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With the new Polish Ekstraklasa season getting underway, former Poland international Marek Citko — who represented clubs including Widzew Łódź and Legia Warsaw during his playing career — shares his expectations for the campaign, discusses the title contenders, assesses the situations at Legia and Widzew, and looks at some of the league’s most intriguing players and newcomers.

Q: The new Ekstraklasa season is about to begin. After everything we saw last season, what kind of campaign are you expecting this time around? Could we see something similar again?

Marek Citko: It is difficult to say because the Ekstraklasa is an extremely unpredictable league. Every season seems to be different, and there is very little consistency from one year to the next.

Lech Poznań may be the exception. Over the last few seasons, they have shown a level of stability that they did not always have in the past. They no longer seem to have those major drop-offs in form, and they are consistently competing for the championship. There is clearly greater stability at the club, and they seem to learn from their mistakes.

With many of the other teams, a lot will depend on how they start the season. The opening weeks are extremely important. If you start well and build momentum, it can be difficult for the teams behind you to catch up.

At the same time, we still do not really have teams in Poland that you can confidently expect to win four or five league games in a row. That is what makes the Ekstraklasa so unpredictable.

I also feel the league becomes more competitive every year. Budgets at some clubs are increasing, several teams are financially stable and able to strengthen their squads, so the margins are becoming smaller.

Jagiellonia are another interesting team. The presence of Adrian Siemieniec gives them stability, and I think they can once again be near the top of the table. They will certainly miss some important players, but they have a coach who has already shown that he understands this league very well.

Ultimately, every point will matter this season. Once you fall into the bottom part of the table, it can be very difficult to get out of trouble — regardless of how big your club is.

Q: If you had to choose one clear favorite to win the championship, would it be Lech Poznań or somebody else?

Citko: Lech. I would still choose Lech.

They will have European competition to deal with, of course, but the club is well organized. They have quality players, they are not under pressure to sell their best players, and they have strengthened important areas of the squad, including the defense and goalkeeper position.

They are a very strong team and, in my opinion, they should be considered the favorites for the title.

Q: You also played for Legia Warsaw, so you know the club and the pressure surrounding it very well. After the kind of season Legia had last year, how much patience will there be from the supporters and the club’s management? Could another difficult season be accepted?

Citko: I think the level of patience at Legia has actually become much greater because of what the supporters have experienced in recent years.

There were moments when people were genuinely worried about the direction the club was heading. Expectations at Legia will always be high, of course, but after everything that has happened, there is also a desire for stability.

The first objective is for the team to be competitive again, to play consistently well and to be involved in European competition. But with every match, the pressure to win will increase. That is simply part of being at Legia.

There are still issues that need to be resolved within the squad. Marek Papszun has had work to do after what happened under previous coaches, and now we will see what kind of team he wants to build.

The key will be finding the right balance between attack and defense. In difficult periods, the priority was often simply not to concede and then hope to create something going forward. Now we need to see whether Legia can become more complete.

I still think they could have another challenging season.

Q: And what about Widzew Łódź? There have once again been major changes — not only to the squad, but also in the sporting structure, with people such as Łukasz Masłowski and Artur Płatek coming in. Could this finally be the season Widzew supporters have been waiting for — a return of a championship-level Widzew?

Citko: The supporters will definitely help. Anyone who comes to Widzew has to understand what this club represents.

You have to be ambitious. You have to handle pressure. You have to want to win, and for 90 minutes you have to give absolutely everything for the team.

If the new players understand that quickly, the supporters will give them enormous backing.

I also think this season will tell us which players truly fit Widzew and which ones cannot cope with the expectations and pressure that come with playing for this club.

I would not immediately say they should be expected to challenge for the championship, but European qualification should certainly be an ambition.

They have a coach who knows the league, they have a very good squad, and they have the financial ability to strengthen the team when necessary.

There is also now a group of people responsible for recruitment who are among the best in Poland at what they do.

Of course, everything can look excellent on paper. The real test always comes on the pitch.

I expect this to be a much more comfortable season for Widzew. They should not be looking over their shoulders and worrying about relegation. They should be looking upward, toward the European places.

And if they start the season well, things could become very interesting.

Q: The transfer window remains open until the end of August, so there is still plenty of time for clubs to make moves. What do you make of the business Ekstraklasa clubs have done so far? Has any club particularly caught your attention?

