Bayern Munich: Philipp Lahm reveals coaching opportunity under Ancelotti

The 2016/17 season was a successful domestic campaign for Bayern Munich. Carlo Ancelotti helped the club in retaining the Bundesliga title, but quarter-final exit in the Champions League made it a bitter-sweet campaign. Moreover, the retirement of Philipp Lahm was also a big shock for the Bavarian faithful.

The experienced right-back decided to hang his boots after making more than 500 appearances and winning all possible trophies for Die Roten. The retirement came as a shock to the Bavarian faithful since Lahm was only 34 at that time. Considering his good fitness, he could have definitely played at least couple more years for the club.

While talking to Christian Falk of SportBild, Philipp Lahm has revealed that Carlo Ancelotti made very little effort to convince him to delay his retirement. However, the Italian coach offered him a coaching role in his staff, but Lahm had no plans for coaching at that time. It does feel like if Ancelotti had tried more to persuade him, who knows, Lahm would have played a few more years.

Lahm’s comments definitely contradict what Ancelotti said during his time of retirement. The Italian coach consistently said that he has been persuading Lahm to rethink his decision.

Die Roten did well to replace the quality of Lahm in the starting XI. For the first couple of years, Joshua Kimmich was excellent in the right-back position. The German international was one of the most productive full-backs in the final third across the globe during these two years.

In the longer run, Kimmich wanted to move in the central midfield. After the arrival of Benjamin Pavard in 2019, Kimmich got a run in the midfield. The German international established himself as one of the best midfielders in the world during the past couple of seasons. Pavard has been decent in the right-back position, but he wants to play in central defense while going forward. Die Roten will be looking to get a quality right-back next summer to add more depth to the squad.

Apart from the coaching role, Philipp Lahm was also heavily linked with the Sporting Director role at Die Roten. Mattias Sammer had left his role, so there was a need for a Sporting Director. The German World Cup winner has known the club inside out as he spent his entire playing career in Bavaria, so it was not a surprise to see him linked with this role.

Lahm had completely different ideas after retirement. The German right-back left Die Roten completely and decided against taking any administration role. He remains an ambassador due to his rich history with the club.

Pep Guardiola described Lahm as probably the smartest player he has worked in his career. The German right-back was an incredible full-back for the best part of the decade. Since Rekordmeister has the unique and great habit of involving former players in coaching and administration roles, Lahm will eventually come back to Bavaria.