Pawel Brozek has finally become what many have always expected out of him for years. The 25 year old Wisla Krakow striker has been a hot topic of late, not only because of his play, but also rumors surrounding him with a move to a bigger European club. Brozek has been a scoring machine the last two seasons. In 2007/08 season, Brozek led the Polish Ekstraklasa with 23 goals. And currently, at the winter break, Brozek leads all goal scorers again, with 12. Brozek had a remarkable scoring record in 2008, playing a total of 30 games and scored 19 goals. Including 5 caps with the National team and 2 goals, against the Czech Republic and Lithuania.
West Ham United scouts were impressed with Brozek’s play during his February 11th match against Wales. So much so, the London club is now linked with signing Brozek this summer. I know that the English Premier League is arguably the best league in the world right now and why wouldn’t anyone want to go play there? But, is it in the best interest for Brozek and the Polish National team?
Pawel Brozek
Brozek’s value is at its peak. And he could attract many offers in the open market. According to his agent Radoslaw Osuch, clubs from Russia, Germany, France and England have interest in signing the Polish sniper. One of the clubs interested according to reports is German Bundesliga club Borrussia Dortmund, where both Ebi Smolarek and Jakub Blaszczykowski have achieved a great deal of success. The Bundesliga has been a league where Polish players have been more successful than not. Not only Ebi or Kuba , it goes further than that. Jacek Krzynowek, Andrzej Juskowiak, Radoslaw Kaluzny, Pawel Kryszalowicz, Artur Wichniarek, Tomasz Waldoch and Tomasz Hajto , have all had tons of success in Germany. It’s a league that Polish players adapt to easier being closer to home.
Another league that would suit Brozek very well is the French Ligue 1. One club who has already shown interest in Brozek is AS Nancy. Nancy had also shown interest in Brozek in 2006, when he was just a prospect. Now, he’s a proven goal scorer. The French League is much more like Brozek’s style of play. It’s a league where he can gain some quick success and move onto a bigger club. It’s also a league where a good number of Poles made a name for themselves, such as Piotr Swierczewski, Tomasz Klos and Jacek Bak. Ireneusz Jelen has also played well for Auxerre, despite his injuries. He scored 10 goals in his first season in Ligue 1. Ligue 1 is a much quicker league and one of the most offensive minded leagues in the world.
The English Premier League is everything except wide open and fast. It’s a very physical league to play in and much slower pace. Brozek would play against defenders like Nemanja Vidic, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, William Gallas, Jamie Carragher, Micah Richards, Joleon Lescott, and many many other powerful defenders. Vidic even admitted that the EPL was more physical then he ever expected, when he signed from Spartek Moscow. Brozek struggled when Wisla Krakow played against Tottenham in 2008 in the Uefa Cup. It was clear Brozek had problems with Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate. They would be the least of his worries if he goes there full time. It’s also the league where a number of Polish players have gone to fail. Smolarek the most recent with Bolton. Grzegorz Rasiak, Jaroslaw Fojut and Tomasz Cywka all have failed to impress. Fojut, at age 21, is now in the Polish league.
Brozek for Poland against Ecuador
It’s not just Polish players who go to England and fail. Serhiy Rebrov signed Tottenham in 2002, after scoring 93 goals in 189 matches for Dynamo Kiev could only produce 10 goals in 60 matches, in over 4 seasons. Rebrov is still considered one of the biggest disappointments in Tottenham history. Andrej Shevchenko also struggled when he signed with Chelsea, scoring only 9 times in 47 matches. Other notable disappointments include Djibril Cisse and El Hadji Diouf who signed with Liverpool with major hopes. Even Carlos Tevez struggled when he first arrived with West Ham United. He went scoreless in his first 7 matches and finished his first season with 7 goals. Would West Ham be as patient with Brozek? Probably not. It’s a league with lots of money and lot’s of pressure. It’s a “what can you do for me now” league. Either produce, or they will replace you with a guy who will produce. There is no room for error in the Premiership.
Brozek needs to go to a place where he can feel comfortable in. A place where they will respect his talents and give him time to play up to his potential. A place where they will allow some time for him to adjust to the new surroundings and the new league. The EPL right now is not the best place for Brozek. The last thing Poland needs right now is another star player sitting on the bench.
The SOCA! Soul 
You can include Diego Forlan (Man Utd), Fernando Morrients (Liverpool) and Claudio Pizarro (Chelsea) to that list of failed strikers in the EPL.
The thing with Brozek is that while he may be a great goal scorer in the Polish league — those other players you mentioned all had great success in other leagues before joining the EPL. Much better leagues than the Polish one. Shevchenko was banging them in regularly for AC Milan, Claudio Pizarro was a hit at Bayern Munich, Fernando Morrientes used to light it up at Real Madrid & Monaco. These leagues are much better than the Polish league and I believe that Brozek should first try out a mid level club in Germany or even have a go with a top team in Russia before he makes a jump to the EPL, Serie A or La Liga. Throwing him into the hot water with West Ham would be a HUGE mistake (one you have rightly pointed out my friend!)
I have to disagree with you on one thing though, while the EPL is not “wide open” in play it is very fast as you seem to think it’s not. Thats your opinion and I respect that, but what would you think of Serie A? Where an over-aging Beckham (who is very slow) can control the game because the Italian league is very open and very very slow. Beckham in his prime never was able to control a game like that for Manchester United.
Keep up the good work on the articles! I enjoy them!
Yea i agree on the West Ham/EPL thing. I would love to see him go to a German or French team. Going straight from EK to EPL is suicide.
Thanks for the responses guys.
I agree with you article. I would like to see brozek either player in ligue 1, bundesliga, la liga or portugese liga. each of these leagues has huge clubs that compete at the same level as english clubs and there is evidence from past polish and foreign players that it is more adjustable for incoming players than the epl. i like the epl but in all honesty i think its more overrated. when you look at all the international teams that are having success right now, majority of the rosters are NOT comprised of epl players, i mean there are a lot but majority are not. epl has lots of money which makes it more appealing, thats it. i think the bundesliga in all honesty is better, they have rich clubs, rich stadiums, huge fan bases, lots of successful players and for those reasons i think brozek should end up there. a team like werder bremen, stuggart, bayern, schalke etc would be great for another polish player!
Thanks for the good reply, travoltage.
I agree with everything you said. Even the part about the EPL. Besides it’s “appeal” it is nothing special. Although, the top 4 are starting to become really good, looking at Champions League results. Brozek on a club in Germany, like the ones you named, would give him a chance to play on the big stage, infront of lots of people and in tournaments like the Champions League each season.
There has been no talk of the fact that West Ham is managed by GF Zola and the Hammers play a very pass oriented style thus putting a high value on first touch and vision. All of which Brozek has. This is a club that has had players like Cole, Tevez, Parker and DiMechele. None too big or fast but all with touch and skill! If a side like Tottenham or a Bolton type club came looking then I would say yes avoid them! But West Ham has in the past and even this season with Cole shown that they are willing wait to see the real skill come out. With Zola there to nurture it, Brozek might just be the right player for the right club. Also remember the players that he would link with would be Cole (big and fast) and or Ashton (big and not fast but hard to knock off the ball with the ability to find the open space) The pass and movement style would suit Pawel’s ability and his vision with the ball at his feet would suit theirs
nice article, i totally agree that he should land somewhere where he will get a chance to play regular ball id prefer france over germany thats for sure!