We live in a world where it is a crime to be a striker. Yes, that's right, you heard me. To be a cold-blooded good for nothing greedy goalscorer is now illegal. You need to play for the team and be part of the strategy or some sort of BS that is now called for in 2015.
I don't know how many greedy strikers there are out there, but watching Lewandowski for Dortmund and for Poland, I am convinced that in the right team...you are looking at the most lethal striker in the world.
One problem.
Wrong team, wrong manager.
Just like how Gotze is finding out, Lewandowski cannot function well at Bayern in the way that Mr. Guardiola has set the team up. If you look at how Ibrahimovic fared at Bayern with Pep, it wasn't too well. Pep just did not really appreciate or acknowledge he had one of the best strikers in the world at the time, and forced him to adhere to his system. There is that book out where Ibra explained how he wanted to fight Pep. The two did not get along and it was a move that I knew would break down from the moment that it was done. Pep is not fond of selfish cold-blodded strikers.
With that in mind, what makes you think that Pep will get the best out of Lewandowski who has that natural goalscoring single-minded attacking mentality in the same way that Ibrahimovic does?
When I see Lewandowski for Poland, there is a freedom that he plays with. You really see his amazing striker's instinct and how he finds those spaces in the box to really cause confusion. And he has to be one of the best strikers ON THE BALL around. His control, and ability to make the right pass and holding up the ball is superb. All these traits that he has, I just don't see in Bayern. That is because with Pep, just like in Barcelona, the game is a lot slower and there is more passing involved. This means there is more time for the defenses to set themselves up, slip on some slippers and shove a cigar in their mouth. It also makes Lewandowski's role as the lone striker a lot harder, because defenders have time to mark him and watch his runs.
I can't remember the last time a Pep team went on a quick counter-attack, where after two or three passes, a chance was created. That just is not his kind of game or philosophy, but that is what will most benefit Lewandowski. At Dortmund and Poland, they counter very quickly, and after a few passes, either a shot is taken or there is a cross into the box. This makes it very hard for defenders to get setup and try and mark the Polish man.
He won't be leaving anytime soon as he will be keen to be a hit for Bayern and follow in the footstep of the other legendary Bayern strikers. But with the spotlight now on Douglas Costa, there may not be space to try and get Lewandowski to really express himself and utilize all his skills.
I think that if Bayern were to get the best out of Lewandowski, that there lies their Champions League glory. When in a tight semi or final, it's the striker who can get his body inbetween those defenders after eighty two minutes of hard work and battling to just get a toe in to put the ball away. I believe in strikers, and so should Pep and Bayern. They are the ones tasked with getting G's, and that is their main role, everything else is simply supplementary.
Robert L seems lost in this system and is just not the same player who is so involved in the match as he is for Poland and was with Klopp. With Pep in charge, and winning trophies, that won't change. But Bayern are really wasting a very special talent that they have. I would very happily say that they do have the best striker in the world...if he is ALLOWED to be one. There is of course an Argentine man in Man City who would disagree with me, but even though Sergio A is an excellent finisher, he does not have the overall game that Lewandowski has. He has the strength to hold up play, can dribble, knows how to pick out a pass, AND knows how to finish inside and outside the box. How many natural strikers in the world can say they have all those attributes?
Pep...sort it out, or FREE him and let him show what he can do in a club that will allow him to do so.
HH
