Major transfers, Lech and Jagiellonia’s Europa League opponents and predicting Urban’s next Poland squad

Image via @juventusfc on Twitter

A fair amount has occurred for Polish football in the last fortnight since I penned an article for this website, which means the task of what to discuss has been somewhat simplified. As you can see from the headline, there are some main topics of discussion worth getting into, so I’ll finish this introduction and get on with it. 

Firstly I’d like to discuss Adam Buksa’s loan move to Mallorca, who are looking to immediately bounce back to the Spanish top flight after suffering relegation last season. Undoubtedly one of the strongest teams in the second division now, Buksa will be in a good place to win football matches and earn plenty of playing time, at least you would think. I was pleasantly surprised by Buksa’s performance levels since his move to Udinese, and even if he hasn’t really had the opportunities to show this in a Poland shirt he was still getting minutes off the bench here and there for his club, and sometimes notching goals. At 30 years old however you get the impression Buksa wanted a place where he’d be starting most weeks, and you imagine Mallorca will provide that. 

Kamil Grabara moving to Juventus was a little bit of a surprise, and taking the number 1 is certainly a statement, but I don’t think we should act surprised at that given what we know about Grabara. Considering that all summer long we were waiting to see exactly who would come in for Grabara, I don’t know how many seriously considered Juventus until the news was first reported of their interest. A loan with a supposedly automatic purchase option, it looks like Grabara will be in Turin for a while longer than just this season. If we’re to believe reports, he will largely be the back-up to another fresh goalkeeping face at the club in the form of Guglielmo Vicario, but I wouldn’t bet against a situation this season where both players have runs as first-choice either through injury or form. What it means for Grabara’s chances of becoming or staying as Poland’s first-choice goalkeeper is a better question, as I’m not sure that simply being a back-up at a big club will be valued by Jan Urban as much as starting every week, like some of the other candidates for that position.

Continuing with the goalkeeping theme, I also think it’s prudent to mention Bartosz Mrozek’s leaving Lech Poznań and joining Udinese, also to take a back-up role similar to Grabara at Juve. For what it’s worth I think Mrozek could well have moved to a club where he could start most weeks, given that he’s had decent performances for Lech these past couple of seasons, but maybe being back-up at a stable club in a top league is exactly what he could and should be at this point in his career. Mrozek did actually make his debut in the Coppa Italia yesterday and whilst he did make a bit of a meal for the goal he conceded, there were otherwise few moments of concern. 

It’s also worth talking about a transfer that didn’t happen, specifically the fact that as for now Marcel Reguła remains a Zagłębie Lubin player. Borussia Dortmund came back again late in the window after another of their signings this summer, Giannis Konstantelias, suffered a serious injury. Instead, Dortmund plumped for Ethan Nwaneri on loan and Reguła stays put in Lubin, at least until the winter transfer window. 

There are two trains of thought about this whole summer transfer saga involving Reguła. The first is that Zagłębie were basically pushing him out the door when the player himself wasn’t committed to leaving, because as a club the money they could make from a sale would’ve been a really tidy sum. The second is that Reguła is showing a little bit of a lack of ambition not wanting to leave, supposedly having concerns about acclimatisation and not being a confident English speaker. In my opinion, the truth is probably somewhere between the two. 

Zagłębie have the right to want to maximise any potential profit on Reguła, and you figure this summer was probably their best chance to sell for the highest amount they could. Let’s not forget that at the outset of the window, Benfica were supposedly in talks to sign Reguła but balked at the asking price, and Burnley were more than willing to pay the money the club wanted but the player himself had his doubts, understandably. Dortmund seemed ideal for both parties, but it wasn’t to be, at least in this window. 

After a breakout season, and still only a teenager, I can completely understand Reguła wishing to remain in an environment where he is most comfortable before taking the leap abroad. As for his current lack of language skills, this will probably come in time and let’s not forget that Kamil Grosicki played in England for four years without ever becoming completely fluent, so whilst being helpful it’s not paramount to having a good career.

