Thomas Muller’s Brilliance Continues But Winter Break Is Welcomed

A myriad of words have been used to describe Thomas Muller throughout his intriguing and successful career.

Some highlight his remarkable and consistent productivity, others are less flattering and the man himself has even taken to inventing new terms to quantify his playing style. Bayern Munich manager Hansi Flick threw another one onto the pile after the top of the table clash with Bayer Leverkusen: ‘irreplaceable’.

Muller clocked up his seventh league assist of the season already, laying on the equaliser as Bayern leapfrogged their opponents Bayer Leverkusen with a 2-1 win which propelled the Bavarians to the top of the league.

Only Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane has more assists in Europe’s top five leagues this season.

Naturally, Robert Lewandowski was the grateful recipient of Muller's cross on the cusp of half-time on Saturday, tempting Leverkusen's goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky and centre-back Jonathan Tah towards the arcing ball which evaded them both, leaving an empty net for the Pole to hit.

Since the start of last season, Muller has laid on 11 league goals for Lewandowski - a quarter of the non-penalty Bundesliga goals the world's best player has scored in this time frame.

For a player who last season broke the Bundesliga record for assists with a staggering 21, Muller is doing an impressive job of living up to that frankly ludicrous output. Only La Liga’s Lionel Messi - who, incidentally, also racked up that tally last term - can match such an insidious assist figure across Europe’s top five leagues since such records began

However, it has been Muller’s off-ball actions which have echoed the general (and relative) dip at Bayern this term.

Following the weekend’s fixture, Bayern’s executive chairman Karl-Heinze Rummenigge, in the act of criticising Leroy Sane by praising Muller, told Sport1 (via The Athletic): “Leroy has been blessed with unbelievable talent but he hasn’t absorbed Bayern DNA. [Unlike] Thomas Muller, yesterday’s hero for me. He isn’t blessed with the same talent as Leroy but he ran up and down [tirelessly].”

As impressive as it is to see Muller bound about the pitch in the final game of a year of densely packed schedules, the sheer amount of running the 31-year-old undertakes isn't nearly as important as how those runs affect the match.

Flick’s rejuvenation of Bayern, leading them to five trophies after taking over mid-season, was built upon the foundations of a continent-leading high press. Muller, reintegrated back into the fold after Niko Kovac tossed him aside, played the role of disruptor-in-chief.

Charging around the pitch, propelled by limbs that look slightly too long, Muller ranked among the elite in Europe at winning the ball back for his side by applying pressure. Last season, only seven players who featured for more than 900 minutes in one of Europe’s top five leagues averaged more successful pressures than Muller (according to FBRef). This campaign, the self-depicted Raumdeuter has gone from almost nine successful pressures per game to 5.7.

The overall intensity of Die Roten's off-ball activity may be similar to last season, but the Bavarians are less aggressive in their press high up the pitch. Last season Bayern were pressuring more than half the touches opponents had in their final third, that figure has dropped to a little over 40% this term.

All things are relative. Bayern, and Muller, are still elite pressing outfits. However, like a delicately configured machine, this slight dip in proactivity has a knock-on effect and may have partially contributed to the side's surprisingly porous defence in recent weeks - Bayern have gone from conceding 0.7 goals per league game under Flick last season to 1.5 this term.

Yet, as that late Lewandowski winner against Leverkusen brought 2020 to a close for Bayern, they still sat atop the table. A merciful, if shortened, winter break will provide the entire Bayern squad, Muller chief among them, with some well-earned rest ahead of the fixture crush leading up to the Euros - not that Muller has to worry about those, if they do go ahead.

With fresh legs, and a drive that has scarcely faltered, Muller dexterity and industry makes him more than worthy of the 'irreplaceable' tag.