Thomas Muller (born 13 September 1989) is a German professional footballer who plays for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the Germany national team. A versatile player, Muller has been deployed in a variety of attacking roles – as an attacking midfielder, second striker, centre forward, and on either wing. Muller has been praised for his positioning, teamwork, stamina, and work-rate, and has shown consistency in both scoring and creating goals. He is regarded as one of the best off-the-ball players of all time due to his positional awareness. Muller holds the record for the most assists given in the Bundesliga, with 152.
A product of Bayern's youth system, Muller has represented the club ever since. He made his first-team breakthrough in the 2009–10 season after Louis van Gaal was appointed as the main coach; he played almost every game as the club won the league and cup double and reached the Champions League final. Muller scored 23 goals in the 2012–13 season as Bayern won a historic treble; the league title, cup and Champions League. He broke the Bundesliga record for assists by providing 21 in a season (a record in the top five leagues jointly held with Lionel Messi in La Liga) and scored 14 goals as Bayern won a second treble in the 2019–20 season.
Muller earned a call-up to the German national team in 2010. At the 2010 World Cup, he scored five goals in six appearances as Germany finished in third place. He was named the Best Young Player of the tournament and won the Golden Boot as the tournament's top scorer, with five goals and three assists. At the 2014 World Cup he played a major role in helping the team win the trophy, scoring five goals and receiving the Silver Ball as the tournament's second-top player and the Silver Boot as the second-top goalscorer, and was also named in the World Cup All-Star XI and in the Dream Team. In 2014, Muller was ranked the fifth-best footballer in the world by The Guardian. Muller is the most decorated German footballer in history, with 32 trophies.
Muller's role can be described as an attacking all-rounder, a versatile player who is able to play in a variety of offensive positions. As he came through the youth system, he was seen primarily as a midfielder, but since breaking into the first-team he has been used in more attacking roles. Bayern Munich usually plays a 4–2–3–1 formation, and Muller is most often part of the three attacking midfielders behind the central striker. He can play in any of the attacking midfield roles but usually plays in the centre for Bayern, but has also played on the right wing, especially for Germany. He has been used in a central attacking role as an out-and-out striker on occasion, or even as a second striker.
Although he lacks physical strength, Muller has been praised for his maturity, technique, awareness, tactical intelligence, and positioning. He has been particularly noted for his composure; former Germany manager Joachim Löw said he is "impervious to pressure" and former Bayern manager Louis van Gaal said he has tremendous mental strength. A consistent scorer and creator of goals, Muller has been lauded in the media for his intelligent movement off the ball and ability to time his attacking runs; he describes himself as a player who can find gaps in the opposition defence but not particularly good at dribbling or one-on-ones. Muller describes this role as Raumdeuter, a term which translates, literally, to "space interpreter" (cf. Traumdeuter, "dream interpreter"). During the 2014 World Cup, Germany manager Joachim Löw stated that Muller "is a very unorthodox player and you can't really predict his lines of running, but he has one aim and that is 'how can I score a goal?'". In addition to his offensive capabilities, Muller has also been praised by pundits for his teamwork, stamina, and defensive work-rate. Former Bayern assistant coach Hermann Gerland gave him the nickname Radio Muller for his loud and frequent comments on the pitch and in the dressing room. |