Citko: There have been significant changes at several clubs. Górnik, for example, have gone through changes at ownership level, although the general direction in which the club is being built appears to remain consistent.

I get the impression that more club owners are beginning to understand how important stability is.

Football does not always give you the result you expect immediately. Constantly changing coaches and players is expensive, and there is never any guarantee that those changes will produce better results.

At some clubs, we are finally seeing coaches being given more time to work, and I hope that will also improve the quality of football.

At times in recent seasons, I have watched Ekstraklasa games and felt that too many teams were playing in a very similar way. Matches were often decided by an individual mistake, a refereeing decision, one moment of creativity or simply better finishing.

I would like to see more.

I want to see attacking football. I want to see exciting players who are not afraid to take somebody on one-on-one.

That is something I think Polish football has been missing for several years.

We are moving too far in a direction where tactics and the pressure to get a result become more important than the beauty and creativity of the game.

Of course, I understand that results are ultimately what matter. But if Polish clubs want to compete at a higher level in Europe, you need players who can do something unpredictable — players who can create an advantage, beat an opponent off the dribble and make a difference in one-on-one or two-on-one situations.

Q: Is there one transfer in particular that has surprised you or that you are especially interested in seeing this season?

Citko: Not really, because I have learned not to get too excited about transfers before the season starts.

Every summer we hear that somebody is a fantastic player or that a club has made an incredible signing. But ultimately, the pitch verifies everything.

Sometimes the best player turns out to be someone who arrived on a free transfer. Or it can be a young player from the academy who suddenly gets an opportunity with the first team and becomes one of the revelations of the season.

That is why I do not pay too much attention to the hype surrounding transfers. What matters is what the player actually produces on the pitch.

Q: There is one player I wanted to ask you about specifically: Kacper Urbański. He is a player with obvious talent who has already experienced football abroad, including at Bologna. Do you think Górnik could be the right environment for him to rediscover his best form?

Citko: He needs a coach who trusts him.

First of all, he is the kind of player who needs to play regularly. But he also needs a coach who can help him develop the more mature, senior side of his game.

With a talented young player, it cannot only be about looking good on the ball. There has to be an end product.

He has enormous potential, but he needs to learn as quickly as possible how to take responsibility on the pitch — how to create chances, create advantages for his team, provide assists and score goals.

If Górnik decided to bring him in, I am sure they have a plan for him. That gives him a very good opportunity to play regularly and show his potential.

But ultimately, a lot depends on him and how hard he works.

I sometimes have the impression that until now he has been able to rely heavily on his natural talent and on the confidence people have in his potential.

At some point, though, you have to forget about your name, forget that you have played for the national team or at a major club abroad, and simply work hard every day.

Then you have to prove your quality in every match.

Q: Finally, let’s talk about the three promoted clubs. What should we expect from them? Wisla Krakow, Slask Wroclaw and specially underdog Wieczysta Krakow. Could one of the newcomers become the surprise package of the season?

Citko: I am especially curious to see how Wieczysta will handle the Ekstraklasa.

Financially, and in terms of the ambitions of the owner, this is a club that has the resources to think very seriously about competing at a high level.

But this will be a completely different challenge.

In the lower divisions, Wieczysta were generally able to build one of the strongest squads in the league. Whether it was the third tier, second tier or first tier, they were usually in a position where winning was expected and, in many cases, came more naturally because of the quality they had.

The Ekstraklasa will be different.

Winning games will no longer come so easily. They will face clubs with very good coaches, strong squads and much greater resources.

We also know that the owner is ambitious and does not like losing too many games, so it will be fascinating to see how everybody at the club reacts when they experience more difficult periods.

That will be a new experience for them.

As for the other promoted clubs, I think teams with strong support, proper infrastructure and knowledgeable people running them can bring a lot to the Ekstraklasa.

If a club has built a good squad, kept the right coach and earned promotion in a convincing way, that gives them a strong foundation.

Overall, the Ekstraklasa is becoming a very competitive league.

For the promoted teams, survival will not be easy. You have to start collecting points from the very beginning because if you fall behind early, catching up can become extremely difficult.

But I think these clubs can add a lot to the league, and their presence should make the new season even more interesting.

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