A dream of Warszawianka - part 6 (2028/29). Disappointment.

Important! This is an English language version of my career, intended for users of the Mój Football Manager portal outside Poland. The only minor exception is the screenshots, as the text remained in Polish. At this point, I would like to thank Anna Mróz, who is a research manager at one of the best (top three!) universities in the world. I am of course referring to the famous Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London. Ania has a PhD, and about 30 scientific publications. To summarise - she is an extremely competent person, whose presence on our portal and the support she provides is a real honour. Thank you! I have lived in Great Britain for over 15 years, and I think my knowledge of English is really good, but I do not feel 100% confident in all grammatical nuances. That is why I am very grateful to Ania, who helped me with translating the text. During the consultation, we changed some things, because - as you all know - "football" English is not always the same as the everyday language. Any possible mistakes are therefore my fault. Mahdi Z-ca Redaktora Naczelnego, Sponsor MFM - rok 2025, Wicemistrz Polski FM 15, Mistrz Polski FM 17, FM 19, FM 20, FM 21 i FM 22, 3. miejsce w Polsce FM 18, Typer Sezonu 2020/21 - 2.m, Typer Sezonu 2021/22 - 3.m, Pierwszy Kreator Gwiazd, Menedżer Miesiąca Komentarzy: 11318 Grupa: Root Admin Ranga: Ojciec Założyciel Ranga sponsorska: Sponsor Strategiczny Dołączył: 2015-03-20 Poziom ostrzeżeń: 0

Translation: dr Anna Mróz.

Anna is a Research Manager at The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, United Kingdom.

I would like to thank Anna for her selfless help. And everything else.

Łukasz "Mahdi" Czyżycki

Only Polish footballers and Polish staff‭ ‬-‭ ‬the first flag  

This summary excludes players outside the first team and those on extended loans. If a player initially joined on loan and was later signed permanently, that will be noted separately.

Transfers in:

29.06.2028: Bartłomiej Żynel (Stomil Olsztyn, end of loan)

01.07.2028: Jakub Chmiel (product of the club's youth system, promotion from the U-19s)

01.07.2028: Wiktor Kalinowski (Zagłębie Lubin, Bosman ruling)

01.07.2028: Szymon Grączewski (Legia Warszawa, Bosman ruling)

01.07.2028: Krystian Palacz (Stal Mielec, 300 000 euros)

16.07.2028: Kacper Szymczyk (Nice, loan)

21.07.2028: Aleksander Paluszek (Piast Gliwice, loan)

28.07.2028: Jordan Majchrzak (Legia Warszawa, 230 000 euros)

16.08.2028: Antoni Kozubal (Juventus, loan)

Transfers out:

29.06.2028: Eryk Grzywacz (end of loan)

29.06.2028: Maxi Oyedele (end of loan)

29.06.2028: Cyprian Popielec (end of loan)

30.06.2028: Dominik Hładun (end of contract)

30.06.2028: Adrian Klimczak (end of contract)

30.06.2028: Marcel Kroczek (end of contract)

30.06.2028: Patryk Kun (end of contract)

30.06.2028: Dawid Witkowski (end of contract)

30.06.2028: Dominik Wołowski (end of contract)

30.06.2028: Marcel Zylla (end of contract)

Hand on heart, I truly believed that after two consecutive runner-up finishes, this would be the season we finally claimed the title. But looking back now, with some perspective, I’m not sure why I was so optimistic. After all, we lost some real quality over the summer - players on the fringes of the national team like Grzywacz and Oyedele.

Both had only been on loan, and there was little real chance of keeping them any longer. Another key player from last season, Kun, also departed - his contract expired, and his level had noticeably declined. His replacement, Krystian Palacz, was signed from Stal Mielec for €300,000.

The rest of our transfer activity? Nothing particularly eye-catching, to be honest.

What we did do, however, was hand out significant pay raises to a few key players: Krzyżak and Duda now earn €312,000 per season, while Starzyński takes home €208,000.

The start of the season was nothing short of disastrous. We crashed out of the Europa League without a fight against Dynamo Kyiv, and Lech Poznań comfortably beat us in the Polish Super Cup. To make matters worse, we opened the league campaign with a 0:2 home defeat to Zagłębie Lubin.

This was not how it was supposed to begin!

Kozubal became a Warszawianka player after we had already exited European competition. In the Conference League, we easily brushed aside Albanian side Laçi (5:1, 5:2), but then unexpectedly lost the two-legged tie against Finnish outfit Ilves Tampere.

I won’t pretend - that defeat really stung. Yes, we fielded a second-string lineup due to a packed league schedule, but to be knocked out by a team from the Finnish league? It’s hard to wrap my head around. The only bright spot was a goal scored by Jakub Chmiel, a 16-year-old left-back and the first product of the club's youth system in the club’s modern history to be promoted to the first team. He made his debut earlier this season in the second leg against Dynamo Kyiv in the Europa League.

Some football careers really do take unexpected turns! On July 9, 2028, Antoni Kozubal was playing against us for Lech Poznań in the Polish Super Cup - and won. Just over a month later, on August 20, he made his debut for Warszawianka… and the opponent? Lech Poznań again!

Sadly, we lost once more.

