2011 PFS Rank – Right Wingers

This is the second edition of Polish Football Scout Ranking but the rules have changed this year – instead of my own opinions, a selected panel of experts put nominated players in direct order that gave them points – 5 for the No. 1, 3 for the No. 2, 1.5 for the No. 3 and 0.5 for Special Mentions. They were very harsh and at several positions top spots were empty, while at others only one or two footballers deserved to be picked. Out of twelve categories, only three players were given the maximum number of points by each expert and there are definitely few surprises. More information about experts and results in all categories can be found at special page – 2011 Polish Football Scout Ranking.

3^rd place – empty

2^nd place – Kamil Grosicki (Sivasspor, 08.06.1988, 177/75) – 10.5 points

Is it possible that he has finally matured and is finished with all his problems that tormented his early career in Poland? There is no more drinking before the training, gambling, borrowing money from different people… It seems so, yes. The move to Sivasspor seems like a blessing now, even though it’s hardly a club that works on fans’ imagination. But he is still the same type of player we know from Ekstraklasa – brilliance connected with wastefulness, fantastic pace with lack of end product. Or maybe we are mistaken? His stats from this season are fairly good, apparently he is connected with moves to bigger clubs in Turkey and Europe while the biggest rumour for now is the one of his comeback to the national team. Smuda proved that he doesn’t like players that speak out loud what they have on their minds and this seems to be the biggest problem with both of them – not necessarily the fault of Polish winger as we all know how stubborn coach is…

From time to time we can hear about his great performances in Turkey. But there must be a move to bigger clubs, from Istanbul perhaps? – Maciej Chorążyk

I prefer him as second forward in 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 – Kibu Vicuna

1^st place – Jakub Błaszyczkowski (Borussia Dortmund, 14.12.1985, 175/71) – 25 points

It’s easy to say that he failed last season at club level and is yet to be the same player for BVB he was after his move from Wisła to Dortmund – especially given the impact of his Polish friends at German champions. Inevitably, the talks about him looking for a new club started out and suspicions of a row between him and Klopp but that was all rubbish – he showed all of his critics on the pitch that he still has a lot to give to his team and what a player national team have. This was his first full year as a captain and even with the team struggling more often than we could wish for, he was one of the top performers, always attacking, always positive, always giving everything for his country. There is no better choice for Poland in this spot.

Still the best, even not being in the first team at Borussia. If won’t make it there, then somewhere else – Andrzej Gomołysek

Close call but he is still the captain of Polish national team, he fought his way back to BVB squad and should be praised for that – Michał Zachodny

Leo Beenhakker named him the Polish Cristiano Ronaldo and this fall he gave to the team as much as the real CR gives to Portugal – Michał Szadkowski

SPECIAL MENTIONS: Waldemar Sobota (Śląsk Wroclaw, 19.05.1987, 175/68, 4.5 points) Very close to the third place but still too fragile, too selfish and too incomplete to be regarded as someone that may change the hierarchy at this position. Tomasz Kupisz (Jagiellonia Białystok, 02.01.1990, 180/70, 3.5 points) Poorer current season than the last one but he is still one of the main and top performers at his club – probably too dependable on his teammates form, to be honest.

Also ranked: Tomasz Cywka (Derby County, 27.06.1988, 180/76, 0.5 point), Arkadiusz Woźniak (Zagłębie Lubin, 01.06.1990, 184/73, 0.5 point)