This is not the ideal way for a defending champion to begin a new league season. Lech Poznań head into their July 25 opener against Cracovia with several players unavailable, and Niels Frederiksen has made it clear that this is going to force changes whether he likes it or not. The good news is that this is not one single crisis. The bad news is that the reasons for the absences are spread across injuries, fitness work, and squad planning, which means the margin for a clean, settled start is already thinner than Lech would want.
Frederiksen was blunt about the situation around Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, and bluntness feels appropriate here. The forward arrived at camp on July 10, waited two weeks for a visa, and has been training individually rather than with the group. That alone tells you enough about how far behind the rest of the squad he is. As Frederiksen put it, Sayyadmanesh is not ready for 90 minutes, not even close, and the plan is only to build him up gradually. In other words: expect him to be part of the conversation eventually, but not as a full-throttle solution on opening day.
Changes are coming, whether Lech want them or not
Frederiksen also said supporters should expect changes against Cracovia, even if he did not suggest a wholesale overhaul. “In the match with Cracovia there can be changes. I am not saying many, but some for sure,” was the message. That is the reality of a season opener when the squad is still being assembled in practical terms, not just on paper. The first competitive match is supposed to offer clarity. Instead, Lech begin with a selection puzzle.
Alex Douglas is another significant absence, and his timeline is just as important as his name. Frederiksen said the defender is close to returning, with full team training expected at the beginning of next week. After that, he will likely need another week or two before being ready for matches, which points to a return in the middle of August. That is sensible long-term management, but it also means Lech are starting the campaign without one of the players they would ideally like to have available from the first whistle.
Then there is Bryan Fiabema, who is already training away from the first team while searching for a new club. That is not a footballing mystery so much as a squad-building reality: he is simply not part of the immediate solution. Add in Ali Gholizadeh and Kamil Jakóbczyk among the unavailable names, and Lech’s opener starts to look less like a celebration of defending-champion status and more like a test of depth.
That is the uncomfortable truth here. Opening-day football is often sold as a clean reset, a fresh start, a chance to announce intent. But intent is only useful if the squad is ready to express it. Lech Poznań are still in the process of getting key pieces into the right physical and competitive condition, and that makes the July 25 meeting with Cracovia more complicated than it should be for a side at the top of the pile.
Frederiksen is right to avoid panic. None of this is a season-ending problem. But it is a reminder that champions are not judged only by what they do when everything is clicking. They are judged by how they handle the awkward, patched-up moments too. On Saturday, Lech may have to do exactly that.
