What would German football have looked like over the last 15 years without Thomas Müller? What would FC Bayern be without the 34-year-old? And how many titles would he have won? Questions that no one can answer. Müller is here and still at the top – against SC Freiburg he sets a record for eternity.
Thomas Müller has set a record for eternity. When he came on as a substitute in the 59th minute against SC Freiburg on Sunday, he became FC Bayern Munich’s sole record player. Since his debut in 2008, he has now played a total of 710 competitive matches for the record champions. Sepp Maier, the previous record holder, played the last of his 709 competitive matches for FC Bayern on June 9, 1979 – over 45 years ago. The previous week, the 34-year-old had already become FC Bayern’s record player in the Bundesliga with 474 appearances.
“When you play for a club for so long, it comes naturally,” said Maier this week in a double interview with Müller in “Kicker”: “Especially if you are a good player.” That is undisputed. The 80-year-old Maier was one of the greatest German goalkeepers, Müller is a living legend of world football – and one who has also become famous for his club loyalty.
“The path to get there is cool,” said Müller in an interview with “Kicker” this week. “Becoming a record player is not the goal. It’s more about being so consistent at the top level that you can be on the pitch.” That’s exactly what Müller has managed to do, with the exception of his very first season. Back then, he made his debut at the age of 18 on the first matchday of the 2008/2009 season.
When Maradona sent Müller off the pitch
In total, however, he only made five appearances for the professional team in his first year. He scored his first goal in his first brief appearance in the Champions League. Coach Jürgen Klinsmann brought him on for Bastian Schweinsteiger in the 72nd minute of the second leg of the round of 16 against Sporting Lisbon when the score was 4:1. In the 90th minute, the future space interpreter found some space after a corner. He pushed the ball over the line from three meters to make it 7:1.
“Who is that?” asks Maradona, March 3, 2010. Müller is pushed off the podium.
(Photo: picture-alliance / augenklick/GES-Sportfoto)
At the start of his 710th game, he has scored 244 goals and provided 269 assists. But these numbers don’t tell the whole truth about the 2014 world champion. He has reinvented himself time and again – today, his substitutions alone cause so much chaos that the opponents are better at putting the ball in their own goal. That wasn’t always the case.
When Müller’s all-time record was not yet in question, Diego Amando Maradona, Argentina’s national coach at the time, refused to sit next to him at a press conference. It was March 2010. Müller had just made his debut for the DFB team. Maradona did not know him. He was not supposed to sit next to him, the great Diego. Müller sneaked into the front row.
A few months later, Müller & Co. beat Maradona’s Argentina 4-0 in the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Müller scored the first goal. “I was able to remind people a little bit of myself today,” he said with a grin after the game.
Müller was on the verge of a change three times
This is how he conquered the football world – as the top scorer at the World Cup and as a “space interpreter”, as a world champion and then as “Radio Müller” and always as a player for FC Bayern. The term “space interpreter” even found its way into the English football language. His loud appearances as Radio Müller in the deserted stadiums of the pandemic led Bayern to an overwhelming title year in 2020 with the championship, DFB Cup, Champions League, national and European Supercup and ultimately the Club World Cup. Just a few months earlier, in autumn 2019, Müller was at a crossroads in his Bayern career.
In the 1:5 defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt on November 2, 2019, they were outnumbered. Müller started, Bayern lost and Kovac left.
(Photo: picture Alliance / augenklick/firo Sportphoto)
He had lost his place in the starting eleven under coach Niko Kovač. “If there is a need, he will certainly get his minutes,” said the Croat from Berlin. “I spoke to the club management and felt that I was too ambitious for the role of reserve,” he said recently. “Back then, I would have been open to a little less loyalty to the club.” But then Kovac left, Hansi Flick came and then the pandemic and Müller went into the next phase of his career, which should bring him back to the national team by the summer.
Before the autumn of 2019, Müller had already flirted with a move in 2015 and also in his first season. But in 2015, Bayern did not want him to move to Manchester to be with his mentor Louis van Gaal. In the winter of 2008/2009, a move to TSG Hoffenheim fell through. The then coach Ralf Rangnick really wanted him there. But that did not happen. He stayed at FC Bayern.
The podium also beckons in the Champions League
“The basis is the will to be able to deal with the downsides, the love of the game. Love not in the romantic sense, but being able and willing to suffer for your own performance. Some people have that more than others,” says Müller about his path to the record: “It’s about being self-critical without losing self-confidence. Treating yourself well is crucial. The absolute top players manage to criticize themselves harshly and to hone things without doubting their ability.”
Almost a hero in the 2012 home final. Müller scores the 1-0 against Chelsea.
(Photo: picture Alliance / augenklick/firo Sportphoto)
A total of twelve championship titles, two triumphs each in the Champions League and the Club World Cup, and six DFB Cup victories are on Müller’s letterhead. His contract with FC Bayern ends at the end of the 2024/2025 season. For the first time since 2012, the Champions League final will be held in Munich. Back then, FC Bayern suffered an unfortunate loss to Chelsea. Müller scored the 1-0 in the 83rd minute, Chelsea unexpectedly equalized in the 88th minute through Didier Drogba and later won on penalties. This defeat laid the foundation for the 2013 victory and FC Bayern’s dominance in the Bundesliga that lasted for over a decade.
In the season that has just begun, the “Finale Dahoam” is a great incentive for Müller and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who both played on the pitch in 2012. If Bayern manage to reach the final again this season, Müller could also climb onto the podium of the record players in the Champions League. With 151 appearances in the premier class, he is twelve times behind Lionel Messi, who has currently played the third most games in the Champions League.
In future only one QR code
It is unclear whether Müller, who turns 35 this month, will continue his career beyond the end of the 2024/2025 season. He has been the sole record holder since September 1, 2024. “We live in such modern times, our successful generation does not need statues. There will probably be a file, a cloud or a QR code for us at some point,” he told “Kicker” about a possible monument in front of the Allianz Arena.
If all games or even just all goals and goal involvements are saved on this QR code, the only thing that can help the Müller phenomenon is a power bank. But until you only see him as a memory on your smartphone, enjoy Thomas Müller while he’s still playing. There are simply no players like him anymore.
