10 Bundesliga titles in a row, 11 in total. Six DFB-Pokal trophies. Seven DFL-Supercup wins. Two Champions League wins, with the UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cups alongside them both. And to top that all off, one 2014 World Cup. Breathtaking honours for perhaps the most underrated player of the modern era.
Thomas Müller is rarely spoken of when compiling a list of the world’s best players, but for a player whose trophies cabinet exceeds that of Bayern Munich’s Der Klassiker rivals Borussia Dortmund, how does his excellence stay under the radar yet he is still an integral orchestrator for Die Roten?
To uncover this misunderstood role of the Raumdeuter, this player analysis will showcase the skill set unique to Thomas Müller that embodies his playing style, illustrating the fundamental principles behind the player.
Raumdeuter – ‘Space Interpreter’
Müller has a very unique role within the Bayern Munich system, sacrificing his defensive responsibilities for playmaking in the final third. Being able to top the number of assists and key passes in the Bundesliga highlights the lethal impact that Müller can have. Utilising his freedom to roam across the pitch to full effect, the German has created his own playstyle.
‘Raumdeuter’ the name of the role Müller came up with himself translates to ‘space interpreter’. Relying heavily on an astute mind and an incredible understanding of tactics, positioning and spaces makes it so unique in football. Müller takes advantage of his astonishing intelligence as he possesses no outstanding physical qualities; he is not known for his speed, dribbling, strength or startling finishing ability.
The name of the role itself provides a fantastic summary of what the German utilises to underpin his movement and positioning on the pitch. The role is widely misunderstood within football as it is a philosophy only manifested by Thomas Müller.
Dissecting the main features of his role, there are four main parts to his game. The first of which is most important for him to get information on the pitch: His scanning.
Scanning
Scanning is a key skill for any position on the pitch, with each role requiring varying scanning demands. For a Raumdeuter, awareness plays a huge part, with it being the only way to find the spaces on the pitch to determine the best positions to occupy. For Müller to be able to find and recognise where the spaces are on the pitch, he must make sure that he has a clear picture of the pitch whenever he receives the ball or moves around the pitch.
Even when the ball is on the opposite wing, Müller is scanning to be able to anticipate the next few passes. Müller is constantly swivelling his head to notice where the vacant spaces are on the pitch which allows Müller to decide where to position himself depending on the position of the ball and the players around him.
In and around the box, Müller thrives from his impeccable scanning. Because of the limited space in the penalty area being able to find a yard of space can be the difference between a shot getting blocked and it hitting the back of the net. Getting assists is what Müller tops the charts in for the Bundesliga with 15 for the 2021/22 season.
Against Wolfsburg Müller used his awareness to full effect. As Sané drove the ball into the box, Müller had a quick check towards the players bunched in front of the goal. Following this scan and with the knowledge that the defensive line of Wolfsburg will drop to cut off Sané, Müller pulled his run to the edge of the box.
Now unmarked, Sané cuts the pass back to Müller. From here, Müller doesn’t need to think about his next pass as he has already determined his next move; to dink the ball for Upamecano to head home.
Scanning on the pitch is very difficult in the centre of the pitch, even for top-level professionals, because of the 360 degrees of the pitch they must look at. To combat this, Müller prefers to drift towards the wide channel, with the increased amount of pitch visible from this zone.
Positioning
Müller’s heatmap highlights his movement towards the right wing as he looks to examine the pitch. When around the entry point for the final third, the wide channel provides lots of space and time on the ball, as well as the opportunity to get a picture of the whole pitch.
The biggest issue for an attacking midfielder situated in the wide channel is the lack of creative spark close to the goal, and it is limited to one side of the pitch. To combat this issue, Müller utilises the half-spaces, finding larger pockets of space in this area between the opposition.
Half-spaces
Operating in the half-spaces is where Müller does most of his work to break down a defence. This is where he can slip in between the opposition shape most easily. The German thrives in these channels of the pitch, having assisted eight from this zone in the Bundesliga — 53% of his league total.
Potentially influenced by Pep Guardiola’s time as Die Roten manager, the half-spaces are the most damaging channel for attacking playmakers to operate within. The potency of this space comes from the increased passing options it provides for the attacker, presenting the opportunity to play down the wing, centrally or dribbling the ball closer to the goal in the half-space.
