BFW postseason breakdown: Most Valuable Player

Value can be defined in many different ways, particularly when you ask what makes a player valuable to his or her team. Is it scoring? Is it lock-down defense? Is it outstanding performances combined with selflessness as a player? Is it performance combined with leadership? There are dozens of different ways to formulate your own opinion as to what might define a player as most valuable to Bayern Munich.

If we were just asking which “figure” was most valuable, it would have easily been Jupp Heynckes. But we specifically set out to find a player whose value was most vital to the squad this season. Give us a vote in the poll to give us your own opinion and drop a comment to give us your thoughts on why.

Chuck Smith

Getty Images

Thomas Müller. There are many valuable parts to the Bayern squad, but none has the residual effect on the entire squad as much as Müller. A true 10, Müller spent the season shifting primarily between the 10 and 7, doing what was best to help the team that particular day. He’s unselfish, the heart of the team, and gave the quote, “We are Bayern” after the second Paris Saint-Germain match, which officially turned the season around. In addition, Müller racked up 15 goals and 16 assists across competitions this season.

Ineednoname

Joshua Kimmich. It has to be Joshua Kimmich. 6 goals and 17 assists in his first season as an out an outside, right-back, while filling in the boots of Philipp Lahm? We literally couldn’t have hoped for more. Joshua Kimmich was the lifeblood of Bayern’s attack and barely had a bad game this season. While he’s still shaky defensively, his consistency and overall potency up front makes him Bayern’s MVP.

Phillip Quinn

Sven Ulreich. For me, Sven Ulreich was Bayern’s MVP for the entirety of the 2017-2018 season. At the end of last season, I was confident that Sven had served his two seasons as Manuel Neuer’s deputy and made good money, and he would now virtually have his choosing of jobs in the Bundesliga. However, he stuck around and was forced into being THE GUY at one of the world’s biggest clubs when Neuer went down with the injury. Yes, THAT mistake (you know which one) stands out as the one true blip, but Ulreich had one hell of a season otherwise.

John N. Dillon

Robert Lewandowski. Love him or hate him, it’s hard to argue with 29 goals and four assists in the league and 41 goals and six assists overall. He not only won the Torjägerkanone, but he also led the Bundesliga as its top scorer, followed by Thomas Müller (with 8 goals and 16 assists—take THAT, haters!). Bayern scored an astonishing 92 goals in the league this season (26 more than runner-up Hoffenheim), and Lewandowski was responsible for nearly a third of them. His production remains irreplaceable; let’s hope he exorcises his demons and comes back even more determined next season.

Brian Kellogg

Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images

Sven Ulreich. Ok, so we all know about the Champions League gaffe, but aside from that Ulreich was pretty solid. Considering he was only going to play in Cup matches until Manuel Neuer’s injury made him the everyday starter Bayern were lucky to have him.

Valentin King

Robert Lewandowski. It was a toss up between him and Sven Ulreich, and had Sandro Wagner been around for the entire season, Ulreich would have won out. But without a back-up striker for the first half of the season, Lewandowski played 2216 minutes out of a possible 2490 in the league, playing in every game but one. While it was disappointing he couldn’t have a bigger impact against Madrid, Bayern could’ve been in rough shape without him this year, and 41 goals and six assists in 46 games is an incredible tally.

Jacob Dorman

James Rodriguez. James is both a sentimental choice for this award (if you find his journey from World Cup starlet to sad Real Madrid bench warmer to starlet again to be a redemption story, as I do) and the obvious choice. On a team that struggled to find a steady and consistent identity this year due to injuries and a mid season manager shakeup, James was a rock. Look at this:

Accounting for his slow start under Carlo Ancelotti, this is an incredible performance. He excelled and improved every aspect of his game at the times when Bayern needed it most.

Mike Lynch

Thiago Alcantara. All throughout this season he has been a stalwart in the midfield, almost equally as effective defensively as on the attack. He doesn’t make a lot of noise in the stats department, but he gets the job done.

Tom Adams

Joshua Kimmich. Without a trace of doubt, this has to be Joshua Kimmich for me. He completely exceeded any and all expectations in his first full season as Bayern’s number one right-back. What impressed me so much about him this season was his consistency and how much he stood out in big matches. His influence on the squad this season, for me, was typified in his two performances vs. Real Madrid in the Champions League. Yes, we lost, but he scored a goal in each leg, wore his heart on his sleeve, and hardly put a foot wrong; all things we’ve come to expect from the kid over the course of this season. He’s still so young, which it what makes his talent, hunger, and passion so exciting. I truly expect an outstanding World Cup from him with Germany and another solid season for us next year!