When Bayern Munich narrowly edged past VfL Wolfsburg on Vincent Kompany’s Bundesliga debut, one substitution ended up making the difference.
In the 65th minute, the Bavarians were down 2-1 when the coach subbed Thomas Müller on for Sacha Boey. Less than thirty seconds later, Bayern Munich scored off a corner — Harry Kane got his head to the ball, and Jakub Kamiński, who was marking Müller on the set piece, accidentally headed it into the goal. The keeper made a valiant attempt to save it, but it was for naught — even the ball hadn’t made it over the line, Müller was there to secure the tap in. Eventually ruled an own goal by the Wolfsburg defender, the game continued from 2-2.
Eventually, in the 82nd minute, it was Müller again who found a key pass to Harry Kane in space (while being dragged down by the defender as well) — the Englishman laid it off to Serge Gnabry who converted the effort to give Bayern Munich a 3-2 win.
Speaking to kicker after the game, Müller commented on his game-changing cameo. “I would prefer to be able to give that push a bit earlier, said the 35-year-old. “In professional football, there’s no such thing as a role. You have to be ready to give it your all in every game. And the coach decides how much playing time you get. For us players, it’s about constantly recommending ourselves so that the coach can put us in the starting lineup. That’s the game.” (Translation via @iMiaSanMia.)
It’s a diplomatic statement, but gets the point across. Clearly, Müller is not ready to turn into a specialist substitute or coast his way into retirement. He’s here to contribute and the Wolfsburg performance underscores his importance to the team. In fact, if you want to know HOW important he is, you should check out our postgame analysis podcast, where we go in-depth on the lineups and tactics, and why Vincent Kompany can’t ignore the Raumdeuter in the future.
You can listen to it below or on Patreon or Spotify and see if you agree.
We won’t know how Kompany reacts to this statement until next Sunday, when Bayern Munich kicks off against SC Freiburg at the Allianz Arena. If Thomas Müller isn’t on the starting lineup by then, well … let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.
