The year 2017 has been a year of ups and downs for Bayern Munich. Bundesliga champions, but eliminated from the Champions League. Crisis and dismissal of Carlo Ancelotti, resurgence under Jupp Heynckes.
In an exclusive interview, Thomas Müller spoke with Goal about various topics regarding the team and his career heading into 2018:
Defeats in Champions League and Cup in 2016-17
"We played decently last season and were unlucky against Real Madrid in the Champions League. Our pre-game conditions were not the best as we lost some players due to injuries. They played, but they were not in their best form. However, we forced extra time. Not many teams manage to win 2-1 in Madrid after 90 minutes. The first two goals in extra time were offside. It was really bitter for us."
"Then we were defeated by Borussia Dortmund in the DFB-Pokal, even though we had them under control like few times before. We had to score 3-1 and 4-1 but we lost 2-3. That fit into that tough week. However, it wasn't that we played bad football. We won the German championship with a 15-point lead. It wasn't a brilliant season overall, but we had little luck."
Müller's year in 2017
"It wasn't perfect, for sure. Especially in the spring, I didn't play the role I wanted to play. However, I played quite decently in the second half of the season. I didn't score too many goals, but I had assists. I scored 20 times the previous season, this time it has been 15 assists. I don't define myself only by goals, but also by my value to the team."
What happened between winning the Bundesliga and Ancelotti's dismissal
"The preseason wasn't easy. We didn't find our rhythm and didn't play the football we wanted to play. That worked until the start of the season and then the club reacted after the 3-0 defeat in Paris. But even in Paris, we didn't play bad football."
The arrival of Jupp Heynckes
"It was a shock for the team. With the change of coach, the responsibility fell on the team. We made individual mistakes, where even the best tactics in the world don't help. Jupp Heynckes managed with his experience and instinctive feeling that we became a unit on the field. We won three times in a row by 1-0 without dominating the opponents. So, there is clearly room for improvement. In big games, we have to give our best."
The crazy first half of 2017-18
"It was a tumultuous first half of the season, no doubt. If you see the process, it was extreme. Borussia Dortmund really swept in the first games, while we had problems. We were five points behind. With the change of coach, we started winning consistently, while Dortmund didn't win for weeks. That was crazy and probably only exists in football. Sure, we didn't think in September that we would go into the winter break with an eleven-point lead."
The special second game against PSG
"In Paris, we lost 3-0 and it became a big scandal. Then we won 3-1 and it became a big scandal again. It's a shame that football only focuses on the result and the coverage became extreme in both directions. I can tell you a story about this. One site mistakenly published two articles after the U21 final that we won: one was a complete farewell to German youth and the other lavish praise. That's a joke. So, you see that the content that is presented to the fans is often far from football reality. Sure, we know that the result counts in the end. But I can't understand that the course of the game is often completely ignored."
His goals in 2018
"I want to have as much fun as possible. There are great opportunities, with Bayern and with the German national team. If you see that we were five points behind in the Bundesliga, now we are in a quite good situation. We have to be good at the start of the second half of the season to show that we are there and we won't stop. I'm excited for the titles and I will give everything I have together with my teammates to have a bit of luck this time.