In an interview with ran football, Bayern Munich and Germany legend Thomas Müller touched on a number of topics, including the prospects of the German national team at the upcoming World Cup. A starter on the 2014 squad that won the tournament in Brazil, Müller gave his take on how national teams prepare for such a massive tournament, and how luck plays a factor.
“I’d say all these peripheral issues, like team accommodations, are ‘nice to have,’ and we try to create the conditions so that everything
just falls into place,” said the 36-year-old. “But as a competitive athlete, you’re also used to performing even when conditions aren’t 100 percent ideal. Still, we’re always capable of winning. You don’t need perfect conditions. But what you do need, of course, is for the team to feel like, ‘We’re on the same page.’ And I do feel that we’re heading in the right direction.”
“Of course, we’ve built up a certain amount of confidence—nine wins in a row don’t go unnoticed,” Müller added. “A lot of people are saying now, after the win against the U.S., that the Americans had two or three big chances. But that’s just part of a soccer game. We had one or two more chances ourselves. And that’s where quality comes in—you just have to finish those chances. But you can’t plan for effectiveness—effectiveness is a sign of the players’ quality and simply how they’re performing on the day.”
“You also need that little bit of luck. If, for example, Jamal Musiala hadn’t hit the post and crossbar against Japan at the 2022 World Cup, but the ball had gone in, we’d have advanced to the next round and wouldn’t have had a disastrous group stage. And that was the case even in 2018, even though we weren’t playing that well and also had problems as a team, struggling to really find that internal cohesion between the 2017 Confederations Cup generation and the 2014 World Cup generation. Jule Brandt came on as a substitute and had two or three great plays, but the ball hit the post.”
After tasting glory in the 2014 World Cup final, it seems that Müller still carries some regrets about ‘what could have been’ in 2018 and 2022. Now, will Germany finally cast off that World Cup funk and return to their usual highs? The players will certainly be trying their best to make it happen.
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
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