Ryan, a Polish international, without any fee – a bargain for our club FC Cologne, isn’t it?
Yes, indeed! Signing for Górnik Zabrze in summer of 2011, the club’s officials – and in particular coach Adam Nawałka – were well aware of Olkowski’s capabilities. Offering a three-year contract to the 21-year-old, the club also insisted on a release clause of €800,000. While Paweł has played in great manner for this club during his time in Zabrze, financially-troubled Górnik will be quite disappointed to miss out on such a large amount.
The first reaction within the fans here in Cologne was: Paweł WHO? Could you please describe what Olkowski is all about?
Credited as one of Poland’s most promising and most improving players, Olkowski’s position and style of play have led to many comparisons with fellow countryman and Dortmund star Łukasz Piszczek. Although primarily known as a right-back, it’s not unusual to see Paweł working his way up the pitch in support of the attackers – regularly even finding himself in goalscoring situations.
He has been essential to Górnik’s impressive performances this season, helping them to second position in the Ekstraklasa (first Polish league) – only behind current national champion Legia Warszawa – and into the quarter-finals of the Cup. With his former coach Nawałka being appointed as coach of the Polish national team, Paweł has received callings which lead him into wearing the White Eagle on his chest for recent games against Slovakia, Ireland, Norway and Moldova.
What do you think are his outstanding abilities? In which categories – Pawel has got to improve?
Also able to play in midfield, Olkowski is mostly impressive when surging forward in attack from within the defence. His ability to overlap the winger and finding himself in attacking position has led him to assisting seven of Górnik’s 36 goals this season. This is one of the reasons why he is compared to Piszczek that often.
However, those expecting an attacking full-back to score goals may be disappointed. In his 21 league games this season, he has yet to score a single goal. Within his two-and-a-half years in Górnik, he has only managed to score once. Despite being a defender he finds himself in goalscoring positions frequently, so his composure and fixity of purpose in front of the opponents’ goal could be better.
At his main position (right full back) – he’ll find fierce competition with our captain Miso Brecko. Is Olkowski ready for this fight – and for the Bundesliga?
Olkowski is doubtless ready to step up from the Ekstraklasa, but whether he is ready for the Bundesliga is an entirely different matter. But with the amount of Polish players playing in Germany nowadays, acclimatization and familiarisation shouldn’t be too difficult in Cologne.
Polish players seem to be drawn to the German leagues, partly because it is simply close to their homes, but to some extent because the style of play is similar. Both are very technical leagues, with players relying more on their skills than on strength. This could be a main reason why players such as Lewandowski and Błaszczykowski go on having that much of success in the Bundesliga.
The Bundesliga, however, is a step up from the Ekstraklasa, meaning it could take some time for Olkowski to adapt to his new surroundings. But given a little patience to begin with, he has the ability and mentality to progress – even the Dortmund trio didn’t have the greatest debut seasons in Germany.
How would you describe the level of Ekstraklasa – compared to the German Bundesliga?
Whilst these two countries being separated only by one single border, you only need to look at results in European competitions to see that there’s an enourmous gap between the nations’ top football leagues.
On one side, Germany was represented in both dressing rooms during the Champions League final last season and had four more clubs to reach the knockout stage. On the other side, none of Poland’s top four teams even made it past the qualifying stages. Looking at this season, five German teams made it into the second phase, while Poland’s sole representative, Legia, lost five of their six Europa League group games.
Though, it would be invidious to say the Ekstraklasa is of a poor standard – it is steadily improving. Developed players such as Arkadiusz Milik (Leverkusen on loan at Augsburg) and Paweł Wszołek (Sampdoria) and good-leveled foreign players cause reasons to hope Polish football might return to the heights where it was back in the 1960s and 1970s.
How do the Górnik fans react to the loss of Olkowski?
Though Górnik fans will be disappointed to have missed out on making a profit on Olkowski, none will begrudge him the move abroad. In fact, with Górnik still in the hunt for both the Polish league and the Cup trophy, for now they will be happy to keep hold on him until this season is over. However, there will be some concern whether Gornik’s going to be able to replace him when Pawel does finally head to Cologne – the chances of finding someone of Olkowski’s quality with such poor finances will be difficult.
Matuszczyk, Peszko and now Olkowski – how will this Polish trio affect the attention to FC Cologne in Poland?
With Olkowski on his way to the Rhineland, it is likely some of the Górnik fans will watch over on Cologne’s results. Some may even adopt them as their “second team”. Although Olkowski’s transfer being the first from Górnik to Cologne, there is already a link between these two clubs. There is one specific Górnik supporter who will keep a keen eye on the 23-year-old’s progress – Lukas Podolski. The Arsenal frontman was born just a few miles from Górnik’s stadium and grew up as a big supporter of this club.
Despite this link, it is extremely unlikely Cologne’s going to become the “new Dortmund” for Polish football fans. Kuba is a nation’s hero – and with him and Piszczek still playing for Borussia Dortmund, Polish focus will switch between the Ruhr and Munich – the new home of Robert Lewandowski. But as long as Cologne earn promotion back to the Bundesliga, there will indeed be a lot more attention directed towards the RheinEnergy Stadium from Poland’s fans and media.