Overall, it wasn’t our finest run of form, but a strong finish, with eight matches unbeaten, was enough to place us firmly among the league’s frontrunners.

We lost defender Paluszek, who was recalled from his loan due to a lack of playing time.

But where was I supposed to play him, given that we were already out of Europe by August? On top of that, we drew Jagiellonia in the Polish Cup and were knocked out right at the start… so we won’t be defending that trophy either.

So we were just four points behind league leaders Lech, and already out of all other competitions. That gave me hope we could make a serious push for the title. To help with that, we brought in Polish international Michał Gurgul on loan from Borussia Dortmund.

Unfortunately, Gurgul arrived only after we had already lost the crucial match against Lech Poznań. In that high-stakes fixture, we were without both Krzyżak and Palacz, who were sidelined with injuries. At that point, any hopes of winning the title were purely theoretical.

It looked like we were on track for another straightforward qualification to European competition. But reality turned out to be very different. Sure, we managed to beat Lechia Gdańsk away - the very team that would go on to win the league comfortably - but what did it really matter in the end?

We actually beat the newly crowned champions 3:1 back in the autumn as well - proof that the quality is there. But something’s wrong on the mental side. Our most crucial match of the spring was against Górnik Zabrze. We led for most of the game and were clearly the better side. But once again, we threw it all away in the closing minutes...

Then came the dropped points - draws against Ruch Chorzów and, in the final round, against relegated Wisła Płock - honestly, a disaster. And yet, somehow, we managed to beat Legia Warszawa 2:0 at their stadium.

That said, Legia is going through a real decline. Their league finishes in this game world have been as follows:

In the end, we finished fourth, which for me is a significant disappointment. To make matters worse, that position didn’t grant us a spot in the Europa Conference League qualifiers. Why? Zagłębie Lubin won the Polish Cup, defeating Lech Poznań 4:2 in the final.

We’ll need to implement a cost-cutting programme, as we ended the current season with losses exceeding €3 million. The main reasons? Our early exit from European competitions and the high wage bill for players like Krzyżak, Duda, Starzyński, Kozubal, and Gurgul.

Polish Super Cup:

Players / Position / Appearances / Goals / Assists / Average Rating:

League:

Players / Position / Appearances / Goals / Assists / Average Rating:

...and a player who left mid-season:

Polish Cup:

Players / Position / Appearances / Goals / Assists / Average Rating:

UEFA Europa League:

Players / Position / Appearances / Goals / Assists / Average Rating:

UEFA Europa Conference League:

Players / Position / Appearances / Goals / Assists / Average Rating:

Footballers who played in all official competitions.
Players / Position / Appearances / Goals / Assists / Average Rating:

...and a player who left mid-season:

Team captains:

O. Krzyżak‭ – ‬34‭ (‬34 from the beginning‭)
M. Błąkała‭ – ‬9‭ (‬7‭)
A. Ławniczak‭ – ‬3‭ (‬1‭)
S. Musiolik‭ – ‬1‭ (‬0‭)

Hat-tricks:

L: 01.12.2028 - M. Szymański (vs Puszcza Niepołomice)     

Missed penalties:

L:‭ ‬21.10.2028‭ – ‬S. Musiolik‭ (‬vs Miedź Legnica‭)‬,‭ ‬saved by I. Saio
L:‭ ‬01.12.2028‭ – ‬F. Saganowski‭ (‬vs Puszcza Niepołomice‭)‬,‭ ‬saved by K. Komar

Saved penalties:

L:‭ ‬06.08.2028‭ – ‬O.‭ ‬Zych‭ (‬vs Radomiak Radom‭)‬,‭ ‬scorer A. Hrustić
PP:‭ ‬25.10.2028‭ – ‬K. Szymczyk‭ (‬vs Jagiellona Białystok‭)‬,‭ ‬scorer B. Kapustka
L:‭ ‬04.03.2029‭ – ‬O.‭ ‬Zych‭ (‬vs Cracovia‭)‬,‭ ‬scorer P. Makuch

Penalties scored:

L:‭ ‬09.12.2028‭ – ‬S.‭ ‬Musiolik‭ (‬vs Zagłębie Lubin‭)
L:‭ ‬09.02.2029‭ – ‬A.‭ ‬Kozubal‭ (‬vs Radomiak Radom‭)
L:‭ ‬04.05.2029‭ – ‬S.‭ ‬Musiolik‭ (‬vs Legia Warszawa‭)

Free kicks:

-

Appearances for the senior Poland national team:

M. Gurgul - 3A
A. Kozubal - 3A

WARSZAWIANKA - season after season
(season, league, Polish Cup, Polish Super Cup, Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, Warszawianka top scorer - all competitions)

WINNERS OF THE MAIN TROPHIES IN POLAND
(the number of triumphs in the competition is listed in brackets; only achievements from my game world are counted,‭ ‬not real-life history)

(season, league, top scorer, Polish Cup, Polish Super Cup)

POLISH FOOTBALL CLUBS IN EUROPEAN CUPS

WINNERS OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CLUB TROPHIES
(the number of triumphs in the competition is listed in brackets; only achievements from my game world are counted,‭ ‬not real-life history)

(season, Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, Super Cup)