Philipp Lahm, precise as a German compound noun, tidy as a Munich suburb, yes, gets flustered sometimes. Yes, there are opponents tricky enough to make this most organised footballer feel pressured. “These players do exist. I’m not going to tell you who they are,” says Lahm, breaking into one of his little melodic giggles.
You’d never know it. For 13 seasons he has purred through the Bundesliga and Champions League, his performances seeming spotless. His international career ended with the perfect action: raising the World Cup. Perhaps in an obscure video vault somewhere, a German football archivist has evidence of Lahm once having a bad game — but nobody remembers it, if ever he did.
Projecting control and having control are so close, in sport, as to be the same. “I’m a big fan of Roger Federer,” says Lahm, “and Federer doesn’t waste energy on his mistakes. Mistakes happen but he handles them, he doesn’t worry or let them influence his game.”
The Federer of full-backs, that’s Lahm. And when Pep Guardiola uses him in central midfield, his smooth excellence is unchanged: it’s like Federer also being incredible at doubles.
Retirement is something Federer remains unsure about but Lahm has already fixed a date. On the final day of the 2017-18 season, he’ll walk away from his sport at the age of just 34. He’s so light and nimble, and positionally clever, that he could surely play until he was 40 if he wished.
Advertisement
“That’s never been my goal,” Lahm smiles. “I’m contracted until 2018 and that will be it. I don’t need to keep playing. I understand everyone who does but for me what’s happened in my career is already enough. I retired from Germany when I could have kept going, physically. I’ve always wanted to determine where the end is myself. I’ve never wanted someone else to tell me, ‘You don’t have enough any more’.
“When you’re playing at this highest level eventually you will go downhill. So I want to be a player who plays well and then stops.” Keep them wanting more? “Yes, exactly.”
The World Cup was “very intense because I knew every game could be my last one”, and announcing when his club career will finish has sharpened him. “If you know you’re going to retire you have a different approach, different dedication,” Lahm says. “I want more titles before I go.
“The German championship will always be special for Bayern Munich because [in Germany] Bayern have to be top. But the Champions League is the most coveted title. I’ve been in the final three times, won it once, which is not enough. Bayern should have won it more.
“Unless I’m injured and finish sooner I have three more years and the Champions League is the big goal, the one. It would be a beautiful ending if I help us win it again.”
Advertisement
Bayern started the season with defeat, on penalties, in the German Super Cup but have since won 11 games from 11. They are yet to concede a Champions League goal. Robert Lewandowski has scored 15 times in six games.
Arsenal probably need to take something from Tuesday’s meeting at the Emirates stadium to stay alive in Group F. “I love playing Champions League football in England. Great stadiums, fantastic teams, great fans,” Lahm says. He’s enjoying his friend Bastian Schweinsteiger’s adventure in the Premier League and perhaps regrets not trying it himself. “But you won’t see me there now,” Lahm smiles. “For me that’s over.”
Bayern supporters plan a walkout in protest at being charged £64 to get into the Emirates — the cheapest season tickets at Bayern’s Allianz Arena cost £140. They enjoy closeness to their club, despite its grandeur, that English fans would envy. Lahm is at Bayern’s training ground on a day the public is allowed to watch practice. 4,000 fans come and players fray their elbows signing autographs. There’s at least one open day like this each week and every incoming manager learns that they are a non-negotiable working condition.
It’s Mia San Mia — Bayern’s motto of togetherness, meaning “We are We” — in action. “New players learn fast,” Lahm says. “For Douglas Costa and Arturo Vidal, days like today are still surprising, but they’re part of your life here, part of what makes Bayern what it is.
“If you go to any foreign country and say Munich people say either Bayern or Oktoberfest, and Bayern is trying to tap in to China and America and markets all round the world, but the essence of Mia San Mia hasn’t changed. Bayern’s a global brand yet also stands for things like home, Munich, the lakes, the mountains, the familiarity of everything.
Advertisement
“What is always important is our mix of players here. Bayern has always, from the town or from Bavaria, academy boys who, mixed with the foreign players, are vital to who we are.” Lahm is from Munich but adds, modestly: “Thomas Muller is the prime example.”
So was Schweinsteiger. Lahm and he broke through when Bayern was “FC Hollywood”, a club of superstars and egos. It was also a club that veered between trophies and disasters. Lahm’s 2002 debut was in a half-empty Olympiastadion, in a game that consigned Bayern to finishing bottom of a Champions League group.
“It was me, Bastian, Owen Hargreaves, Markus Feulner, and everyone else was over 30. These guys were on pedestals. I would train with the pro team, then go back to the reserves, and you felt there was a big gap,” he recalls. “At 17 years of age you didn’t feel you could walk in and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to take over now’. Not with Oliver Kahn and Stefan Effenberg in front of you.”
Now, with Guardiola bringing starlets such as Joshua Kimmich and Kingsley Coman into an already-young team, Bayern are the most youthful of Europe’s heavyweight teams. Lahm feels his age. “It was sad when Basti left,” he says, “because we had this rich history together. We came up through the ranks and won the Champions League, world championship. I was fortunate to celebrate those titles with him but it’s defeats that bring you together and Bayern had many disappointments too. We were very close, particularly because of the defeats.
“Basti wanted a new challenge and I always had the feeling it was his dream to play Premier League football at some point in his life. It is going to be very good for him and Manchester United. You can rely 100% on Bastian. He is not someone that ever folds. Pressure, finals, title games — that is when he is best. Any team would benefit from him, he’s that kind of character.”
Advertisement
Louis Van Gaal was a catalyst in Bayern’s evolution. “He introduced a clearer focus on tactics and our modern style was born,” says Lahm. “He’s a real hard worker. It’s difficult to go right into the smallest details of tactics but Van Gaal is willing to. Not everyone liked it, but I love tactics, so it was interesting to me. Van Gaal would admit to making mistakes here —or maybe not — but he was the right man at the right time for Bayern.”
Lahm, so technical and judicious that he completed 134 of 134 passes in a 2014 game against Hertha Berlin, and has played 10,000 successful passes in six seasons according to one respected stats site, is the footballer of Guardiola’s dreams — “the most intelligent player I’ve ever trained,” Guardiola said.
“I’m proud of that,” says Lahm. “Pep is very diligent, very detailed, the epitome of a 24/7 coach. In bed, eating dinner, always football, football. It’s an unbelievable character trait and through it he has elevated Bayern to a new level.”
Guardiola continues to swap him, almost game-by-game, between defensive and midfield roles but it’s a misconception that he converted Lahm into a versatile player. “Under Felix Magath in my first [full] season here I played left-back, right-midfield, right-back and sometimes winger. It’s nothing new,” Lahm says.
“To play 13 years in one position might not be that interesting. When you change you feel younger, more animated, more focused. It is fun.” There’s a little more of that musical laugh. Philipp Lahm. The Federer of football, with added fun.
Advertisement
ON TV TODAY
Arsenal v Bayern Munich
BT Sport, 7.45pm