When Legia Warsaw make their debut in the Premier League International Cup at Sunderland on Wednesday, for their academy manager, Radoslaw Mozyrko, it will mark a return to a country that helped him develop as a coach.
After injury forced him to retire as a player, Mozyrko went to work with teams from Under-12 to 16 level at Nottingham Forest during seven years in England.
In the same way that studying English football helped him to learn, Mozyrko hopes facing top Premier League 2 sides and some of the best teams in Europe will be of benefit to his young Legia side.
"I've heard good things," Mozyrko said of the International Cup. "It's a competitive tournament and it's a good development tool for the boys in terms of getting international experience and playing against different styles.
"As a foreigner living in England for seven years, the coaching quality is high, the structure is decent."
Legia will face in group B Sunderland, last season's runners-up, Leicester City and Hertha Berlin and Mozyrko expects the first two sides to test his team the most.
"English clubs will be competitive," Mozyrko said. "The games will be intense. English clubs tend to play quickly, so that’s going to be a good challenge for our boys."
Legia have won the last three Polish league titles at Under-19 level and picked up five points in a UEFA Youth League group last season that included Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund.
While Mozyrko is confident Legia Warsaw can do well in the competition, he says the team will not have the same margin for error they enjoy in their domestic league.
"Our academy is quite strong compared to others in Poland, so we don't find the academy games really competitive," he said.
"Even though we play younger guys, our best players play in the reserves and then we still win the league comfortably.
"Our boys are not used to having tough games week in, week out, so that will be the biggest difference, being competitive and doing our best from the first minute to the last.
"In our games, they can afford to have a bad 20 minutes, or lose concentration for a few minutes. In those games, I doubt we'll have that luxury."
