BFW postseason breakdown: Most Outstanding Player

As winners of a domestic double, Bayern Munich had many players excel on the pitch this season. While no single player was perfect, there were several who delivered consistently excellent performances.

The BFW staff was tasked with trying to identify which player was “Most Outstanding” this season and the responses were, again, open to interpretation.

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Chuck Smith: Robert Lewandowski

When it comes to outstanding performance Robert Lewandowski is the man. The Poland international racked up 40 goals and 13 assists across 47 games in all competitions, secured another Torjägerkanone, and consistently showed why he is considered by many to be the best striker in the world. Sure, Joshua Kimmich, Thomas Müller, Thiago Alcantara, David Alaba and Niklas Süle were all terrific, but no one was quite as good as STORMTANK.

Ineednoname: Thiago Alcantara

Outside of a few poor performances like Heidenheim, he’s been incredible this season and one of the few truly irreplaceable players on Kovac’s lineup. In Thiago, we have by far the best mid in the Bundesliga and one of the top mids in the world. Anyone who says otherwise is lying to themselves.

John N. Dillon: Robert Lewandowski

The Polish Hitman won his fourth Torjägerkanone this season with 22 goals in the league. More than a poacher, he is literally the best scorer in the Bundesliga: 22 goals and 12 assists. That’s as many assists as Marco Reus. Scorers might get all the love, but in Lewandowski’s case it’s justified. He is a Tormaschine.

If I had to choose someone other than Lewandowski (e.g. if I made him my MVP), I’d say Joshua Kimmich and Serge Gnabry were both also outstanding.

Berni15: Niklas Süle

Although Thiago, Gnabry, and Müller all deserve a shout, Niklas Süle gets the nod for me. He really came into his own as Bayern’s first-choice defender, becoming a rock for a back line in transition. The German giant took the next step to becoming world-class, displaying impressive recovery speed, strength and timing in the tackle, and an ability to split lines with accurate long balls. As his potential new partners, Lucas Hernandez and Benjamin Pavard, are poised to join Süle, the German international stands to become the foundation of one of the world’s most formidable back lines.

LKChuggz: Robert Lewandowski

Lewy put together another amazing season, full of goals galore. The Polish striker’s goal-scoring capabilities keep Bayern in any game, even if they happen to go down. Even as he gets older, the goals just keep coming.

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Marcus Iredahl: Niklas Süle

I have to go with Niklas Süle. I think he went from a good center back to Bayern’s best this season. His maturity, physical stature, and overall passion for the club are why he has become one of my favorite Bayern players. Thiago, Coman, and Kimmich are other players whom I think have been great this season, yet I picked Süle because his development surprised me the most. Next year’s defense looks incredibly solid. Best believe that Süle will feature in the middle of it.

Brian Burton: Joshua Kimmich

Anytime one player competes for every single minute of the Bundesliga, that’s outstanding. For all 3,060 minutes, Joshua Kimmich never took a break. He provided a necessary stability to the team while there were injuries and upheavals all around. Even better than just playing all the time, Kimmich provided 13 assists, enough for second in the Bundesliga. The 24 year-old only knows way to play: in full gear.

Phillip Quinn: Robert Lewandowski

Look, it’s Robert Lewandowski. It’s always strange to watch people truly not be able to appreciate just how great of a forward he is. He put up 22 goals to win the Golden Boot in the Bundesliga in what many fans were constantly deriding as a terrible season for him and the team. He’s the best center forward in the world, and if Bayern can keep their top wingers healthy next season, I think he will reach 35 goals!

Tom Adams: Niklas Süle

Süle continues to impress me match by match. I’m so happy that I coined #SüleSweep on Twitter during my live-tweets a few weeks back because there are so many times where he makes such an important last-stitch challenge to clear the danger. He hardly puts a foot wrong with his distribution out of the back, too. I see him as someone who can quickly become the leader of Bayern’s back line and I think the addition of both Lucas Hernandez and Benjamin Pavard will only help bolster his work rate to consistently stay in the starting lineup. One thing that also impresses me so much about him, too, is his speed. For a bigger guy, Süle can really move and it helps him close down players on breakaways — he fears no one!

Who did you think deserved being acknowledged as Bayern’s Most Valuable Player? Tell us in the poll below and also in the comments.

This is the part of our BFW Postseason series which will run each day.