Müller: "Enormous appreciation for the past 15 years" | OneFootball

Bayern Munich's Thomas Müller: "A lot of joy and gratitude"

As the clock ticks down on Thomas Müller's glittering career at Bayern Munich, the German football legend sat down with bundesliga.com to try to sum up his time with the club, the current season, different coaches and eras, and Bayern's future without him...

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bundesliga.com: Thomas, 500. A nice round number. I know you footballers aren't crazy about numbers and data, but still, is it just a number, or is it also somehow proof of a life's achievement?

Thomas Müller: "Both. It's a number and of course it's history, looking back and, in the end, lots of great experiences. Especially when you play for Bayern, you have a lot of victories along the way, and so I look back on it all fondly."

Müller enjoyed one of his best spells with Bayern during the Pep Guardiola days. (IMAGO / Bernd König)

bundesliga.com: Let's take a look at the current season. What's it been like? It's not over yet, of course. There were outstanding seasons and a few disappointments in your time. How would you classify this one from a sporting perspective?

Müller: "I think it's a season of new beginnings, in the right direction. You have to admit we've been through various transitional periods, at least that's how it feels. Since Pep Guardiola, no coach-squad combination has really clicked. Sure, you have to acknowledge that with Hansi Flick we had very successful times, but even then, there was some friction between the coach and the club management, so that completely harmonious picture, which we've seen again this season, that unity between team, coach and club, wasn't quite there.

"This season was already a step in that direction, consciously taken by the club. I think the style of play this season has also been more in line with what the management and the fans want to see at Bayern. Straightforward, attacking football, active football. That doesn't mean it's always more successful.

"You shouldn't underestimate the success under Thomas Tuchel last year, especially in the Champions League. We probably didn't win the league only because Leverkusen had a historically great season. And so, I know how to put that into perspective. But still, I think for the club and the squad, it was a good season."

bundesliga.com: One measure is always what we journalists don't get to see, like the dressing room. We have this phrase: 'He has lost the dressing room'. How has the mood in the dressing room been this year?

Müller: "You usually lose the dressing room when things aren't going well. I've never heard of losing the dressing room when you're completely crushing the opponent every weekend. So, from my perspective, you can't look at it in isolation. And even if I had a sense of it, I wouldn't tell you."

bundesliga.com: In terms of how you play football, as you mentioned, what's the style that makes you and the fans happy?

Müller: "We want to play active football, attacking football. We're on the pitch to score goals, to make goals happen. Of course, this season, especially in the Champions League, we lost too many games. Whether it was in the newly structured group phase, the league phase, or recently, of course, the very painful 2-1 loss in the first leg against Inter Milan, which ultimately led to our elimination.

"But still, you can see that approach in the games. We're resilient even after falling behind. I remember a phase, I think it was even in the season under Thomas Tuchel, the last three or four weeks, where we managed, in that crazy final matchday with Jamal's goal, to still win the title when Dortmund collapsed at home. Back then, after falling behind or conceding a goal, we often crumbled. But this year, I can hardly remember it feeling like that.

"Instead, we've always been able to fight back. Whether you're going to win in the end or not, that's the beauty of football, you just don't know beforehand. That's why we love watching and playing it. But we've almost always had a good feeling on the pitch, in terms of resilience."

bundesliga.com: Also, 125 years of Bayern. As a kid, as a fan, as a youth player and now as a legend of the club, what do you make of this anniversary? Does your chest swell with pride when you think about your club?

Müller: "I don't really feel that way, because if I break it down mathematically, I've only been part of a fifth of the club's history. Of course, the last 15 years have been extremely formative with lots of interesting developments at the club.

"Just look at Bayern as a company, the development of world football, the international interest in the Bundesliga, in Bayern and then the evolution to being Champions League contenders. Bayern were always kind of dangerous, but we were never really among the absolute favourites, let's say. Not even back in 2010.

"But with Van Gaal, that real shaping of an era through Schweinsteiger, Lahm, Robben and Ribéry, through the change in playing style, not just signing good players but also introducing a slightly different footballing culture, which Louis van Gaal brought in. Then, of course, with Jupp Heynckes, we were extremely successful, winning the Champions League and the treble in 2013.

"Then with Pep Guardiola, a coach who was there for three years and who, of course, shaped German football, the Bundesliga and the club back then. In those six or seven years, we established ourselves in the European elite, you have to say that. That phase was just incredibly exciting for me as a player.

"On the subject of pride, I'm someone who lives by looking forward rather than looking back too much. Looking back is nice, and then you raise your glass to it and ask, 'What am I doing tomorrow?'"

bundesliga.com: What do you make of the global phenomenon that Bayern has become?

