Wednesday, 13th November, 2013
Bayern Munich head coach Pep Guardiola has revealed his confidence in dependable defender Philipp Lahm, adding the team captain is one of the "most intelligent" footballers in the world.
With the likes of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Javi Martinez out of commission due to injury, the former Barcelona boss moved to play Lahm in the defensive midfielder role, despite the German international favouring the right-back position.
And it appears Lahm is doing well in playing as a holding midfielder. Indeed, he was played in that position during the Bavarian giants' convincing wins against Schalke, where they won 4-0, and in their 3-1 mauling of Manchester City in the Champions League.
"We lost three players in the defensive midfield position at once – Javi Martinez, Schweinsteiger and [Thiago] Alcantara", Guardiola told sportsdaily.ru.
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"I needed to do something to stabilise our defence. Sure you can win when you have good attacking players, but you can't be consistent without having trusted players in the holding midfield role.
"Lahm played in that position several times during pre-season and he always looked a good fit in there.
"I think that Philipp is one of the most intelligent players in the world and I am convinced one hundred per cent that after a short time, he can be one of the best in every position", Guardiola concluded.
Lahm has already appeared 20 times for both club and country this season alone, and in 13 of those matches, he was deployed in midfield.
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