There were some pretty neat stories beyond the headlines in Polish football this weekend: yes, Lewandowski and Barcelona played out a dull 0-0 with Getafe and Arek Milik couldn’t help Juventus as they lost away to Sassuolo, but there were still plenty of intriguing, slightly feel-good stories with Polish players scoring and assisting this Sunday. That’s before we get to the small matter of this weekend’s Klasyk in Warszawa.
Świderski assists Jóźwiak
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It was a running joke until a few weeks ago: Kamil Jóźwiak had barely registered a goal or assist in nearly three years until a few weeks ago. I wrote about that then, expressing surprise and I am once more surprised that Jóźwiak has popped up with a goal.
His Charlotte teammate Karol Świderski is much more highly thought of, given his goalscoring record for the national team. This weekend, Świderski lofted a great ball to the back post for Jóźwiak to head into the net, quite the role reversal given the provider is a more traditional striker and the scorer a winger.
It’s not too late for Jóźwiak, even if he does turn 25 next week, to be thought of in much more charitable terms than he is now. Look at Przemysław Frankowski, himself a goalscorer this weekend. He was playing in the MLS at 26, and yet found himself a move to a Top 5 European league where he has flourished.
Kozłowski scores
Image via @MijnVitesse on Twitter
Okay, it was a goal that most footballers would’ve comfortably scored: a tap-in to an open goal after a teammate forces a bad pass from a goalkeeper, but Kacper Kozłowski had to be there to score it nonetheless.
He’s been having a strong season in Holland that’s been flying somewhat under the radar, and I for one was crushed that he had to pull out of the recent March internationals with injury, as given his talent it was about time he was reinstated to the senior Polish squad.
As I mentioned at the time of Fernando Santos’ announcement of that squad, the fact Santos saw it that Kozłowski was a selection immediately placed into that group, and Czesław Michniewicz never once included him in a senior Poland squad, spoke volumes. Here’s hoping Kozłowski will be fit for the internationals in June.
Piątek does something!
Image via Mikolaj Barbanell/Shutterstock
Krzysztof Piątek has not been having the most vintage of Serie A seasons with Salernitana. He hasn’t scored since before the World Cup and he’s unlikely to get himself a permanent move on the back of statistics like that.
Despite this, he has been playing very well at Salernitana despite not appearing to do much each game since January other than run around a bit. This weekend, in their 1-1 draw against Torino, he managed to get an assist as he laid the ball off perfectly for Tonny Vilhena to score a lovely curling effort from the edge of the box.
Perhaps we shouldn’t be praising Piątek for such basic actions, but I’ve always been quite optimistic that he will have a career that peaks both in the middle (that half a season at Genoa) and at the end (who knows?)
Szymański’s goal
Image via Mikolaj Barbanell/Shutterstock
Sebastian Szymański might not have stood out positively in either Poland’s game against the Czech Republic last month or in Feyenoord’s Europa League first leg against Roma, but the goal he scored against Cambuur on Sunday will be sure to quell any concerns we had that he is not a top quality footballer.
Taking down a lofted cross, he lobbed the ball back across goal from an acute angle, sneaking the ball into the top far corner. It was a goal that had it been scored in a higher profile league would undoubtedly be doing the rounds on Twitter et al.
This is one of the questions that we face over Szymański’s future as we approach the summer transfer window. Feyenoord are remaining coy about whether or not Szymański is joining them permanently in the summer; we assume he is but it’s not 100% guaranteed. Some Dutch pundits are claiming he won’t be worth the outlay and that he hasn’t improved Feyenoord all that much, but whichever way you look at it Feyenoord are having one of their best seasons in recent memory, and Szymański is a part of that.
Given the fact he is still technically under contract with Dynamo Moscow, any potential transfer dealings are subject to sanctions, so whether Feyenoord pull off a permanent deal (or any other club) will have a whiff of controversy and be very complex. Szymański himself has stated he is happy in Rotterdam and does not wish to return to Russia, so hopefully all parties come to the right agreement.
The Klasyk entertains and enthrals
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Legia Warszawa 2-2 Lech Poznań does not sum up the events of what was a far more pulse-pounding Klasyk than the one we endured in October. Not only did we have goals, but Lech came back from a dismal first half display to silence the Łazienkowska crowd and we saw a lovely move for Legia’s late equaliser.
A draw was most probably a fair result, and it all but confirms Raków Częstochowa will be taking the title barring any huge slip-ups. The biggest story to break surrounding the match, aside from the result itself, is that according to Sebastian Staszewski Club Brugge have submitted a €6 million bid for Michał Skóraś. Skóraś hasn’t been doing as well in the past few games as he was, but he will nonetheless almost certainly be leaving Lech for pastures new in the summer. Skóraś is on an upward trajectory, but bringing it full circle, he will have to be sure that unlike another former Lech winger in Kamil Jóźwiak he does not bite off more than he can chew with his move abroad.
In my opinion, Club Brugge would be a very salient option for Skóraś. Arguably the best team in Belgium, Skóraś would likely be getting Champions League football every season whilst honing his skills in what is a league better than many think. I think Lech can get more than €6 million for Skóraś and I certainly hope they can do just that, but the destination makes a lot of sense.
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