The significance of Thomas Muller to Bayern and Germany
Thomas Muller is one of the few homegrown talents to still play for his boyhood club, let’s take a look at his speciality.
Thomas Muller came up through the Bayern youth academy, playing his first senior game for Bayern under Van Gaal, consolidating his place in the side winning the domestic double and played in the Champions League final. At the World Cup in South Africa, Germany ended in third place, and Muller won the Golden Boot with five goals and providing three assists.
Muller got 23 goals in the 2012–13 season helping Bayern win a treble under Heynckes.
At the next World Cup in 2014, he played a vital role in assisting the team win the trophy, scoring five goals and collecting the Silver Ball behind James Rodriguez as the tournament’s second top player, and was also listed in the World Cup All-Star team. The next two seasons he scored more than 20 goals in all competitions with the highest tally of 32 goals in 2015/16.
Since 2016, Muller looked to have lost his touch scoring less than ten goals in the Bundesliga and had a disappointing 2018 World Cup with Germany. The decline in goals led many to conclude he’s no longer the force to be reckoned with, but in reality, he was transitioning to a play-maker.
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What is his role?
Muller has always been that player who makes you wonder what that quality is, which makes him world-class. If you watch the Bayern team in recent weeks, the spotlight will be on the likes of Lewandowski, Alphonso Davies and Kimmich. Tifo Football explains in the best way possible the role he plays.
Muller is known as ‘Raumdeuter’ or Space Interpreter. He has the football intelligence and his movement can draw out defenders from their position enabling the others to move into space and score a goal. There will be games where Muller doesn’t get a goal or assist like against Chelsea, but his performance was integral to Bayern’s success. Muller has reinvented himself as a player. People tend to measure a player’s performance for noticeable output in the match.Top football managers can tell the importance of Muller who uses no pace, power, tricks, or exceptional skills to score goals but reads the game in slow motion. Muller epitomizes the way Bayern plays: dynamic, efficient, and fast-paced football.