Lahm: "Stuttgart has too much quality"

In an interview with DFB.de, Germany’s team captain Philipp Lahm talks about his former club VFB Stuttgart, Bayern München’s opponents tonight, and his upcoming Christmas vacation.

For the 27th time this season, Philipp Lahm will be part of Bayern’s starting line up, when his club faces VfB Stuttgart in a round of 16-game of the German Cup competition. Both teams had met on Sunday in a Bundesliga-match, with Bayern winning 5:3. The Munich born Lahm has not missed any of Bayern’s last 85 matches. Mr. Reliable he is, with a built-in world class performance. And though even his batteries start to run low this late in the calendar year, he feels highly motivated “because the Cup Final in Berlin is such an extraordinary experience”.

DFB.de: Philipp Lahm, on the one hand, Bayern won 5:3 against Stuttgart on Sunday. On the other hand, Stuttgart scored twice on counter-attacks when Bayern had the lead. As a defensive player, how satisfied are you with the match in Stuttgart?

Lahm: Leading by 5-1 can be quite dangerous, because your effort tends to slack a bit. And that’s what happened to us on Sunday. The final result is very annoying for a defender, that’s for sure. Then again, we played some brilliant games during the first half of the season, in Leverkusen for instance or also in Dortmund, but forgot to take away three points. On Sunday in Stuttgart, we had our ups and downs, but managed to add three points to our total. By the way, only our second road victory this season. Overall, I feel we can be quite happy with the outcome of the match in Stuttgart.

DFB.de: By defeating Stuttgart, you drew close to league-leading Borussia Dortmund by three points. The BVB is still ahead by a huge margin. Do you even look at the standings as far as Borussia is concerned?

Lahm: Of course, we keep an eye on all teams ahead of us in the league. That Leverkusen tied was meaningful, we were able to get closer to all our competitors. Sure, we have to look at ourselves and win our matches. But at the same time it’s a rather rewarding moment when our competitors slip and we gain ground by winning the late Sunday game.

DFB.de: You were part of the starting line-up throughout the season. How much energy is left for tonight’s round-of-16 match against VfB Stuttgart?

Lahm: We want to qualify for the next round in the DFB-Pokal as well. This special atmosphere at the Cup-Final in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium never grows old on you, it is something extra ordinary, time and again. Knowing that serves as extra-motivation for tonight. But I do admit: I’m looking forward to my vacation on Thursday as well. I didn’t have a break all year long, really. Already last season we had to win all our last matches in the Bundesliga to win the Meisterschaft. We played the DFB-cup final and also qualified for the Champions League final. Straight afterwards, the World Cup in South Africa started, directly after that I got married. After a very short vacation, the new season kicked off and we did it all over again. It was a very exhausting but at the same time wonderful year.

DFB.de: How do you get ready for such a match like today, when you start to feel drained, vacation is around the corner? Any special motivating rituals?

Lahm: No, not really, except I still enjoy playing the game. That is such as key thing. You have to enjoy what you are doing, then you’ll most certainly succeed in any activity.

DFB.de: Playing Stuttgart, is that still something special to you as you spent two seasons with the VfB at the beginning of your career?

Lahm: It fades a bit, to be honest. My career took off in Stuttgart and I was first nominated as a national player there. Since then, more than five years have passed. The squad has changed, the stadium rebuilt, and many other things have changed.

DFB.de: Stuttgart’s players were jeered by their own fans after Sunday’s defeat. How did you experience that?

Lahm: By paying admission, fans buy the right to witness a football game, but they can also expect to see a passionate effort. Fans hope for a victory, and then they cheer or jeer their team. That is the nature of the game. But fans should also know, that catcalls have never helped a team. Jeering makes players even more insecure, these pictures of their angry fans remain for the night and possible through next day’s practice session. When a team is on the brink, it actually needs even more support by their fans.

DFB.de: Will Stuttgart avoid relegation and remain in the Bundesliga?

Lahm: Definetly, simply because they have too much quality on their squad. At the end of the season, the VFB-fans don’t have too worry, they’ll be clear of the bottom of the standings.

DFB.de: Do you foresee personal changes over the winter break?

Lahm: That’s not for me to answer. In general, an elite team such as Bayern always has the need to improve the overall quality.

DFB.de: Bayern did not sign any new players throughout the summer. Is the club rethinking its concept?

Lahm: Please don’t forget that we players such as Breno, Toni Kroos and Andreas Ottl returned to Munich over the summer. And then, it came as no surprise that our management and coaching staff felt comfortable with the talent available. We were German Champions, Cup winners and Champions League finalists. However, there comes a time when you have to adress certain personal issues. There’s nothing wrong in signing new players in the winter. Furthermore, injuries were a major concern this year. We had to and still have to compensate long term injured players such as Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben, Ivica Olic or Holger Badstuber. Toni Kroos is wearing a cast and, last but not least, Bastian Schweinsteiger had to cancel Sunday’s game because of the flu.

DFB.de: Munich’s German national players such as Schweinsteiger and yourself have signed long-term contracts. Mesut Özil and Sami Khedira, however, decided to leave the Bundesliga, joining Real Madrid.

Lahm: That’s right and I feel happy for Mesut and Sami, who compete with top players in every practice session, and have to prove themselves on the highest international level. The experience should make them stronger, which in turn will benefit Germany’s national team.

DFB.de: Where is the Nationalmannschaft at right now, as the year 2010 winds down?

Lahm: There have been many changes this year, mainly triggered because of the slew of injuries prior to the World Cup. Young players stepped up. The way we played in South Africa and also during the qualifying round in the autumn is just the way, successful and attractive football should be played. For that, you need players on the highest technical level, and we now have assembled these players. Joachim Löw is tremendously successful to install his philosophy. Every position is exactly defined. In my mind, Joachim Löw was rightfully elected “manager of the year” by the French sporting paper “L’Equipe”.

DFB.de: Finally, where are you going to spend your vacation?

Lahm: We go skiing in Austria. Beforehand we’ll celebrate Christmas with my parents, my sister in law and my family. I am looking forward to that very much.