFP and Lukasz Garula of GKS Belchatow who all played 90
minutes on Sunday, finished with a 8 minute run (cooling
down) and walked back to the hotel.
Frans Hoek and Polish Gker Coach took keepers Tomasz
Kuszczak and Lukasz Fabianski and worked apart from the team
for the rest of the session.
Leo and the Polish Assistant did a passing exercise (with
combinations) with the 15 remaining players. Exercise and
coaching points to follow.
D – The 15 players than did 4 progressive sprints at 80%
with change of direction and then 5 shorter sprints with
turning and exploding at 90%.
E – Possession 6V6 plus 3. 5 sets times 3 minutes with
coaching and rest in between.
F – Longer sprints at 85% staying at one speed the whole
time. Distance between 50 and 140 meters.
G – Cooling down and stretching
Poland squad - Portugal and Finland UEFA 2008 Qualifying –
September 2007
Goalkeepers: Artur Boruc (Celtic FC), Tomasz Kuszczak
(Manchester United FC), Łukasz Fabiański (Arsenal FC).
Defenders: Marcin Wasilewski (RSC Anderlecht), Paweł
Golański (FC Steaua Bucuresti), Arkadiusz Głowacki (Wisła
Kraków), Mariusz Jop (FK Moskva), Jacek Bąk (FK Austria
Wien), Michał Żewłakow (Olympiacos CFP) Grzegorz Bronowicki
(FK Crvena Zvezda), Dariusz Dudka (Wisła Kraków).
Midfielders: Przemysław Kaźmierczak (FC Porto), Radosław
Sobolewski (Wisła Kraków), Mariusz Lewandowski (FC Shakhtar
Donetsk), Jakub Błaszczykowski (BV Borussia Dortmund),
Łukasz Garguła (GKS Bełchatów), Jacek Krzynówek (VFL
Wolfsburg), Euzebiusz Smolarek (Real Racing Club Santander),
Wojciech Łobodziński (Zagłębie Lubin), Michał Goliński (Zagłębie
Lubin).
Forwards: Maciej Żurawski (Celtic FC), Łukasz Piszczek (Hertha
BSC Berlin), Grzegorz Rasiak (Southampton FC), Marek
Saganowski (Southampton FC), Radosław Matusiak (SC
Heerenveen). |
