I'm not the biggest fan of Mandzukic. He seems cumbersome and immobile and not a player that I'd allow on the training ground for biscuits. BUT, the job that Mandzukic signed up for is score goals and not only has he done that for Bayern, but at CRUCIAL times. He is a natural goalscorer whereas Lewandowski is more akin to be the more rounded player. But as a striker, do you choose the dude that scores when it matters or the better player? GOALS win games, not pretty play.
But, if we now look at Pep's thinking and the team he is trying to build here, Lewandowski better fits that philosophy. So when Thiago surges forward, or when Robben cuts inside, they both have a player in the middle that they can play off of. With Mandzukic it was just about getting the ball in the danger area, but Pep wants more play with the ball which is what Mandzukic did not give him. If it works out, Bayern will be A LOT more dangerous in the attacking sense. But what about the old issue of tic-tac-toe?
Lewandowski was a demon of a footballer playing in a system that was quick and very direct. Pep sees in Robbie, a player that knows how to hold the ball up, and lay it off, and thus keeping the ball...the key to tic-tac-toe. But without that quickness that Lewandowski is used to, with Reus and Mkhitaryan racing past him. He will need to get used to of the much slower way of doing things....
Every player, no matter how good, needs the time to try and adapt to a new system. So Bayern fans can't expect an instant hit....but I personally feel a man who scored in the Final of the Champions League was just a little hard done by....
http://www.havehopefootballhut.com/the-hut-forum.html
HH
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
