Life must be strange as Thomas Müller. As an icon of the game and one of the greatest legends in the history of Bayern Munich and having scored two crucial goals in Bayern's DFB Pokal victory over SSV Ulm, he would have been forgiven for being slightly bemused at being benched by new head coach Vincent Kompany for the next two games. After coming off the bench against SC Freiburg to make his record breaking 710th appearance for the club and score a crucial goal, Florian Plettenberg captured Thomas Müller's quotes as the conversation turned from contract discussions on his contract that expires in 2025 to his reduced role in the team: "Let's see what happens. Only the body gets older. I'm fighting against it. It's not about me or contract durations. Everything's easy."
"I'm trying to show the coach that I'm also an option for the starting lineup. But in [Kompany's] defense, I have to say that we have many good options in the attack."
Müller ended his sentence with a smile, because ultimately he knows that he is slowing down and that there are several very good young players vying for his position on the team. But, as he showed today, he still can contribute to the team.
When one brings up his record of 710 competitive appearances or talks of him as a legend or icon, it can sometimes to be easy to forget that there is still room in the present for Müller to build on that legacy. And he will fight to do so as long as his body allows him to.
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