Should Robert Lewandowski Be an Automatic Starter for Bayern Munich?

After what seems like a truly historic night at the Allianz Arena, Robert Lewandowski has all but confirmed his role at Bayern Munich simply isn’t negotiable. Not only is he one of Pep Guardiola’s best players but his position—central striker—is his, and his alone.

Yet, unfortunately, the situation in Munich isn’t as simple as that. For although the Poland international has impressed up front, he still isn’t guaranteed a starting position as Bayern’s key attacking player.

This conundrum first arose when Lewandowski signed for Bayern from Borussia Dortmund. Although Guardiola was well in place by the time the striker announced in September 2013 he would sign for the Bavarian side, it was a move that the club had planned for quite some time.

Although the former Barcelona manager would have had few reservations about welcoming such a player into his squad, he probably wasn’t the kind of player Guardiola himself would have opted to splash the wages on.

This is because Guardiola has never been a huge fan of the lumbering, lone striker.

At Barcelona there was an attempt to bring in a 'Plan B' in the name of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, yet due to the manner of the style of play under the tiki-taka coach, such a player—although his personality also played a large part in it—never settled into the side.

This was also a problem for the man Lewandowski ultimately replaced at Bayern, Mario Mandzukic, who had to contend with moving from a successful 4-2-3-1 formation under Jupp Heynckes to a 4-1-4-1 system in Guardiola’s first season at the club.

Despite a good goal return throughout the 2013-14 season, Mandzukic and Guardiola never seemed to see eye-to-eye. He was dropped by the Catalan coach after the winter break and for the DFB Pokal final despite picking up 26 goals in all competitions.

Ultimately, the Croatian was forced to leave the club, stating in an interview with Sportske Novosti (h/t Football Espana) that Guardiola never wanted him to finish top goalscorer and he had never fitted into the coach’s style of play.

Almost all Bayern fans will happily skim over such criticism safe in the knowledge Lewandowski was walking in the door just as Mandzukic was walking out, and they were getting an upgrade in the striker department. Yet Guardiola’s attitude towards Lewandowski hasn’t been all that encouraging either.

The Polish goalscorer has been an integral part of the squad since arriving last summer, but that hasn’t stopped Guardiola from consistently altering the formation and tactics and trying different players in his position whenever he can.

Thanassis Stavrakis/Associated Press

Whether it be Thomas Muller or Mario Gotze, the Bayern manager still seems determined to perfect his false-nine theory despite having one of the best forwards in European football at his disposal.

This season alone has seen Bayern start three of their first six Bundesliga games without Lewandowski in the lineup. One of those was through injury but the other two—including Tuesday night’s win over Wolfsburg—was simply down to Guardiola’s temperament.

Yet as we saw this week, there’s simply no denying what Lewandowski can do when given the ball and enough space to exploit.

One of the most important attributes to any manager’s ability is simply knowing what’s good for you. And despite his constant tinkering with other players and formations, Guardiola must surely know Lewandowski is the very best option for Bayern’s attack.