Thomas Müller still feels like a fan of the national team. Before what will probably be his last major tournament, the national coach has entrusted him with various special tasks – including grammar lessons.
First a loud bang, then loud laughter. Even before Thomas Müller noisily steps onto the DFB podium, there is a cheerful murmur: Typical Thomas Müller. The best entertainment is guaranteed with him, even if it is caused by a loud noise that is not his fault.
But the Bayern veteran has no desire to play the role of court jester at Blankenhain Castle. “It’s not my job to entertain people. That won’t get us very far,” said the 34-year-old in the vault of the national football team’s media center in Thuringia. “We thrive on everyone being able to contribute as much as possible,” said the tournament veteran.
Müller is of course much more than a mascot at his fourth and, in all sporting probability, last European Championship. He has big plans again and wants to banish his personal European Championship curse (no goal, no title). He is the first player to speak publicly during the preparations. He is the one chosen by Julian Nagelsmann to describe the necessary sporting steps to the coveted title.
“We definitely don’t need to hide, but we also don’t need to act as if everything is coming our way,” says Müller about the current sporting situation two and a half weeks before the opening match against Scotland in Munich. Müller knows that it has to work on June 14th. This “initial spark is important,” he says, it “releases the mental shackles,” predicts the veteran with experience of four World Cups and three European Championships.
Anything but a clown
Nagelsmann has also assigned him this special task in his unusual role script. In a eulogy of compliments, the national coach described him at the squad announcement as a “connector”, a “lubricant”, as someone who can “handle the yodelers and rappers” in the national team equally well.
There is absolutely no doubt that Müller is a leader. That is his nature. He is a happy person. He has a feel for what moves the fans. He still feels like one himself. “There is no alternative but to be over the moon,” is how he describes his feeling when looking at the national team.
He was also the first to go onto the pitch at the public training session in Jena, of course, spurring on his colleagues and cheering on the fans. Even a painful blow to his left knee couldn’t slow him down. He can play the role of the happy uncle who creates a positive atmosphere, but he doesn’t want to lose sight of the sporting component. “I know what I can do. I’m a predictable player. I’ve been doing the same thing for 15 years,” he said, and of course he got laughs again.
Müller pays attention to grammar
Nagelsmann liked how Müller took his young Bayern colleague Aleksandar Pavlovic under his wing when he arrived in Thuringia and introduced him to every DFB employee. The veteran sees a need for education here and there with some of the young professionals in the squad – even if it’s in German grammar. “Every now and then I do remind them to add ‘Der, Die, Das’ to the sentence,” said Müller, who is also amazed by the youth slang. He himself is more of a yodeler than a rapper. But: “You never stop learning.”
Unlike his teammate Toni Kroos, he will probably decide spontaneously after the tournament whether to end his career in the DFB jersey. “I’m not ready to retire yet, but I’m thinking about the tasks that lie ahead of us. We’ll see everything else then.” Müller has scored 45 goals in 128 international matches. With more appearances, he could overtake Lukas Podolski (130/49) in both DFB rankings, who acted as an entertainer in a different way in the later phase of his DFB career.
But Müller has to find his place in the conglomerate of attacking players. Jamal Musiala, Ilkay Gündogan, Florian Wirtz, Kai Havertz, Niclas Füllkrug, Leroy Sané – there is a lot of competition. Nagelsmann has not promised Müller a leading role on the pitch. “He will of course get some playing time, but it won’t always be from the start,” said the national coach.
No European Championship goal yet
The German European Championship history makes it clear how long “Radio Müller” has been “on air”. The last German European Championship game without him was the 2008 final in Vienna against Spain (0:1). The Bavarian was on the pitch in all of the following 15 games in the 2012, 2016 and 2021 tournaments. And – this is also a strange footnote – not only without the title coronation that was successful in all other important competitions from the World Cup to the Champions League, but without scoring a single goal. Ten World Cup goals, zero European Championship goals – it’s not just Müller who finds this record wrong.
What has stuck in my mind in particular is an unexpected omission from the starting eleven before the semi-final loss against Italy in 2012, several shots that hit the post in the group match against Northern Ireland in 2016, which was won 1-0, and the huge missed chance to equalize in the round of 16 (0-2) in England three years ago. The tournament knockout and the end of Joachim Löw’s era as national coach were the result. Müller thinks that this is an unacceptable reduction in order to portray his European Championship suffering in a desired direction. But: “I would like to score a goal if it is conducive to success.”
Source: Stern
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
