2023-05-14 14:13:36
Thomas Müller has a lot to say after beating Schalke 6-0: on his own behalf, on the visit to Oliver Kahn’s office and on the outcome of the title fight. His coach clarifies and senses a Bayern development.
They still exist, the “Thomas Müller games” at FC Bayern. After the clear championship fight statement in the 6-0 win against defenseless Schalke, there was also a big “Thomas Müller talk show” in the catacombs of the Allianz Arena.
There were many clear statements from the 33-year-old: about his role at Bayern, about alleged thoughts of a change and of course about the continued close title race with Borussia Dortmund.
Confidence in the title race
“I feel that we’re going to get this thing,” said Müller even before Dortmund were able to counter the Munich goal gala with a 5-2 win over Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga on Saturday evening. Above all, Müller looks at his own performance.
“The trend is right. We made a small development in the last few games. It was a little party today. And I’m convinced that we’ll win the last two games – and then hammas,” said the original Bavarian, the one that shone the most among all the beaming Munich professionals.
Again in the “Müller role”
On Saturday everything went well for the captain, who is personally aiming for his twelfth German championship, the eleventh in a row. After two games on the bench, he led the Bayern team back onto the field as captain and scored the 144th Bundesliga goal to make it 1-0, which was so important as a “can opener”, as he proudly pointed out after 90 minutes: “Today it was a Thomas Müller game as I imagine it.”
And as Thomas Tuchel obviously imagines. For weeks, the trainer has had to moderate the “Thomas Müller Games” topic that he created himself. “It’s not worth opening the big barrel every time,” said the Bayern coach, who tried to clarify: “Part of the whole story is that Thomas has been struggling with aches and pains for the past few weeks and has never been completely pain-free. He has suspended training sessions .”
Mueller remains important. “Thomas is now playing for his 12th championship and has what it takes. He has the necessary flexibility, he has the experience. But he also has the absolute bite to put on the twelfth medal. The mix is right.”
Bayern President Herbert Hainer even declared Müller “indispensable” after his Schalke appearance, to which Tuchel commented: “If the president says that, then the coach doesn’t contradict.” And yet not every Bayern game will have to be a Thomas Müller game in the future. There will always be “hard decisions”, announced Tuchel.
Commitment to the Bavarians
It is striking that with Müller on the pitch, Bayern scored 18:6 goals in the ten games under Tuchel, without Müller 1:7. Müller did not want to verbally fuel this statistic, preferring to describe himself as a loyal team player who accepts the coach’s decisions and tries to fulfill the role intended for him. “It’s not a one-man show here. Football has always been a team sport, I’ve always lived by that credo.”
What really annoyed him were reports that suggested “I feel like I’m already sitting at the negotiating table with I don’t know which clubs.” That was “already cheese”, “Phantasialand”. He has “stomach ache” when media reports are written “as if they were my feelings, my thoughts”.
“My heart is redder than red,” said Müller. He rated an exchange with the Bayern bosses in the office of CEO Oliver Kahn as support and appreciation. “I felt that this conversation was a reaction from FC Bayern to support me because there was some outrageous speculation,” said Müller.
With a broad chest in the final sprint
The exciting topic of the week has been cleared and calmed down for now. Meanwhile, the Bayern-BVB duel for the championship trophy is entering the ultimate phase. And not only Müller has a good feeling after three wins in a row. “We’re improving, that’s good,” said Tuchel, whose work is beginning to take effect. “You can see that things are coming back, self-image is coming back that was buried.” A prime example of this is national player Serge Gnabry, who just filled the gap in the Munich striker and scored twice. “Nothing is as important for a striker as goals,” said Tuchel.
Gnabry scored four goals in Bayern’s last three victories. Penalties Joshua Kimmich, Mathys Tel and Noussair Mazraoui also scored against Schalke. With a broader chest again, Bayern are going into the final championship acts against RB Leipzig and in Cologne, but without “complete euphoria”, as Tuchel emphasized: “We have gained a lot of self-confidence. We have scored a lot of goals. But we have no reason to make the preliminary decision to exclaim.” (dpa)
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