Saturday was probably a day to Thomas Müller’s taste. “Radio Müller” was allowed to broadcast on all channels. At lunchtime he gave a lecture at the DFB press conference, then he served the television stations, which refined their sports broadcasts with his words. In a press release, “Magenta TV” paid tribute not only to the detailed analysis of the state of the nation, but also to Müller’s sovereign reaction to the frog hidden in the nearby pond, who croaked in an ambush and interrupted his remarks. Whereupon he simply laughed at the frog, of course respectfully and with respect for the creature. Müller and the croaking frog may even have something in common, although frogs rarely talk about football in such a thoughtful and subtle way as Müller regularly does now.
At the beginning of the week, the country had heard confused that the 31-year-old Bayern professional had suffered an injury. Müller injured, that’s actually not possible, this player and his sport are almost inextricably linked, there is no fish that drowns in water. Nevertheless, the DFB insisted on its portrayal of a capsule injury. This usually manifests itself in pain, warmth and swelling and can require the patient to recover at least six weeks. But Müller was back on the pitch two days later in the 2-2 draw against Hungary, and on Saturday he announced after the morning session that the matter was over and that “we can put the capsule injury away”. Müller didn’t say whether the doctor sees it that way, but that doesn’t matter after he made the findings himself.
If he wanted, he could set it up, the Munich coach informed the national coach, and it can be assumed that Jogi Löw will be happy to make use of this permit. He can use the clever competitor Müller well against the English team, who have not been particularly charismatic up to now, but are professionally trained and difficult to defeat.
“The 2: 2 has nothing to do with the round of 16”
Still under the impression of horror on Wednesday evening, the German players and the national coach expressed their joy that the reward for getting ahead was a trip to London including a visit to the legendary Wembley Stadium. Even the ambitious person Joshua Kimmich forgot his anger at the inadequacies and expressed awesome joy, although he only knows the old stories about the sanctuary of English football from books and TV documentaries. “I’m really looking forward to playing at Wembley”, Serge Gnabry continued the eulogies on Saturday, and Thomas Müller also liked to think about the English national stadium, where he played in the 2013 Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund guaranteed unforgettable memories. “We in the football business basically try to cling to things that have been successful,” he explained, but he also stated that because of this, the opponent would not give him “a single meter of additional space”.
When trying to understand the troubled course of the game against Hungary, however, Müller considers a look at history to be helpful. There are games like this even for the most successful teams in every tournament, he referred to the reigning European champions Portugal (who only won the first game of regular time in the semifinals in 2016) and to the former world champion Germany, who played in Porto Alegre in 2014 had to survive the nerve-wracking round of 16 against Algeria. That is “such a wishful thought” in this country, “that your own team acts convincingly in every game and totally dominates the opponent – but that doesn’t work, especially not in today’s world. Even the small opponents can hold back in most games.” Sure, they had “hoped for more than a really close 2-2 against Hungary – but the good thing is that it has nothing to do with the round of 16. Close results are part of it. Critical analysis, yes – but still we always move forward.”
Müller has already dealt with the use of forward gear in the next game. Contrary to his nature as an offensive player, from the experience of 1000 football battles, he pleads for a style that puts safety first. “What made it look bad against Hungary were the goals we conceded. That will also be the deciding factor against England: That we don’t concede a goal,” he said. The defensive order seems to cause him concern, his preliminary tournament conclusion is not a compliment to the goal prevention department: “What is striking is that we are rarely outnumbered when we conceded, but had enough players behind the ball.”
The knockout mode of the round of 16 require a different competitive behavior, radio Müller radioed, a certain urge to broadcast may be assumed. In the end it was “too seldom managed to keep the zero,” he thinks, “we have to keep the English offensive under control as much as possible. Maybe then we only have one or two chances to score, that can be so, they have to we then use – or we go into overtime with 0-0. It is also possible to win a game by a narrow margin, that’s no shame. “
One can understand these words as a plea. Addressed not only to the always impatient football nation, but also to colleagues and the national coach. The message is: Wembley is beautiful – but winning is better.