Philipp Lahm is one of the very best defenders in football history. A World Cup-winning captain with Germany, the fullback also won a mammoth eight Bundesliga trophies with Bayern Munich, and one Champions League title.
Although he spent most of his career as a right-back, due to his tactical intelligence and high technical ability, he was able to operate on the left-hand side of the defence too. What's more, his footballing IQ was also enough to see him evolve into a deep-lying central midfielder later on in his career under Pep Guardiola.
With brains such a key part of Lahm's game, it's interesting to learn which players he regarded as being smart. Just a few years before his retirement in 2017, he spoke fondly of Arsenal and Premier League icon Mesut Ozil.
Philipp Lahm Praised Mesut Ozil
"Probably the most intelligent player I have ever played with"
Speaking in 2015, Lahm praised Ozil – who won the 2014 World Cup with Germany alongside him. Not only did he say he was probably the smartest teammate he ever had, but he also claimed he was the 'most intelligent player in Europe' at that time. He explained:
"Mesut is probably the most intelligent player I have ever played with, he is probably the most intelligent player in Europe today. Mesut sees things only he can—his vision is as good as I have ever seen.
"It was laughable when he was being questioned after his move to Arsenal. It doesn’t matter how good you are, everybody needs time to settle in a new league. Especially a league like England, where you don’t get as much time on the ball, and of course the game is a lot more physical.
"People don’t necessarily understand his game, he isn’t there to run at players or even beat them, he is far more intelligent than that."
It's interesting that Lahm speaks about fans not 'necessarily understanding his game' as that issue seemed to regularly pop up through Ozil's career. Even so, he still did enough to cement his status as a Premier League icon during his time at Arsenal.
Although he didn't win a league title with the Gunners, his style of play was adored by many. With his near-unmatched passing ability, the midfielder is among the greatest Germans to ever grace the English top-flight.
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Guardiola was stunned by his intelligence
Bayern Munich's head coach Pep Guardiola (R) gestures as he talks to his player Philipp Lahm during a training session
It's high praise indeed from Lahm. It's all the more meaningful when the German defender is widely regarded as one of the smartest footballers of the modern era, too.
After all, Guardiola once claimed that Lahm was quite probably the 'most intelligent' footballer he ever worked with. The former Bayern boss said:
"Philipp Lahm is perhaps the most intelligent player I have ever trained in my career. He is at another level."
With Lahm and Ozil regularly on the pitch together for Germany at the World Cup in 2014, with both men starting all seven games, it's little wonder they came away with the game's biggest prize.