Miroslav Klose took on either a grateful or a complicated task in the summer, it’s a question of perspective. The most successful German striker of the past decades has been assistant to coach Hansi Flick at FC Bayern since this year, and as such, thanks to his biography alone, he is responsible for training the record champions’ attackers – and thus also for the further training of Robert Lewandowski. Yes, that would be the simple variant: Do you have to give such a player tips? Or, that would be the complicated one: is that even possible?
For all that is known, Lewandowski made things rather easy for his forward coach. “He always wants more,” says Klose, so he keeps getting better and opening up new opportunities to score more goals. With games every three days and the DFB coaching course, Klose, 42, has no time for a detailed discussion these days about whether he is rehearsing headers on the short post with Lewandowski or rather shots with the left outer instep. But at least he conveys a few sentences on the subject of the day.
“Robert,” says Klose, “had a great season and is about to repeat it.” He also doesn’t forget “that his success is only possible through his teammates”. That is why he is “currently number one” for him, the best player in the world. And that’s, in the simple words of a great striker, a big part of the story.
The story of Lewandowski’s career is one of ambition and hard work, of perseverance
Lewandowski, 32, has been World Footballer of the Year for the first time in his career since Thursday evening, as the first player ever from the Bundesliga. In the election he ended up ahead of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. “It’s an incredible feeling, I’m very proud and satisfied. It’s a great day for me and my club, the teammates,” he said when the FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who traveled to Munich, presented him with the trophy.
It was made for a kitsch script that he had scored the decisive two goals again the night before in a 2-1 win against VfL Wolfsburg. That he was once again the decisive player together with Manuel Neuer, who was honored as a world goalkeeper. That he also scored against the opponent he scored more often than any other: Lewandowski shot 23 of the 251 Bundesliga goals against Wolfsburg, in September 2015 five within eight minutes and 59 seconds. And it’s definitely worth remembering to understand why Lewandowski at 32 is even better than Lewandowski at 27, who seemed to be able to do everything.
Back then, in the 2015/2016 season, he was the top scorer with 30 goals. And the following summer he pondered what he could do to score more goals, even though the defenders were constantly on their feet. His idea was to take more free kicks, like Messi and Ronaldo, the world footballers of the past few years. So Lewandowski trained free kicks.
The story of his career is one of ambition and diligence, of perseverance. Lewandowski was kicked out of the door at Legia Warsaw, one of the big clubs in his native city, when he was 17. Too skinny, too weak physically, that was the verdict of the team doctor, Lewandowski once said, it was a decisive experience for him.
“I haven’t thought much about it yet,” he said on Wednesday after the game about the upcoming world footballer election, but you don’t get too close to him if you think it’s charming. In truth, it has been driving him for years that Messi and Ronaldo always made this choice among themselves. And Lewandowski didn’t really care that this choice, especially in the team sport of soccer, can be considered to be of secondary importance for a popularity vote for good reasons.
In the 2016/2017 season, the summer after he came up with the plan, Lewandowski actually scored more free-kick goals. He now hits, for example recently against VfB Stuttgart, sometimes from a distance, which he had planned in 2019. He scored 55 goals in 47 games in all competitions in the 2019/2020 season, and 15 Bundesliga goals in eleven games this season. He hits with the right, with the left, with the head.
When he realized that there would hardly be a move to a bigger club, a soloist became a leading player
But it’s not just his goals that define his share in the success of FC Bayern, in the Champions League, championship, cup and two Supercups.
Lewandowski was always under suspicion of egoism in Munich, which was not only evident in his ambition on the field, from which Bayern naturally benefited; this was also reflected in his desire to leave the club – towards a club where you can win the big titles and become a world footballer.
Again and again he wanted to force a transfer to Real Madrid, most recently in 2018. But Bayern did not let him go. And when he realized that there would hardly be a move to a bigger club than FC Bayern, the change was not far away: the soloist Lewandowski became the leading player, who is now part of the team at Bayern, like coach Hansi Flick stressed on Wednesday when he should explain the role of the striker in the team at the press conference.
Before the Champions League tournament in August, Thomas Müller aptly described what Lewandowski contributes to Bayern’s successful football in addition to his goals. Lewandowski “not only shone with goals, but also worked really well,” said Müller in an interview with SZ. “In the past there were always phases when we midfielders said: Today we would have liked a little more mileage up front – whenever we left the field with a red head after running 13 kilometers.” Or, another grinning sentence from Müller: Lewandowski could “even look forward to an assist”.
“You always have to stay selfish to keep this instinct for goals.”
Now you shouldn’t make the mistake of thinking of Lewandowski as a player who has politely put his ego aside. He recently had himself photographed all by himself with all the trophies his team has won this season, you have to come up with the idea first. And when Hansi Flick once reported at a press conference that Lewandowski had agreed to his substitution, it was still rather an exception. Of course, he still believes that the main thing that is helping Bayern Bayern is by scoring themselves. “You probably always have to be selfish to keep this instinct for goals,” he said after the game against Wolfsburg.
The fact that he shows this goal instinct especially against teams like Wolfsburg, Hertha BSC or Eintracht Frankfurt, in the rather small games, is a stubborn prejudice, even if he only failed to score in the final of the Champions League last season .
On Saturday, in his first game as a world footballer, he would have another opportunity to refute his critics. The opponent, Bayer Leverkusen, is a big one again lately, after all, it’s about the championship lead at Christmas. Lewandowski has only scored four times in 16 games against Leverkusen. His quota is not weaker against any Bundesliga club.
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