Less than a decade ago, when Jakub Kosecki won two championships and two, his career was accompanied by the question whether he would catch up with his father’s achievements, who represented Poland 69 times and played, inter alia, in Atletico Madrid. But for several years now, one can only wonder where this career is going and whether it can still be saved. It seems that if it does not come out in Motor Lublin, it will be over.
None of our interlocutors expected that 31-year-old Kosecki, who has over a hundred matches in, three championships and three Polish Cups, will play in the 2nd league. Where did they imagine him? Most in the national team, preparing for the last World Cup in their career, others returning to the league after playing in good foreign clubs, some in the exotic league to earn more money. His potential allowed him to end his career in such a way. So what went wrong?
Gossip websites wrote about Jakub Kosecki more often than sports websites
It’s always tempting to point to that one moment when the career of a not-so-promising footballer started to crumble. Jakub Kosecki has a problem with that. He undoubtedly had talent, but never broke up to the expectations that could have been expected when, at 22, he played five times, scored San Marino’s goal and won trophies with Legia. It seemed then that any moment he would take the next step. First, however, the head did not allow, and then the legs. Being convinced of his own magnificence did not help. Expensive cars and extravagant clothes were evidence of a fridge. Kosecki preferred to flash on Kuba Wojewódzki’s couch than on the pitch. He didn’t even look back, and gossip websites wrote about him more often than sports websites.
He didn’t work out abroad. Entries to Sandhausen in 2015 and Adana Demirspor three years later were pretty good. In Germany, after a few rounds, he was, according to “Kicker”, the best player in the entire 2nd Bundesliga, and in Turkey he quickly convinced the fans. In both cases, injuries killed him from the impact. He came back, but no longer flashed. And since he always relied on dynamics, even short breaks in training clearly influenced his form. When he was short of speed, there were few trump cards left.
Kosecki admits that he went to Turkey mainly to earn good money. Life there suited him very well, despite the fact that his sports form did not increase with the amount in the bank account. It lacked continuity. The team often changed, sometimes really good wingers appeared in the club, who later went to a higher league. Restrictions on the number of foreigners did not help either. In addition, Kosecki complained about coach Ümit Özat, who was able to send him back to the stands despite his improvement in form and two assists in three matches. It could have been painful and incomprehensible, because it was just about the derby meeting with Adanaspor. But there is still only one coach mentioned, and he had as many as seven in Turkey. With full conviction, he put on him only the first two – Hakan Kutlu and Yilmaz Vural. It is not surprising to the rest, as the Pole scored only one goal in 42 matches. This goal – on November 25, 2018 is the last goal of his career so far.
– Turkey has mentally destroyed me during these 2.5 years when it comes to people’s approach. Okay, the money is right, the club is solvent, but mentally it’s a pulp. I am not surprised that people are fleeing Turkey so quickly – he said in an interview with “Meczyki.pl”.
On the other hand, Kosecki clearly settled down in Turkey. In the last season in the local league – 2020/2021 – he played only nine games, and yet he was not eager to leave. Before joining, he had not played for three months, so he appeared in Poland completely out of shape. But he is very thirsty for the game, eager to work and self-confident. He was absolutely convinced that he would manage in the league.
Kosecki’s plan was simple. He wanted to rebuild in Cracovia and return to Turkey
But then he had trouble finding a club. He was looking for him not only through his German agent, but also on his own. His father, Roman Kosecki, was to help him join Cracovia. Jakub could have signed a longer contract – one and a half years, such was even advised by his coach at the time, but he himself decided that the contract was only to be valid for six months – until June 2021. What’s the point in that? Kosecki assumed that it would recover quickly in the league. In the club, he argued that he needed 2-3 weeks of joint training with the team to get back in shape. He believed that one good round in Poland would be enough to find a new club in Turkey. He did complain about the treatment in Demirspor, but the family was very happy with life in Adana and even when Kosecki returned to Poland, she stayed in Turkey for some time.
