The Athletic – Thomas Muller: The Eternal Raumdeuter

When it came time for Thomas Muller to make history, he celebrated the moment as only Thomas Muller could. On as a substitute to make his 710th appearance for Bayern Munich, the most in the club’s history, he dragged a cross down out of the sky with his first touch and then, with his second, thumped his shot high into the Freiburg net off the goalkeeper’s shoulder.

How many players have been different enough to create their own role?

“It is difficult to compare your style with that of another player. Do you know one?” Burkert asked “No,” Muller replied, “I’m quite unique. There are dribblers who have some similarities and some strikers, too, but what am I?” “Yes, so what is Muller?” “Hm. Tja, was bin ich? Raumdeuter? Ja, ich bin ein Raumdeuter. Das wäre doch eine gute Überschrift, oder?”

When Muller broke into the international consciousness with two goals against England at the 2010 World Cup, he used his post-match interview to smile goofily into the camera and say hello to his grandparents back home. He was a young boy on top of the world and, it seemed at the time, that was a quick glimpse of his humanity before a trained facade obscured it for good.

To some, Muller is a ferocious player — defined by his will to compete and win. Watching him now, applying himself in the same way that he did before he won everything football had to offer, there is no question that he has, to some extent, remained at the top of the sport by sheer force of will. By luck, too, because he has evaded serious injury and rarely been unavailable.

“Thomas Muller is Thomas Muller. Sometimes, you see players play a role — you see them perform for the cameras — but Thomas doesn’t do that. He never has. He doesn’t have those insecurities and he is not an actor.