Philipp Lahm Quotes

There are footballers who are very good playing on the outside but don't know what to do inside. Then there are players who are very good inside but don't have the physique, the legs, to go outside.

I try to get early contact and keep it on the ground. I like to keep the ball down as much as I can.

English football is so physical and fast that when you see a space, you have to go into it with all your speed.

When you get into the game you've got be thinking, when I get into the attacking third I'm gonna be freakin' creative.

It is very tough to beat an English team. The type of football they play is only in the Premier League. They defend as though their lives depend on it. And they are very successful.

As a player I was taught the importance of working four or five passes within your team and then stretching the play. That's something I believe in strongly as a coach.

When you are a coach, you are watching how the team is positioning itself on the field - if your team is in possession of the ball, you are already anticipating what could happen if you lose the ball.

Sometimes in midfield, it's nice because you do get a little bit more of the ball, and maybe out wide you rely on people to get you the ball.

Pace is just how fast we can get the ball from one end to the other. It's not necessarily how fast we can shoot. It's just a tempo thing.

I like to control the ball and analyse the game.

I like playing just outside of my own penalty box, the player who receives the ball and organises the game.

Carrying the ball is one of the strongest points in my game and I like to be a danger on the pitch.

As I'm growing up, going into holding midfield, I'm watching Busquets quite a lot for Barcelona. The way he controls the game, his reading of it, technically, defensively - everything about him cuts him out above the rest. I'm really enjoying watching him.

You have to win on the ball.

I like attacking football, but that's not the only thing the game's about.

Tactically, Italians are very strong. They are a lot into tactics: how to defend, when you lose the ball, where will you be?

When you're at a club like Liverpool, it's always about what you can do with the ball.

I always play football in my team, and I know that if you play too much long ball, then it's difficult.

Against Chelsea, you will have periods in the game when you are right up against it, when they keep the ball. They are pretty solid the way they set their team up.

When you play a match, it is statistically proven that players actually have the ball 3 minutes on average ... So, the most important thing is: what do you do during those 87 minutes when you do not have the ball. That is what determines wether you're a good player or not.

That's the intelligence of football: to see when to be compact, when to counter-attack, or, if you see that you're in the opposite half, you try and win the ball.

What I want is to recover the ball as near to the other box as we can, and when we have the ball, play.

I prefer defensive midfielder because I know my job when I play there. More things are in front of you.

As a player, you are more concerned with the moments when you have possession of the ball or are about to receive the ball. You are watching your team-mates and trying to decide what the possibilities are.

I like it when I am in the middle; I am closer to the ball. The manager wants me to pass, to make assists, create chances, and I do more because I think the position is more central, and I don't ask all the time for the ball at my feet.