Philipp Lahm - Captain Constant like the North Star

Philipp Lahm (L) vies with Borussia Dortmund’s German midfielder Marco Reus

There aren’t many full backs around who are as balanced as Lahm, offensively as well as defensively. Lahm is equally confident, when going forward, making overlapping runs as much as he is when defending. It is no surprise that Lahm barely makes any cognizable errors on the pitch; the concentration levels that he maintains throughout a game are phenomenal. He can be a model example to the new generation defenders.

A quick glance at the statistics reinforces his claim to be the best full back in the world at the moment. Lahm(40) has played more games than Ashley Cole(39), Jordi Alba(36) and Daniel Alves(36) last season having 15 assists to his name which is the cumulative sum of the number of assists the other three have. In the attacking department, Lahm (1.5) has a better key passes to number of games ratio as compared to the rest and has lost the ball away in the opponent half far less frequently than the others (0.7 times dispossessed per game).

However, there is not much to choose between them defensively though. Jordi Alba(3.2) has the best average interceptions per match with Lahm(1.9) being a distant second. The low fouls-to-games ratio brilliantly highlight the cautious approach to the game he adopts and acute sense of positioning on the field. He is tied with Ashley Cole with 0.5 fouls committed per game.

What makes these statistics even more fascinating is that he has averaged close to 50 games per season in Bayern colours over the last four seasons; a Herculean feat given the competitiveness of football in Bundesliga. Moreover, the defender has been a constant figure in Loew’s side and hasn’t missed a single game in Germany’s World Cup ’14 qualifying campaign.

Still on the right side of thirty, Lahm has still got a few good years of football left in him. Guiding Bayern Munich to a historic treble was the pinnacle of his career and he foresees the club to develop into an even stronger force under Pep Guardiola. However, the holy grail of football has eluded him once already back in 2010 when Germany bowed out in the semi finals. He will have a chance to put that right when he leads the Mannschaft out into the pitch in Brazil next year; another step closer to greatness.