Philipp Lahm is an all-time great defender. He will go down in history as one of the greatest lateral defenders in the history of soccer.
He is fast and very able technically. He is extremely intelligent on the pitch. He displays tremendous amount of patience, and he most often makes the right decisions which is one of the reasons why he plays very well as a defensive midfielder.
Philipp Lahm is only 5′ 7, 1.70 m, for nearly 146 pounds, 66 kg, yet he is an aggressive player that is not afraid of contact and that is solid enough to win his duals. Both the Bayern Munich and the National Mannschaft can rely on his discipline and aggressiveness at which ever position his task to play at.
He is very versatile, and provides a great deal of flexibility for his coach for his a complete footballer. He can most certainly play right back which is his natural position, yet he can also play left back. In fact, when Willy Sagnol, French international, played right back in Bayern Munich for most of the last decade, Lahm played left back and performed very well. And today, under one of the world’s best coaches, Pep Guardiola, he even plays as a defensive midfielder with his National Mannschaft teammate Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Philipp Lahm is a professional and great competitor. He largely contributed to the 2009-10 and 2011-12 Champion League campaign which both ended up loses in the final. Last year, however, he and teammates won the first Champion League for Bayern Munich in twelve years, the second of the century and the 5th of Bayern’s history.
In a few years when Philipp Lahm retires, hopefully under the Bayern Munich’s jersey, his name will be added and mentioned as one of the greatest players to have ever played for Bayern Munich and the National Mannschaft. This list includes Franz Beckenbauer, Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck, Paul Breitner, Klaus Augenthaler, Franz Roth, Lothar Matthäus, Mehmet Scholl, Gerd Müller, Uli Hoeneß, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Sepp Maier and Oliver Kahn. This is an amazing company to be in.
Philipp Lahm is example young players should emulate
Young players all over the world should look up to Philip Lahm and take example on him. They should aspire to acquire his versatile skills set and exemplary attitude on the pitch. His leadership and professionalism are rarely mentioned as a resource of his successes and those of his teams, yet I would summit that they are key underestimated elements of Bayern Munich’s and the National Mannschaft’s continued successes.
At 30, Philipp Lahm will be playing in his third FIFA World Cup in Brazil this summer. His performance and leadership will be much needed in order for the National Mannschaft to hold itself to the status of favorite it has. This could be his last World Cup, so let’s hope that no injuries come in the way of what could be a winning campaign in Brazil for Germany’s and his captain Philipp Lahm.
