Interview With Leo Beenhakker

Robert Błoński, Michał Szadkowski: We read that you are one of the
candidates for the new coaching position at Celtic.

Leo Beenhakker: I am on their list. Everyone is on their list.


Are you tired of all the rumors?

- Yes, because it used to be that before information was publicized, you called to the potential candidate and asked for their confirmation. Today, you first find the information in newspapers, a scandal is made out of it, and then someone calls and asks you to explain. I will never understand this, but I am from a different generation. Thirty years ago things were done differently.

The Dutch media claims that from June 1st, you will become the technical director at Feyenoord. In Poland there are people who say that you have at most one month left as the coach of the Polish National Team.

- I have said this many times, that I will resign as coach of the Polish NT for three reasons. Health reasons, if my children need me to be with them in Holland, and if I feel that I cannot perform my job duties the way that I want to. That someone will be giving me problems. For now, nothing like this is happening, but I will never say that in November 2009, I will still be the coach of Poland. However, obviously my ambition is the qualify for the World Cup.

Will you part ways with Feyenoord at the end of the season?

- My relationship with that club is based on the fact that I answer their questions. About the players, training etc. I don't have any position at the club, and I do not hold any responsibility. I don't have to part ways with them, because I do not have a contract with them. I help their new coach Marion Been, who is my friend, and he asked me for my advice.

But cooperating with the Dutch does conflict with your responsibilities as Polish NT coach. Instead of attending the Wisla - Legia match, you attended the Groningen - Feyenoord match.

- I know Pawel Brozek, Rafal Boguski, and Roger very well. For me, the Legia/Wisla match has as much value as a match with Jagielonia, where I can watch Kamil Grosicki, or a Cracovia where I can watch Piotr Polczak. As a fan, I would rather see a Wisla - Legia match. But I am not a fan, but the coach of the national team. Also, many Poles play abroad.

Can you imagine a Chelsea - Manchester United match without Fabio Capello?

- Apparently, he had a reason to be there.

Not going to Krakow, you gave a very good argument for your critics.

- That's their problem. To be a head coach of a national team, does not mean to put on a nice suit, sit in the VIP lounge, and watch a big league game. The day before the Wisla - Legia game, I went to Bordeaux to meet with Grzegorz Krychowiak. Nobody knew about this.

We called you. You didn't want to tell us, what match you picked.

- I like to work in the shadow. I organize my own trips to watch Polish players. Sometimes, people from my team know about my plans. I drive around France, Germany and other countries, to watch and meet with my players. Nobody has to know about this. I get in my car and drive.

Reports know that when you watch a match, you leave after 60 minutes. That's what happend in Auxerre, when you watched Ireneusz Jelen.

- One hour was enough for me to know that Ireneusz Jelen was in form and I should call him up. I found out what I wanted. Before the transfer of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Ajax Amsterdam from Malmo, I watched him for 30 minutes training on some poor pitch. I never saw him play a match.

Did some player in the Ekstraklasa impress you this season?

- There were some that developed. I'm talking about Robert Lewandowski, Rafal Boguski, Dawid Nowak, Patryk Malecki, Kamil Glik, Maciej Rybus, and I am waiting for Szymon Pawlowski from Zagłębie Lubin. I wanted to call up a few of them for them friendlies in South Aftics, but I decided not to, because on June 9th the U-21 team coached by Andrzej Zamilski are played a qualifying game against Lichtenstein. They are needed more on that team.

Is this a good time for Robert Lewandoeski to change clubs?

- When a player is 20 or 21 years old, he should not think about money, but about his career. He has to decide what is the best for him. He has to be sure that he will play at his new club. Let's say Robert went to Borussia Dortmund. He would do fine in the Bundesliga, but sitting on the bench would hurt his career. He won't become a better player if he only plays in 4 games in a season. He will develop better at Lech. Even more so if Lech will qualify to the Europa League. Kuba Blaszczykowski went to Borussia, because he knew they didn't have a player for his
position. He believe he would succeed.

But he had more experience, and Lewandowski only played one season in the Ekstraklasa.

