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Bayern Munich legend Philipp Lahm is eager to see how Julian Nagelsmann integrates himself in Bavaria.
“He’s a very young coach but he’s still experienced, he’s been a Bundesliga coach for six years now, he was at Hoffenheim then Leipzig. The next logical step in Germany is Bayern,” Lahm said to Bundesliga.com. “He’s got enough experience, he’s a very interesting coach, the most interesting in the Bundesliga, you have to say. It makes sense that Bayern would want to get the most interesting coach.”
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Lahm knows it will be a period of transition and not just from one manager to another, but also with some key players on the roster, who will leave this summer.
“It’ll be interesting, first of all, to see how Bayern can find some momentum under a new coach. Plus you’ve got some experienced and established players leaving the club, like Jerome Boateng, David Alaba, Javi Martinez as well, it’ll be interesting to see how the first few months go, whether they can pick up points and find some momentum,” Lahm said. “Otherwise, it’s the same as usual, Leipzig, Dortmund can be up there but they have to be consistent. You saw this season that Bayern can falter at times but you have to be consistently playing at a top level and collecting points, otherwise you have got no chance of threatening Bayern because they will always pick up points.”
As for how Bayern Munich’s roster will acclimate to the new boss, Lahm thinks the squad’s core will handle it just fine.
“I think Julian Nagelsmann can play with a target man. Robert (Lewandowski) is someone who is happy to drift into wide positions but his absolute strength is his goal return, that’s clear,” said Lahm. “You can see that in his numbers. Lewandowski, with almost 40 goals to his name this season, as a coach you can’t ignore him, you have to find a place for him in the team. Especially together with (Thomas) Müller who plays in and around the number nine, it looks like a perfect combination.”