Let me start by saying that this post isn't going to be a post comparing Harry Kane and Robert Lewandowski only but rather I am using that comparison and my opinion on that as a jumping point for a more important topic.
Also, the reason I picked these is because of my biases since
I am an Arsenal fan therefore I don't like Spurs
I don't believe the difference in quality between the Premier League and Bundesliga
Robert Lewandowski has been in his best form for the last 2-3 years
My pick is Harry Kane
Why Harry Kane is Better than Robert Lewandowski
This actually extends to many other strikers that have been around for the last 10-12 years. Strikers like Aguero, Suarez, Ibrahimovic, Benzema, and the aforementioned Harry Kane. Lewandowski isn't in the top 5 strikers category in terms of abilities.
Still, I hear the argument that Lewandowski has scored more and he is only 7 assists behind. Plus, of course, the mother of all arguments: trophies. Robert Lewandowski has won 24 trophies, including of course the UEFA Champions League while Harry Kane has won none.
Allow me to break down my thoughts here.
Lewandowski was also overfed by chances
We could compare him to Messi and Cristiano here as he was always in the conversation with these two. Lewandowski's expected goals have been above one goal a game since the 2018-2019 season. Meanwhile, Messi and Cristiano averaged around 0.85 and 0.9 respectively. Yet, it was not until Messi's last two exhausting seasons at Barcelona and Cristiano's last season then move away from Real Madrid that Lewandowski started outperforming.
To understand the issue here you need to understand that here we're talking about someone who has an entire team built around him and oriented to cater to him all the time and still needed his peers to suffer from constantly changing managers, lowering team quality, while Lewandowski was the focus man of Bayern Munich during their best and most dominant era.
Lewandowski isn't the difference maker
Yes, Lewandowski can score 5 goals in 9 minutes against Wolfsburg. That is something he has the luxury of doing as he plays in the most dominating team in that league. But, whenever he is put against teams that are close to Bayern's level of abilities, he is never the difference maker.
The last game I could definitely say Lewandowski was definitely the difference maker against a top-level team wasn't even during his time as a Bayern player but as a Borussia Dortmund player against Real Madrid almost 10 years ago. Lewandowski scored 4 goals during that match and then it took him 7 more games to score half of that.
It is a continuous theme for Lewandowski to score a lot of goals but you could never name the top 5 games where his goals were essential.
Kane, on the other hand
Has been the most valuable player in his club for years. He has been the difference maker for years and during so many games. Not necessarily by being the goal scorer but by being the pillar the team relies on offensively and being the first man defensively.
Kane is better for me because being the difference maker that takes Spurs to a Champions League qualifying spot is worth more than scoring the 3rd goal in a 3-0 win against Lyon in the 88th minute or the 6th goal in an 8-2 win against visibly distraught Barcelona in the 85th minute before getting outscored by Coutinho who was substituted in during the 75th minute of the match.
There is more to say here but this summarizes my opinion somewhat. This leads me to my main point:
Lewandowski won more trophies than Harry Kane
This is not necessarily exclusive to this comparison but titles always seem to be the deciding factor in most comparisons, either that or just goals and assists. While the latter will always look valid despite never offering context, it is the first that comes off as the stupidest between the two.
Dani Carvajal has won 16 major titles with Real Madrid, including 5 UEFA Champions League titles. How many of you reading this would include him in your top 5 right-backs in the world right in history? Would you even include him now?
There's an interesting dynamic with titles that allows people to end discussions when it comes to comparisons.
To me, these comparisons come down to one question:
- Would the team of player A achieve the same thing if he was replaced by player B?
In other words, would Bayern Munich win the 2020 Champions League final if it were Harry Kane playing for them instead of Robert Lewandowski? And even more accurately, would Tottenham Hotspur reach the same heights if Harry Kane was replaced by Robert Lewandowski?
Although my answer to the first question is yes and to the second is no, I accept that we cannot know for sure. But, I feel that question is the essence of these comparisons, that if we're actually aiming to have a mature, sports-based discussion and not just score the highest degree of burns done on Twitter.
In conclusion
Context matters, circumstances matter. You can't ever know if one player is better than another without literally putting them in the same situations, and I mean the exact same situations. Scoring against Liverpool in game week 3 is different than scoring against them in game week 4. Just like scoring a goal in the first ten minutes isn't the same as scoring a goal in the 70th minute.
However, this conclusion is boring. It doesn't "burn", "own", "pawn", or make anyone "salty" or tell them to "cry more". It is a simple answer that applies all the time just the same and that's what makes it boring and a cliche that's easily forgotten when ESPN's Twitter account asks you to compare two players before trending as people share their bias, dumb, uninspired, more often copied answers.
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It will be interesting to see how Lewandowski gets on with Barcelona. He's a bit of a lone wolf this guy. Doesn't really have any great friends in the game. Wouldn't be a team player.