David Alaba still plays alongside one of his masters. “Franck Ribéry was one of the players who helped me a lot and who drove me on. I watched him a lot,” recalled the Austrian on Friday in Doha, as well as referencing Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger. “There were quite a few!”
Now, at the age of 25, Alaba sees it as his time to take on the function of a role model at Bayern. “I’m aware that I’m no longer a young talent. I’d like to take on more responsibility and pass on my experience to the young players. That’s my goal,” said the left-back.
“All pulling in the same direction”
Alaba admits he’s not a big talker. “I’m not a player who screams on the pitch. I want to lead through my performance,” he explained. In order to deliver that level of performance, he’s grafting hard with the rest of the squad in Doha. “I want to prepare well and build up the power I need to give 100 percent in the second half of the season.”
With half of the training sessions out of the way, the Austria international is pleased with how the camp’s going. “It’s gone very well so far,” he stated. “Training is intense, it’s hard work but fun. You can see we’re all pulling in the same direction. We’re already excited for the second half of the season.”
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