- Mentally and as a player, Robert is ready to move abroad. It is important he chooses the right club. At his age, he as to play. Look at Dawid Janczyk. He changed from the bench at CSKA Moscow to Lokeren and it is working for him. Players often explain that it helps them a lot to train with the best, but only for 2 months. After that, if they don't play, their become worse.

Not only them. Roger remained in the Ekstraklasa and he had a terrible season.

- I disagree. He had good and bad games. But that is how he is. Do you remember the match against Wales and his fantastic goal in February? He has never disappointed me when playing for Poland. I don't know why it's different at his club.

Is it true that Feyenoord is interested in him?

- According to Polish media, Feyenoord is interested in half the Polish national team. I read about Dudka, Lobodzinski, Smolarek, Dudek, Jelen. Everyone is going to Rotterdam. I realize that this is the time of year for rumours. But that are rumors. Feyenoord has been scouting Roger since 2005. The scouts have been going to his games, and they have done the same with other Polish players.

Tomasz Zahorski had an even worse season that Roger.

- Zahorski showed me that he can play at the international level. The fact that he doesn't play at that level consistently, is another story. This season he was a victim of what was happening at his club. Gornik was relegated.

Did you enjoy this Ekstraklasa season?

- Three, four teams were fighting for the title to end. That is better for the league, than if one team has a huge advantage. The playing level didn't change. It didn't get better.

Were there any matches that you will remember for a long time?

- The Lech Poznan games at the beginning of the season. They were close to playing at an international level and they showed that in the UEFA Cup. I'm talking about the playing philosophy, that Franciszek Smuda introduced. They tried to take back possession immediately after losing the ball, and that they attacked their opponents on their half. I don't know why their form dropped so much in the last few weeks.

Wisla won the title. What chances do you give them to qualify for the Champions League?

- It depends on the draw. I hope that they will qualify, but I see that not much has changed in the club since last year. The same players that tried to qualify last year will do it again this year.

Do you now know what happened in Belfast and Bratislava, where Poland lost 6 points in World Cup qualifying?

- In football, individual mistakes often decide games. Do you remember the semifinal Champions League match between Arsenal and Manchester United? Kierran Gibbs made a mistake in the 2nd leg and Manchester United scored the only goal of the match. Are you going to blame Arsene Wenger? Not everything is in the hands of the coach.

Both games, Poland lost because of mistakes by Artur Boruc. What happened with him?

- A day before the Northern Ireland match, I told Lukasz Fabianski that he would play. The next day, Lukasz woke up sick. So I talked to Boruc, who was disappointed because he knew he wasn't supposed to play. He had a very unlucky game. That's it.

But that was his 2nd consecutive game where he played like that.

- You cannot link the two games. Artur wanted to win them. What can I tell you?

The day after the Belfast game, you sent him home. It looked like you stopped believing in him.

- I sat down with on Sunday morning. He was depressed, and we both agreed that the best thing for him and the team would be if he left. I wanted to protect him from the media. That's why Artur left on Monday, when the team was training, so that nobody would notice him. We respect each other very much and we have very good communication. We are friends off the field. That's how it is with the whole team.

Why did you call-up Jakub Wawrzyniak for the friendlies in South Africa, even though he was tested positive in a drug test and he could face a ban?

- Until a sentence is carried out, he is innocent. I believe him and I will defend him. What will happen if the Greeks say that he isn't guilty? Wawrzyniak did nothing wrong. He took weight loss pills. His only mistake was that he didn't tell anyone about it.

You wanted to call-up Ludovic Obraniak from Lille.

- It didn’t work out because he still doesn’t have a Polish passport. He will be called-up for the August friendly versus Greece. He is a good player, but I don’t know how he will play at the international level.

If Slovakia defeats San Marino on Wednesday, Poland will be 5 points behind the leader. Do you believe that Poland will qualify for the World Cup?

- If I didn’t believe, I wouldn’t be sitting here with you. First place in the group is still possible. We still have four matches left and I guarantee that none of our competitors will win them all. All the games we were supposed to lose, we lost already.