Moving on, and discussing Lech and Jagiellonia Białystok’s opponents in this year’s Europa League. It’s a real achievement for both clubs to get to this competition, although the step up from the Conference League is extremely apparent when looking at who both clubs have been drawn against, as you can see below. 

Images via @LechPoznan and @Jagiellonia1920 on Twitter

It won’t be easy and I think making the next stage will be unlikely, but if both teams can pick up points from half of their games this could be achievable and they could conceivably make the knockout rounds. I think this season would be all about consolidating at a higher level than Polish clubs have managed in the recent past, and anything more than that would be a strong campaign. 

Perhaps the biggest topic to discuss today, with only a few weeks to go now until the international break, is what Jan Urban’s next Poland squad might look like. There is a burning desire from some supporters to see a real overhaul here, and whilst hopefully we do get some new faces, anything drastic would still be a surprise. 

I do think however that the time has come for Urban to not rely on old favourites and the hierarchy of those who have a large number of call-ups and caps, but to really commit to picking on form. There is also the question of switching to a back four, which Urban has been heavily hinting at for some time and something a few pundits have mentioned could become a reality in the next set of games for Poland. 

The stumbling block for Poland playing with a back four has been left back, something which has been the case for a while now, but there are two standout candidates. Michał Gurgul was someone I thought was in the mould of Jakub Kiwior when he first broke through, something of a hybrid between a centre back and a left back, but it’s been clear for a while now that he is a really quality left back at both Ekstraklasa and European level. A very different but still quality option is Tymoteusz Puchacz, a player I’ve always had time for and is getting deserved recognition for helping Sabah qualify for the Champions League. 

Both Gurgul and Puchacz would be different propositions at left back, one more defensively-minded and the other more attack-minded, but that’s all the more reason for Urban to call them up and give them the chance, because frankly I don’t see why you wouldn’t at least try it now that the options are there. 

In Poland’s midfield, you would also argue there is a need for new faces on form, as there are currently better and younger options out there than Bartosz Kapustka. You have Wiktor Nowak in great form with Slavia Prague and Bartosz Mazurek getting a goal and two assists in his last two games with Red Bull Salzburg. Either of these would be fantastic to see in lieu of an aging Kapustka, who is currently looking less than effective with Legia Warszawa. In all likelihood Mazurek will be with the U-21 side for the next few internationals, but if someone like Oskar Pietuszewski can make the step up at such a tender age I don’t see why Mazurek couldn’t. Nowak’s form is undeniable and if he isn’t getting a call-up and time off the bench for Poland later this month then that would be a serious misstep in my view. 

As for strikers, and beyond the hopefully not yet retired Robert Lewandowski the competition isn’t looking the healthiest. To be frank, if Mateusz Żukowski and Adrian Benedyczak are passed over in favour of more established names, then I think it would be a serious problem for Poland and Urban going forward in the future. Żukowski is very clearly the most prolific Polish striker available, and Benedyczak isn’t far behind. The chances of both being called-up though would I imagine be slim, sadly. I understand that you can’t pick these squads on form alone, much as managers make overtures that they do, but in the case of these two forwards the form is simply too good to ignore, especially compared with the other preferred back-ups to Lewandowski. 

I’d also be interested to see if Urban can rouse Jakub Kamiński from the slumber he finds himself in with his new club Benfica. Brought in by the Lisbon side on the understanding that they would have to sell at least one of their other talented wing options, this has not materialised and Kamiński finds himself rooted to the bench. Kamiński has been a standout for Poland playing off Lewandowski in the last 12 months, using his considerable speed to get in behind teams. Hopefully he can find himself refreshed with Poland, something others in similar situations have done in the past. Also as a slightly separate topic, I’d like to see Marcel Reguła called up to be Kamiński’s understudy in that role, as whilst a different kind of player I think he could flourish in that role just behind or playing off a main striker as he does similar things for Zagłębie. 

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