Robert Lewandowski named Bundesliga Player of the Season

Robert Lewandowski. The world’s most feared striker. Ice-cold in front of goal. And he loves breaking records and setting new milestones. Bayern’s resident terminator has been crowned the Bundesliga Player of the Season for his exploits in the 2019/20 season and, BOY, has he done everything and more to deserve that.

This season has been Lewandowski’s most productive Bundesliga season in front of goal. He’s scored an incredible 33 goals so far, with one game still remaining (against Wolfsburg, where he can pull off another 5, if history is to repeat itself). But it would be highly unfair to attributing the award and all the praise Lewandowski has received merely to goals. Let us take a look at some of the other things Lewangoalski brings to the table.

Intelligence in the final third

Lewandowski has a total of 6 assists across competitions this season, and he makes an average of 1.2 key passes per game in the Bundesliga, and 2.2 (!) in the Champions League (Whoscored). His quick movement and trickery have also led to him getting fouled an average of 1.4 times per game, often putting the team into good set-piece situations. All this makes him an absolute force to reckon with for opposition defences.

Midfield work rate and passing

Those of you who have been following Bayern closely for the past 2-3 seasons, and this season in particular, will have noticed this point, and it’s glaringly obvious in Lewandowski’s style of play. Very often, Lewandowski drops deep in midfield, gets the team out of tight spaces and initiates play with a cute through-ball, a dink over the top, or a diagonal pass to shift the play to the wings. His work rate is superb, and he is currently a more complete player than he ever has been. With an average of 0.5 long balls per game and a pass completion rate of 75% (high for a forward), this man has been vital as an extra midfielder quite frequently this season.

Link-up play with Müller and creating space for teammates

Nobody reads Müller’s movements as well as Lewandowski. Period. When working alongside each other up front, the two are simply unstoppable. They love wreaking havoc together, and Lewandowski is one of the main reasons why Müller has been so effective. Lewandowski creates space by dragging defenders away, enabling his partner in crime to do his patented “raumdeutering.” Their link-up play is nothing short of telepathic, and even though Müller is given a lot of the credit for the devastation they cause together, Müller is at his most effective when paired with the Pole. No one understands Müller’s movements better than Lewandowski, who always makes the perfect run to slot the ball in. This has meant that Müller has the record for most assists in a single Bundesliga season after Müllendowski’s phenomenal form in front of goal.

Lewandowski has possibly been the best footballer on the planet this season. I feel that if he replicates this form in the Champions League and takes Bayern all the way, he would be entitled to the UEFA Player of the Season AND the FIFA Ballon D’Or award.