Robert Lewandowski; The complete striker

“He is an absolute world class player. It was a privilege for me to have worked with him”; Jupp Heynckes

[APPRECIATION THREAD]

Robert Lewandowski has been one of the most consistent strikers over the past 10 years. Let’s get to know the Polish hit man a little closer. And why he deserves to be talked about as a true great of the game.

Named Robert, by his parents, so it would be easy for foreigners to pronounce when he became an international star.

Some bold forward thinking by the pair, who were sports personal themselves. His father a Polish Judo champion, his mother, a professional volleyball player.

“A boy with wooden legs? Give me back my patrol money”.

The words of his former Poznan coach, when he came to scout Robert. These words later were found to be a ploy, to discourage potential buyers.

“Eat more bacon” he was told by another former coach, to bulk up.

In June 2008 Lewandowski was offered to Sporting Gijon, who had been promoted to La Liga, after 10 years in tier two. The Spanish club rejected the proposal.

Robert Lewandowski instead signed for Lech Poznan for 1.5m PLN.

His first season at Poznan ended on 18 goals in 42 apps

If it wasn’t for a Icelandic volcano, Lewandowski might have bypassed the Bundesliga altogether. A move to Blackburn Rovers was talked about before Robert signed for Dortmund.

Sam Allardyce, the Blackburn manager, made the trip to Poland to meet with Lewandowski.

“He was prepared to take a young player, who was something new, and might be something special”. Lewandowski said.

Once Lewandowski found of Dortmund’s interest, however, his mind was set. “I then found out about Dortmund, and that was the next step”

By the time Lewandowski has signed for Borussia Dortmund in 2010, he had clearly taken the advice of his former coaches to heart. He arrived at BVB with the nickname “the body”

“Lewy has the most incredible body, it’s just pure muscles” said former teammate Nuri Sahin

Lewandowski’s wife Anna, a former Karate champion, is a prominent sports nutritionist. And her advice on his physique and diet, surely have had a big impact on his amazing fitness and stamina. This will surely enable him to keep going for as long as he wants to.

Lewandowski is blessed to have been coached by some of the worlds best managers. Guardiola, Ancelotti, Jupp. But it is Klopp that he owes his success to.

“He was the one who gave me belief” said Lewandowski on the former Dortmund coach.

“Klopp made me the footballer I am. I haven’t changed anything at Bayern, I’m just using different weapons in my artillery. But I shaped my career in Dortmund”, Lewandowski said.

A man who had grown up admiring Thierry Henry, grew determined to stamp his mark on the Bundesliga.

He ended his last season at Poznan, as the top scorer, with a second successful 18 goal haul, and leading Poznan to their first title in 17 years, in the process.

Looking at Lewandowski’s goal scoring in the league only, since arriving at Dortmund, the numbers are frightening.

Since the start of 2011/12 season, only Messi and Ronaldo have scored more goals than Robert Lewandowski.

A statistic that shows Robert hasn’t just been a flash in the pan in the past two or three years. It has been a consistent and growing trend for 10 straight seasons.

After his first season at Dortmund, where he played second fiddle to Lucas Barrios, he has only failed to score at least 20 goals in the league in one season. His only season where he didn’t hit this mark was his first year at Bayern, ending on 17. An admirable first season.

During his time at Dortmund, Lewandowski registered 102 goals and 42 assists in 186 competitive games under Jurgen Klopp. Winning a domestic double in 2012, and reached the 2013 Champions league final.

“It was a huge joy to play with him” remarked former teammate Gundogan.

Lewandowski officially announced himself on the world stage during that 2013 CL season. Where in the Semi final against Real Madrid, he became the first player to net 4 goals in a semi final of the competition.

Lewandowski had arrived. Though greater records would follow later

His last three seasons at Dortmund, Lewandowski finished with 22,24 and 20 goals, his final campaign at Dortmund earned him his first Bundesliga Canon.

“The difference between that player and the player he is today is unbelievable” remarked Jurgen Klopp

Pep Guardiola also has high praise for the Bayern hitman; “He is the most professional player I have ever met. In his head he thinks about the right food, sleep and training: 24 hours a day”

Current Boss Hansi Flick knows he is more than just goals for his team

“He has a lot of quality, especially in the penalty area, he guarantees goals, but he creates them too”, said Flick.

On that note, it is worth noting how much Lewandowski has developed his game over the past few seasons. To be more than just a goal scorer.

Back in 2018 it was revealed that Lewandowski asked for a transfer, after feeling unsupported by the club, a lack of backing during his tough times.

‘I scored no goals in two or three important games, and suddenly everyone was saying: “Open fire Lewandowski”, he admitted.

“I did not feel good in Munich at that moment. Being at Bayern did not fit for me at that time”, continued Lewandowski.

Unrelenting support from the Bayern fans however, made Lewy change his mind.

“I noticed in Munich the fans support me. I realised they still want me here”

Ever since this, Lewandowski has been a model professional. He has become the epitome of the MiaSanMia motto.

What he has applied to his game more, is his ability to drop deeper into the number 10 role, or out wide, to assist the team. He is not just about goals anymore.

Since joining Bayern, he has made 47 assists. 23 of these have come since his transfer request. A statistic that shows how much more of a team player he has become.

Only Gerd Müller has more Bundesliga top scorer Canons than Lewandowski. The Polish hitman has 4, and is chasing down Gerd Müllers record of 7.

The fact that Lewandowski has almost as many individual trophies, as he does team trophies, goes some way to showing how prolific he is

September 22nd, 2015. A date to live in history for Robert Lewandowski.

Bayern Munich vs Wolfsburg, on Bundesliga match day 6

Trailing 1-0 at half time to a Daniel Caligiuri thunderbolt, Bayern were in need of a boost.

Half time Substitution, Lewandowski Thiago.

8 minutes and 59 seconds.

51st, 52nd, 55th, 57th and 60th

These were the minutes of Robert Lewandowski’s staggering 9minute haul. Capping it off with a stunning scissor kick.

“I’ve never experienced such a thing, either as a coach, or a player”, Guardiola said after the game.

This game earned Lewandowski 4 Guinness World Records.

Most goals scored by a sub in the Bundesliga
Fastest Bundesliga hat-trick
Fastest 4 goals in a BL match
Fastest 5 goals in a BL match

“It’s a great honour to have my achievements hit the Guinness World Records”

This would not be the only records he would achieve at Bayern. In the 2015/16 and 2016/17 seasons, Lewandowski became the first player since Gerd Müller, to score 30 goals in successive seasons.

On the 2nd March 2019, with a goal against Gladbach, he became the outright top-scoring foreigner in the Bundesliga.

His two goals against the foals, in a 6-0 win, pushed him ahead of former Bayern striker Claudio Pizzaro.

Lewandowski: 197
Pizarro: 195

He averages at 0.92 goals per game, and 1.09 goals and assists per game during his time at Bayern.

Since the 2015/16 season, Lewandowski has managed at least 40 goals in the past 5 seasons. And with 10 games already, he is on course to make it 6.

Lewandowski has played at least 30 games a season in his entire Bundesliga career to date. A showing of his exceptional approach to the game. As of April 2019 he had only missed 16 Bundesliga games, mainly due to being rested, rather than through injury.

These statistics show that Lewandowski has been a massive model of consistently over the past years.

He is averaging 43.4 goals per season over the last 5 years, and averaging a goal every 93 minutes.

Lewandowski is such a nightmare for attackers, with the way he makes his runs into the box. The timing and acceleration of his runs, make him the best number 9 in the game right now. He is raising the bar, much like Manuel Neuer has done for goalkeeping, for modern day strikers.

2020 has been Lewandowski’s best year to date.

In the 2019/20 season, he managed 55 goals in 47 games, averaging a goal every 74 minutes.

Against Red Star Belgrade in Champions League matchday one. Lewy bagged 4 goals in 14mins and 31secs. The quickest CL quadruple in history.

He finished the 2019/20 Champions League season with 15 goals, topping the scoring charts.

Lewandowski was the first player outside of Messi and Ronaldo, to finish top scorer of the CL since Kaka in the 2006/7 season.

Lewandowski produced these numbers, in less games than all.

In his 7 seasons at Bayern. Robert Lewandowski has played in 298 games, scoring 256 and assisting 47.

Per 90mins;

A goal per 0.92
Assist per 0.17
Goal+Assist per 1.09

He has 256 goals in 825 total shots on goal, 513 of those were on target. 42% of his sot, produce a goal

There has always been talk that Lewandowski doesn’t do it in the big games. It was this kind of talk that almost led to him leaving Bayern.

His transformation in how he has evolved his game over the past two years, surely put this to bed. Like a fine wine, gets better with age

At 32 years old, it feels like he is only just getting started. Finishing just 6 goals short of Gerd Müllers 40 goal BL haul last season. Is this season Lewandowski’s year to break that record? You would not put it past him in his current form.

Robbed of a Ballon D’or? Most likely, but once more, if he continues this form. It would surely be impossible not to award him the award in 2021.

YOU JUST CANNOT BE THAT GOOD!

Robert Lewandowski can, and is proving this game in and game out

A true of the game

@lewy_official @FCBayernEN @FCBayernUS