My Favorite Player: Shannon Gomez

Mark Booth

Today, it’s the turn of Trinidadian defender Shannon Gomez in our My Favorite Player series.

So far we’ve had Jack Harrison (Ronaldinho), Khiry Shelton (Thierry Henry), Sean Okoli (Zlatan Ibrahimovic), Ethan White (Carles Puyol), Sean Johnson (Edwin van der Sar), Ronald Matarrita (Ronaldo) and Tommy McNamara (Stephen McPhail).

Shannon has gone for a Bayern Munich and Germany legend – a World Cup and European Cup winner – one of the most versatile, intelligent players in the game… it’s Philipp Lahm.

Shannon on Lahm…

“There’s a couple of players I watched growing up who play in my position and at wing-back – I watched Philipp Lahm for years.

“I really look to Lahm – he’s a great leader at the back. He can attack and defend and he’s a goalscoring wing-back which is a plus in modern day soccer. I’m taking bits and pieces from his game and trying to apply them to my own to get a perfect blend for the NYCFC season.

“I watch some of the younger players coming up too, like Dani Carvajal and Daniel Alves who is one the best in his position who has ever been. I’ve been watching these guys for years now.

“I watched how they go up and down the field and how they attack and how technically sound they are – I learned a lot from these players.”

Philipp Lahm: The Wireless Wonder

Former Bayern Munich teammate Mehmet Scholl first coined the nickname “wireless” for Lahm as he can play anywhere on the field.

The 33-year old has won practically ever honor the game has to offer in Bayern red and Germany white, skippering both sides through some of their most illustrious moments.

After spending much of his career at left-back at the Allianz Arena, he showed his tactical intelligent when Pep Guardiola was in the hot seat, converting to become one of the best defensive midfielders in the world.

Pep described Lahm as “the cleverest player I’ve ever coached” after winning the Bundesliga title three times with the defender.

A one-club man (besides a loan spell at Stuttgart early in his career), Philipp has also been named in the UEFA Team of the Year on five occasions.

Status Update

Although Philipp retired from international soccer after leading Germany to World Cup glory in 2014, he’s still a mainstay in the Bayern Munich team, showing no signs of slowing up his 33^rd year.