Player Focus: Lewandowski Proving He Deserves Place Among World's Best Strikers

It’s easy for one to occupy nine minutes of one’s time. Recently Robert Lewandowski proved he could fire in five goals in that time against a title rival. The Poland international started Bayern Munich’s recent 5-1 win over Wolfsburg on the bench, yet was introduced at the interval as the reigning Bundesliga champions failed to break down last season’s runners’ up, heading into half time one-goal down.

15 minutes after the restart, however, and Wolfsburg had been well and truly ‘Lewa’d’. Dieter Hecking’s side had shipped just two goals in the opening five league games of the season prior to the trip to the Allianz Arena - no team boasted a better defensive record in Germany’s top tier ahead of gameweek six. Lewandowski, though, was in inspiring form following his introduction for the second half and the display encapsulated just how effective a striker he truly is. In his last three competitive outings, the former Dortmund star has bagged 10 goals.

Lewandowski has now scored more league goals (10) than any other player in Europe’s top 5 leagues this season, a return better than 60 of the 98 teams on the continent. The powerful Pole is on course to match Gerd Muller’s Bundesliga record of 40 league goals in a single season, set in the 1971/72 campaign. Given Bayern’s sheer power in attack, the chances created for Lewandowski are hardly few and far between, adding further weight to the possibility that he could achieve the feat, this month reaching 100 Bundesliga goals in less time than any other foreigner to the league.

Indeed, of the 81 players to score 3 or more goals in Europe’s top 5 leagues this season already, Lewandowski has one of the better conversion rates (32.3%). A change in system by Pep Guardiola has contributed to this. The Spaniard was dealt successive injury blows to Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery - the former WhoScored’s highest rated player (8.45) in the Bundesliga last season - meaning he once more had to tinker with his ideal gameplan. Not one to shirk from altering his tactics, Guardiola has instead deployed wingers who favour getting to the byline rather than cutting inside and going for goal, akin to ‘Robbery’.

Fielding more conventional wingers means more chances are created for the striker, in this case Lewandowski. With Douglas Costa and Kingsley Coman starting on the left and right wing respectively, the Bayern frontman is presented with more goalscoring opportunities. With the wide pairing favouring an approach that allows them to get in behind opposition full-backs, they are able to pick out a striker at the top of his game, among others, in the penalty area. No player has registered more assists in Europe’s top 5 leagues this season than Costa (5), while Coman has three assists in his last four competitive appearances.

“With Douglas Costa and Coman on the wings, there are a lot of crosses, therefore lots of chances in the box,” the Bayern striker recently told ESPN. As such, Lewandowski is thriving with the two speedsters on either flank. “He (Costa) can become one of the five best wingers in the world,” Guardiola said back in August. The Bayern boss is being vindicated in his praise already. Meanwhile, on paper Coman’s loan move may have appeared bemusing, but it is a transfer that is paying dividends for the German champions already. Lewandowski, more so than any other teammate, is the player flourishing with the pairing on the flanks.

It’s no coincidence that he is averaging more shots per game (5.3) than any other player in the Bundesliga this season. That figure alone is at its highest in the league since he moved to Germany back in 2010. With inverted wingers, strikers can struggle, particular when the two widemen in question favour cutting inside and shooting. As such, his return of 17 league goals last season was it’s lowest in the last four league seasons. Of course, Lewandowski can rightly be considered one of the most potent poachers in Europe, while his ability to drop deeper to link up play with the midfield is one of his strongest assets. It’s perhaps for this reason why he and Thomas Muller thrive up front for Bayern. When Lewandowski creates the space, Muller finds it with consummate ease.

The German is another who is benefitting from wingers in the more traditional sense, given his never-say-die attitude in the final third, but with his form dipping over the last month - Muller’s WhoScored rating dropped by 1.86 between August and September, the biggest in Europe’s top 5 leagues - Lewandowski has acted accordingly to shoulder Bayern’s goalscoring burden. This is reinforced with Lewandowski (8.99) the highest rated player in Europe’s top 5 leagues for September, as highlighted in WhoScored's free-to-download e-mag.

When football fans discuss the world class attackers in the game at present, the usual names crop up - Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, to name three. Lewandowksi, though, certainly warrants the chance to be mentioned in the same bracket as the trio, and perhaps in higher stead right now if his recent form is anything to go by.

Who else in Europe's top 5 leagues performed above beyond last month? Click here to download WhoScored's FREE September round-up e-mag to find out!