Football: emotions, surprises, quality, fun, drama, tradition, suspense; the 3. Liga is all of these things, too. The DFB’s top division is now entering its tenth season and to commemorate its anniversary, DFB.de is reflecting on “Ten years of the 3. Liga”. Today, Thomas Müller speaks about his development in the 3. Liga playing for Bayern München II during the 2008/09 season.
He is a World Cup winner and a Champions League winner. He’s won the Bundesliga six times and the DFB-Pokal four times, but the third division is where it all started. In 2008/09, Thomas Müller scored 15 goals in 32 matches for Bayern München II. One year later, he was the top scorer of the South Africa World Cup and elected the best young player of the tournament… quite a development. In a DFB.de interview, Müller talks about invaluable experiences, the firm hand of Hermann Gerland – and he explains why he is thankful to goal-scoring legend, Gerd Müller.
DFB.de:Mr Müller, what memories do you have of the 3. Liga?
Thomas Müller: Very good memories. The third division was the ideal way for me to get used to the men’s game. The mental fortitude and physicality of the game is completely different to the youth Bundesliga, so it was the exactly the right step in my development.
DFB.de:Was there a particular moment that shaped you as a player during that season?
Müller: There weren’t any stand-out moments. I have always tried to give everything in every match, quite simply because I don’t want to lose, and it was exactly the same in the 3. Liga. Thankfully this attitude worked (laughs).
DFB.de:How far did that season, when you scored 15 goals in 32 matches, contribute to your sporting and personal development?
Müller: It definitely helped me achieve a certain stature amongst my fellow players. It’s not easy to score 15 goals in the 3. Liga as a young player, but it was especially all the game time I got which helped me adapt to the men’s game quickly.
Football: emotions, surprises, quality, fun, drama, tradition, suspense; the 3. