Poland has its ways with German stoppers

The line-up during the match against the Danish last Sunday was supposedly similar to the one that will play against Germany. Michał Żewłakow and Jakub Błaszczykowski had minor injuries, so Mariusz Jop and Tomasz Zahorski had their chance. There is no doubt whatsoever that Jacek Bąk and Żewłakow will play in the middle of the defence line. On the right Błaszczykowski will compete until the last minute with Wojciech Łobodziński, who shows a better and better form these days.

Besides right-wingers, Poland's offensive strength will be Ebi Smolarek in the left wing and Jacek Krzynówek placed behind the most forward player - Maciej Żurawski. The three of them can smoothly swap places during the match. Smolarek will move to the middle of the attack line. Żurawski will go back to connect the strikers and the halfbacks and Krzynówek will go to the left. This formation played in the Euro qualifiers where the three of them scored 14 out of 24 goals for Poland.

Roger has given to Beenhakker some room for manouevre. Since he outclasses the rest of the squad with his technique and the ability to predict what will happen in the field, he can be the surprise element for the rivals and offer creativity to the Polish team. This happened in a match against FC Schaffhausen and in encounters with Albania and Denmark. Roger was a shining star, he would let the ball pass between his legs to a better-positioned colleague, he charmed the audience dribbling and played with the outer part of his foot. He was spectacular and efficient - you could count his losses on the fingers of one hand. His passes can do the trick against the tall but not particularly agile and rather slow German stoppers - Per Mertesacker and Christoph Metzelder. Another strong point of his are set pieces. It was regularly hot near the Danish goal after his average corner kicks. When the others had a try, there was no danger.

Ebi in the right wing?

It is difficult not to notice that the colleagues do not understand yet how dangerous Roger can be when he gets the ball and how much of his value he loses when he has to run after it. We hope it is not their bad will but the lack of teamwork for the time being. The time that has been Roger's biggest enemy - 135 minutes (three halves in three matches) and some dozen trainings may not be enough to allow him to play against the Germans since the beginning.

And if he plays, whom will he replace?

The most logical solution is the craziest one. Beenhakker could place Ebi Smolarek on the right and Krzynówek on the left and have Roger play behind Żurawski. This is a possible scenario even though Ebi has never started a match on the right in Beenhakker's squad. If Leo decides to place Smolarek there, it would be instead of Błaszczykowski, who hasn't trained much lately and though he has no longer complaints, it's always better to be on the safe side. Besides, the quick winger of Borussia Dortmund could play in the second half and compete with Philipp Lahm, somewhat tired by then. Wojciech Łobodziński played well against Denmark but has admitted himself that the sprained ankle still hurts. It is just that the Wisła Kraków winger is one of Leo's favourites. The truth is that he rarely proved to be half as good in club matches as he is in the squad. On Sunday he passed by the Danes the way he wanted. But when it came to crossing the ball to the penalty area, even without the rival on his back, the cross was inaccurate. Smolarek and Krzynówek both guarantee better pass quality. Lack of experience speaks against Łobodziński as well. He played well in friendly matches against the Czech Republic and Denmark but failed in the qualifiers (e.g. he missed an ideal occasion in the match against Armenia in Yerevan and he was replaced after the break in the match against Belgium in Chorzów).

On deciding on Roger in place of another right-winger, Leo limits the players' freedom a lot. In that case only Krzynówek and Smolarek could swap places in the field. Żurawski is no good as the line halfback, which he proved during the World Cup in Korea and Japan. Roger, though played on the left in Legia, is more useful in the middle - when he is in possession of the ball more often and can really play it.

Żurawski is the untouchable one

The third solution is even more improbable. To find a place for Roger, the one to miss his place would be ... Żurawski. In that scenario Roger would play behind the most forward Smolarek, and Krzynówek and Łobodziński or Błaszczykowski would play in the wings. This is only a theoretical solution - after the Larissa transfer and trainings with the physiologist Mike Lindemann Żurawski is quicker and more dynamic than he used to be in any of the encounters in the qualifiers. For Beenhakker the captain is irreplaceable, he bet on Żurawski when the footballer was off form and he would bet again when Żurawski performs effortlessly in the field.

The match against Germany will be Krzynówek's 80th appearance in the squad. In the majority of recent matches he had some genius piece of play. Leo believes him to be a professional and universal role model to follow. With huge power in his little feet he is one of the two footballers in the team that can decide the result of the match on their own. Smolarek is another one and the coach would not give up on him either. It is because Ebi is not afraid to play with the favourites and he knows how to play. It was evident in the first half of the match against Denmark when the technique was everything, as neither team would use all the strength to play.

Roger can be the third player to make a difference in the squad; with one pass he can decide the result of the game. Even if Beenhakker does not give the chance to the 26-year old midfield since the very beginning, Roger will play for sure. Let's hope it will not be too late when Leo starts the changes.

Scenario 1 (79% probability) Błaszczykowski (Łobodziński), Dudka, Lewandowski, Smolarek - Krzynówek - Żurawski

Scenario 2 (20 % probability) Smolarek, Dudka, Lewandowski, Krzynówek - Roger - Żurawski

Scenario 3 (1 % probability) Błaszczykowski (Łobodziński), Dudka, Lewandowski, Krzynówek - Roger - Smolarek