However, Kosecki definitely miscalculated. Contrary to what was believed – he did not manage to conquer the league. There was no shortage of commitment, but his recovery from the coronavirus did not help. Later, the attention was distracted from the pitch by the health problems of the child and wife, who were also hard covid. It ended up that Kosecki only played in eight matches in the Premier League and once in the Polish Cup. A total of 363 minutes. He didn’t score or assist in any of that time. You could see the backlog in training with the naked eye. Clearly, when the contract expired, the phone was silent. There were no offers from Turkey and Poland.
No league club wanted Jakub Kosecki
Kosecki was again looking for a club on his own, using his own acquaintances, and the agents – regardless of the player’s actions – offered him to almost all teams from the league and part of the first league. Kosecki lowered financial expectations, but there were no applicants. A few things scared Kosecki away: he almost did not play for two years, he did not succeed in Turkey, his stay in Cracovia gave no hope for a quick rebuilding. The controversial image preserved over the years did not help either. Kosecki claims that he has grown up and calmed down, but most clubs believe he was completely unsuited to the role of a substitute, who will sit calmly on the bench and wait patiently for a chance. The clubs feared that it might give an overly frank interview at that time and cause some kind of scandal. Looking at his football achievements in recent years – there was no point in risking it.
Kosecki said in an interview with “Weszło” that he was so desperate in finding the club that he offered to play for half free, that is only for paying for the apartment and bonuses, without a monthly salary. But his former club wasn’t interested anyway. Kosecki was touched by this. He couldn’t understand why no club, despite so many concessions on his part, refused to give him a chance. In his opinion – such a club would not take any risk.
But we found that Kosecki’s determination was different. Yes – he was looking for a club, but when it did not work out, he took a three-month vacation. He started individual training only in September, and in January, when he starts looking for a club again, he will be in shape. For such an original approach, the effects were pretty good anyway. We hear that Kosecki has strengthened physically, gained muscle mass and developed his upper body parts. But even the toughest training sessions in the gym will not replace training with the team and regular play. He had been training in Motor Lublin a few weeks before signing the contract. And since both sides – the club and the player – decided to give each other a chance, it means that the first training sessions went as expected. The coach who played with Jakub in Legia years ago believes in Kosecki.
Kosecki, at least when choosing a number, does not lack fantasy
In February Kosecki and Motor completed all the formalities and signed the contract. Again a short one – until June 2022, but this time with an option to extend it for another year. One thing does not change – Kosecki masters the art of making noise around him. He did not even have to make his debut in an official match for almost all sports media to write about him. All he had to do was dial the number on the jersey. He opted for a number one, which is a number that is almost always reserved for a goalkeeper. Exceptions are rare. With one on their backs in the past they played, among others Argentina’s representatives: Norberto Alonso (World Cup 1978), Osvaldo Ardiles (1982) and Sergio Almiron (1986). At the 1974 World Cup, Dutch forward Ruud Gels wore the number one – because both teams assigned numbers alphabetically.
The 5-time Polish representative appeared in the sparring with the third league Chełmianka Chełm, who won 6: 2. – Kuba played 30 minutes while still having a slight cold, he also experienced a slight stretch resulting from the surface on which we trained earlier. We wanted him to calmly enter the band. If it gets into shape, it will be a huge boost. I’m counting on this player. He is a player who can score a goal, make an advantage on the wing and still has a lot of speed – Saganowski told the club media.
Motor will play the first league match against Hutnik Kraków on February 26. After the first round, the team from Lubin takes the 7th place in the 2nd league and is 2 points behind the play-off. The goal of the club is promotion. In turn, for Kosecki it is probably the last chance to rebuild. If he doesn’t come out in Lubin, it will be difficult for him to find a club on a central level. Fans with a grain of salt write that Kosecki, going lower and lower, is heading for Wieczyła Kraków, which plays in the 4th league. However, we checked this possibility. A club with, among others, Sławomir Peszko and Rados³aw Majewski were not interested in Kosecki.
Source: Sport
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