Müller: "I think we have an enormous appeal for people. I can still relate to it as a fan myself. Back then, it was much harder for the club to attract attention worldwide, and for the fans it was much harder to get closer. Today, with the development of social media, smartphones, connectivity and everything that moves faster in terms of communication, the fans, not just regionally but also internationally, are closer to us.

"So, the fascination with Bayern has multiplied, and it's getting faster and I think it's justified as well, when you see which players play here. It's still a spectacle at Säbener Straße. That moves people, and I can understand it well and I think it's good."

bundesliga.com: You're on social media too. I took a closer look and I have two favourite videos.

Müller: "Oh, okay, which ones?"

bundesliga.com: The ones with the rabbits.

Müller: "Okay, yes, there's something for everyone. You try to hit different tastes. Not every shot lands in every direction, but it doesn't have to. But clearly, from my perspective, a Bayern player's job isn't just to score goals or defend. We're also there to make sure people, outside of their work and daily tasks, feel good and have a good time. When you think of Bayern, you want entertainment, relaxation and emotion - and I think we deliver that."

bundesliga.com: Briefly, back to sports, what was the decisive factor in getting the better of Leverkusen this season, especially considering that it was against your ex-teammate Xabi Alonso, who strategically always had something up his sleeve?

Müller: "Overall we did better against the smaller teams. You just have to collect those points, and we dominated them much better this year compared to last year. I don't know the exact points standings, but I think last year's first half of the season was pretty good, maybe even better than this one.

"It's always a bit unfair to put a feeling above what's shown in the standings, but it felt like we had the smaller teams better under control and Leverkusen stumbled a bit here and there this year. Last year, it must be said, if you go the whole season undefeated, you rack up a lot of points.

"It was almost swashbuckling what Leverkusen did last year, especially with those last-minute goals. Honestly, we're among friends here, we were also sitting in front of the TV thinking, 'Finally, a draw, or maybe they'll lose for once,' and then it was stoppage time plus six, and they'd score again. It was maddening viewing."

bundesliga.com: You could win your 13th Bundesliga title this season. No one would have more fingerprints on the trophy than you...

Müller: "It looks good, doesn't it? Sure, taste is also a matter of habit, but my whole life, the championship trophy was always presented to me as something positive and I just took it that way. I won my first title in 2010, and that feeling was immediately confirmed. You're holding something heavy in your hands, and that gives you the sense that it's really not easy to win that thing.

"There's always a lot of work involved, you have to perform over a long period. That's why the satisfaction when you win the Bundesliga trophy. The basic satisfaction, I think, is greater than when you're competing in the Champions League or the cup. Although, to be honest, unfortunately, we haven't had anything to do with the cup for so long that I don't even have a feeling for the DFB Cup anymore. That's a bit of a bitter note."

bundesliga.com: What were your best moments of the season?

Müller: "Mostly on the pitch, of course. We had a very exciting game in Frankfurt. That was one of my first starts, if not the first. It ended 3-3 in the last minute. I had a great interview after the game with Michael Ballack about how much risk you should take in terms of sitting back to defend. Yeah, if it works, it's great, if it doesn't, it's was too much risk."

bundesliga.com: Did Ballack ever step foot in his own box?

Müller: "Who, Ballack? No, but he knew the opponents' one quite well, you have to say."

bundesliga.com: How about the goal against Freiburg?

Müller: "Oh yeah, that was top class, of course, and I think that fits to your question. I think that's when I overtook, not Gerd Müller, but Sepp Maier in the club's all-time appearance record. That could count as a highlight."

bundesliga.com: If you had to say something to the 10-year-old Thomas Müller, what would you say?

Müller: "First, I'd say, 'Hey, how's it going? Everything alright? You look good', and I'd probably say, 'Fancy playing some football? Let's set up a goal and play a bit of one-on-one'."

bundesliga.com: Can you even emotionally imagine what it'll be like when you wear that red jersey for the last time?

Müller: "Yes, I think so. I feel a lot of joy and gratitude. Especially in recent weeks, you can sense something in the stadiums, especially at home games, when I'm subbed on or with my equaliser against Inter Milan. At the last home game against Mainz, when I came on, the people were clearly aware of it. I feel enormous appreciation for the past 15 years or so and that feels good but I'm not super emotional, it's not like something's falling apart for me. I've said in several interviews before, the adrenaline you feel in a football stadium, standing up to that pressure, that task, it's hard to replace, actually impossible to replace. I know that, and it'll probably feel a bit strange on some Saturdays in the first few years after I'm out of the game, but we'll deal with that too. But right now, I'm still in it, and I'm not the type to actively look for negative things in the future that might happen but aren't here yet. If I'm going to feel bad, I'll feel bad in the future - on the day it comes up - and not beforehand."

bundesliga.com: Last one. Can you give me a sentence regarding the Club World Cup?

Müller: "Yeah, we'll win it. The Club World Cup, we're gonna grab it. Fingers crossed!"

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