Welp, never thought Lahm would retire before Klose... Hope our young RB like Jung, Sorg, and others can step up their game, it's a big hole to fill.
Surprised and shocked. Thought the little guy could play another 4 years at least for die Mannschaft. I understand he had kids so maybe he wants to spend more time with them. This makes our FB problem all the worse!
naah. Evena case of a national emergency will not bring him back(apart from a testimonial game). I also dont see in Lahm a manager or director at DFB. My guess: tv pundit for ARD or ZDF.
Wow, I saw the headline on Goal.com this morning and thought it was some kind of "what if" scenario. Absolutely gobsmacked about this news. Completely out of nowhere. I was sure he'd have another run at a Euro before hanging it up. This is a huge loss for the national team. But respect to him for announcing it in time for the DFB to figure something else out. And respect to him for going out on top and not clinging on while he's declining, getting in the way of other players. Thank you for 10 wonderful years, Philipp Lahm. You gave everything you had, brought back the ultimate prize, and you will be sorely missed.
It's a wise decision on his part. Bayern plays a lot of games, he will prolong his club career this way. It also gives Germany 2 years till the next tournament to find a good formation. Thanks for everything Philipp!
Wat. WAT?! Is he outta mind? WTF am I reading here, this can't be true. He's our most important player next to Neuer and Schweinsteiger, he was healthy and steady all the time and now this? It reduces our chances to win the Euro 2016 a lot. This is very shocking and sad news. Thank you for everything Lahm but srsly, why?
because there's no point in wasting his time with these pointless qualifiers. the added free weeks he'll have will be very beneficial to him as well. he'll be back for the euro most likely anyway and for the 2018 world cup as well.
Philipp Lahm International Career: Appearances: 113 Starts: 113 Goals: 5 Yellow Cards: 10 Red Cards: 0 Some record there! Salute and Respect!
The only thing missing: he should have scored in Brazil his usual every two years and only in tourneys goal.
Did he say that, like is there a guarantee? If that's the case, then I'm fully okay and everything is fine. But no, he won't return, I'm pretty sure about that.
he didn't say that because saying it openly could create problems. but there is no reason he can't say he changed his mind in 2 years time or before the next world cup.
He said he can't imagine himself playing at the age of 35 or 36 and now he has won the WC so there is no better time for him to retire. Yes, Lahm will have his farewell match but very very likely no Euro 2016.
Hard to admit it but it was a good decision on Lahm's part. Leadership needs evolution on this team to ensure it doesn't stagnate. So I think next captain should (and possibly will) be a younger player like Neuer, Müller, or Hummels, someone who didn't have to fight for a decade to finally win the trophy. This captain will still have the hunger for more trophies and will reignite the fire. 2010 crop should be the backbone upon which a new team will be built. This team needs to evolve and it will. If he doesn't win Ballon D'Or this year we should organize a petition. A living legend, one of the greatest players in history.
ACHTUNG - Emotional post below. What the f*ck Lahm? Win the World Cup and quit? Not going to try and win Euro 2016 with this great team? What a great captain. Showing the young guys how to quit. Wouldn't be surprised at all if he's throwing a tantrum about being moved back to RB. After half a season in midfield under Pep, he gave an interview where he said, "I see myself as a midfielder now." Totally disappointed with this from Lahm. Great player, Bayern legend, but sh*t personality.
I understand that yours is an emotional post, but I'm not sure how you can say any of that garbage. He made a decision.... and that's final. Personally I don't see him pulling Kevin-Prince and changing his mind before the Euro. In many respects I see where he is coming from. In your thirties you take longer to recover and your body can't handle the stress as much... especially as a FB. This allows him to continue his reinvention at Bayern under Pep, while also having time to spend with his family. You may not like it.... but who cares.
It surely has to do with the tasks of a fullback. You do make more km per game. He's 30 and wants to play high level footy at Bayern in three competitions per season. He's not the fastest anymore and it's not getting better. Yes, the additional burden of playing NT is now gone and he can focus on club play. But I dont think he and Löw had a fight in Brazil about where he wants to play.
That is so contrary to the entire spirit of the German NT that I can't see it being an issue. The whole team spirit is built around everybody doing what they had to in order to win. If that meant sitting on the bench, they sat on the bench. If that meant playing RB, then they played RB. I'm not aware of any player complaining about what their role was. Of course no one here was in any team meetings so we don't really know what went on but that's not the sense I get. And Bavarian Oak while everyone is disappointed that Lahm isn't continuing on with the NT for at least the Euro 2016, it doesn't give you the right to call him a "sh*t personality". From what I've seen of his public side I only have respect for him. And at 30 it's reasonable for him to retire from international football. How old was Gerd Muller when he retired? He did so prematurely. It also sounds like he was thinking about this for a long time based on one of the interviews. I'd like to also point out that retiring now give the coaching staff the ability to start working on alternatives for RB, rather than Lahm being forced to retire just before the Euro.