Philipp Lahm

“It doesn't matter if you have the best individual players, as you need to have the best team unit.”

“I think that it is advantageous to join Bayern Munich at a young age.”

“Maybe modern tactics mean that making the switch from defence to midfield is easier. Many years ago, full backs were more limited - you were just supposed to defend, and it didn't matter if you could get forward too.”

“In the past, we won tournaments with lots of fighting and lots of hard running.”

“Many great teams have players who have come through the youth system or have been at the club for a long time as their captains. I'm thinking of Steven Gerrard at Liverpool, John Terry at Chelsea, Raul at Real Madrid, as well as Puyol at Barcelona and Gary Neville at Man United.”

“I last played in Dubai in the summer of 2009 and it was still over 40 degrees in the evening. It was extremely exhausting and absolute madness.”

“As a captain, I have to be courageous but I also want to be nice off the pitch.”

“Things can happen very quickly in football.”

“Clubs like Manchester United or Barcelona have a system, and then you hire personnel who fit this system.”

“To achieve success in this game you need specific talents and attributes. But we also have to adapt to the fact that we work in the public eye, with all its pros and cons.”

“The abolition of the double sanction for a foul in the box is a welcome change. There are times that you cannot help but stop your opponent in the box, with your momentum forcing you to make a challenge. Fouls can't be avoided in that situation but your intention was fair.”

“I have climbed every step of the football ladder, from kicking a ball about in Munich's Olympic Park to becoming a junior at Bayern, signing professional terms, establishing myself in the first team and taking the captain's armband.”

“Klinsmann was the shining hero of the 2006 World Cup when Bayern took him on.”

“I've always said I prefer playing on the right. But I can play at a top level on both sides so I'm happy to play wherever the manager thinks it will bringing the team success.”

“I played at full-back for 10 years, I enjoyed it, and I had success there, so I can never regret being a defender.”

“Looking back at my matches since 2002, there is one main criterion for me which marks a club which is successful in the long-term: big players, who have grown with their clubs, whose names are tied to the success and who have a 100 per cent identification with the team, the club and its history.”

“In every part of our society, rules have to be questioned and adapted.”

“Thomas Muller is an excellent player.”

“Anybody who has played with Mesut will tell you how intelligent he is as a player. His vision is probably the best I have ever seen and that is why it is so important to have the right striker ahead of him.”

“I'll remember my first league title, my first cup, the Champions League. But also the defeats - that's also part of football.”