Defending a player of Müller’s quality in the half-space is very challenging with him situating between the full-back and centre-half, finding himself unmarked frequently during a match.
Müller’s excellence comes from his ability to maximise the gaps in the opposition shape, as he punishes defenders focusing on the ball to slip into free spaces. From the Stuttgart match above, Müller found himself between the defensive and midfield line in a congested area of the pitch. Recognizing the space towards the central channel of the final third, Müller dropped to the blindside of his markers to give himself more room.
After receiving the ball, Müller had the awareness to direct his first touch towards the goal with Lewandowski drawing the attention of the covering defenders. The relationship between his teammates, opposition and spaces is something Müller is masterful at recognising; this is a part of his game very few players share with him.
Against Cologne, Müller once again used movement to open up spaces on the pitch by carrying the ball himself to create passing options. Catching the Cologne defence on the break, Bayern found themselves with a numerical advantage.
However, with three players blocking Müller’s path to goal, he decided to change the space he occupied to create a new picture on the pitch.
Müller decided to dribble the ball centrally to open up space for Musiala on the overlap, forcing the three defenders for Cologne to focus on the German dribbling the ball. The dropping defence of Cologne now left an opening for Müller to slip through Lewandowski in front of goal, along with two other passing options.
Choosing to play the through ball to Lewandowski (the second option), Bayern took a 1-0 lead. This movement is something Müller commonly performs moving within the half-space to create new angles for passes.
Being able to use space so effectively is what makes the Raumdeuter role so difficult to learn because it requires an understanding of tactics, players, teammates and most of all spaces to make split-second decisions.
Using the same skill set, not only does Müller assist goals, but he also scores plenty of goals for the six-time Champions League-winning club. Much like when creating chances, Müller stays one step ahead of his opponents.
Anticipation & Goal Scoring
Picking up the golden boot in the 2010 World Cup and averaging exactly 0.5 goals per 90 in his entire time in the Bundesliga displays the goalscoring side to his game. In the 2021-22 season, the German had the fifth–most shots from open play across Europe’s top five leagues with 58.
Making runs into space to receive the ball is an obvious way for the German to score as this translates well from his playmaking role. In a similar situation to the Lewandowski assist against Cologne, Bayern found themselves in a four versus four on a retreating Union Berlin defence.
Without the ball this time, Müller intelligently made a run towards the open space in the half-space, in the opposite direction to where the ball was travelling. Exploiting the space on the outside of the defenders allowed the Bayern player on the ball to carry it further central to draw in more of the Union Berlin players. With a simple through ball, Müller found himself free with the ball on the edge of the box.
From here, the homegrown Bavarian took his time to slot home what was a spectacular break from Bayern and a goal to add to contribute to his eight for the 2021/22 season. All the skills for a Raumdeuter contribute to his goalscoring ability and are further enhanced in the box when combined with his anticipation and poacher instincts.
The goal scored by the 32-year-old against Wolfsburg encapsulates his anticipation and willingness to get on the end of anything in the box. Being aware that the defender marking him is focused on Gnabry taking his shot, Müller slips off his marker to be situated in front of the goalkeeper completely unmarked.
With the ball dropping straight to his feet, it is just a simple finish for the German but ultimately comes down to work he had already done as he tirelessly chases down second balls in the box with no reward.
Müller can be used as a centre-forward, as he was in his 20-goal Bundesliga campaign. When in attacking midfield, though, he has achieved double figures in six of his 12 full seasons in Munich which is incredible for an attacking midfielder when paired with the consistent chart-topping number of assists.
Summary
Thomas Müller is truly a one-of-a-kind player, possessing the goalscoring ability of a striker and the creative spark of a midfielder. Pulling both of those skill sets together is what has created this role as a ‘Space interpreter’, something is never before seen in football. The German international has taken football intelligence, awareness and movement to a new level in elite football.
When looking at his honours and statistics they display the quality he possesses when on and off the ball. When picking the best-attacking midfielders, he must be high up on the list. Mastering his own unique role the 32-year-old can definitely be put down as a one-club legend and a special individual in the beautiful game.
