Defenders
Right back: Phillip Lahm
This was a no-brainer; Phillip Lahm is the current captain of Bayern Munch and is one is considered as a Bayern great. The Munich native sped through the ranks in Bayern’s youth system, and after a successful loan spell at VFB Stuttgart was integrated into the Munich club’s starting XI.
He has since gone on to win a massive seven Bundesliga titles and captained the club to a historic treble in 2012-13, where the club won the UEFA Champions League as well. Lahm is known for his excellent reading of the game, intelligent play, pace, work-rate and, precise, firm and clean tackling.
At international level, Lahm made 113 appearances for Germany and captained the national team in their infamous 2014 FIFA World Cup win. He has never been sent off for Bayern Munich in 502 appearances for the club, an incredible record! He recently confirmed that he will retire at the end of the 2016-17 season.
Centre back: Franz Beckenbauer
‘Der Kaiser’ Franz Beckenbauer was a Bayern Munich Goliath in his playing time. The German captained the Munich side in their most successful era in the club’s history. He revolutionised the sweeper (libero) position and with Beckenbauer as captain Bayern won the UEFA Cup Winner’s Cup in 1967 and three consecutive European Cups from 1974 to 1976.
He also won four Bundesliga titles, captaining Bayern in 1972, 1973 and 1974 season. Der Kaiser was known for his ability to bring the ball out from the back and join in attacks as a sweeper and even scored 75 goals for Bayern Munich in 567 games for the club. He played against England in the 1966 World Cup final as a youngster but lost to the English; he was tasked with man-marking Sir Bobby Charlton in that final.
He went on to win the Euros in 1972 and the FIFA World Cup as a player in 1974 as captain of West Germany. He then guided Die Mannschaft to another World Cup win in 1990 as a manager and is only one of two people to ever achieve this feat. Beckenbauer was known for his leadership, all-round attributes and brilliant reading of the game. He won the Ballon d’Or twice and was included in the list of FIFA’s 100 greatest players ever at number 4 on the list.
Centre Back: Tony Adams
Although Bayern Munich had some legendary centre backs in their time, this spot was between Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck and Arsenal’s Tony Adams in this list. Schwarzenbeck was probably a better player but Tony Adams led Arsenal to glory and was a heavyweight of English football. The no-nonsense English centre-back is Arsenal’s 3rd greatest ever player in their history, and remains a legend at the club to this day.
He spent 22 years as centre back for Arsenal, out of which he captained the club for 14 years and won 10 major trophies (four English Top-flight league titles and three FA Cups) in his time. He was known for his immense aerial ability, timing of tackles and reading of the game, apart from his leadership.
Former Arsenal manager George Graham called him a ‘colossus’ and Arsene Wenger described him as a ‘professor of defence’. He would have complemented Beckenbauer well in this XI as he had the ability to be aggressive and win balls, while the German legend could bring the ball from the back.
Left-back: Ashley Cole
Before moving to Chelsea, Ashley Cole was an Arsenal youth product 228 appearances for the Gunners and then 338 for Chelsea. For the most part of his playing career, the Englishman was widely regarded as the best left-back in the world and is an obvious choice in this list, despite Bayern’s Bixente Lizarazu running him close.
Cole was known for his tenacious defending, speed and athleticism and expert ability in handling the world’s best attackers like Ronaldinho, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. He won three Premier League titles in all (two with Arsenal and one with Chelsea), seven FA Cups (three with Arsenal and four with Chelsea) and one UEFA Champions League with Chelsea.
Cole was part of the famous ‘Invincibles’ side and was one of the greatest Arsenal left-backs of all time. He was also capped 107 times for the England national team.
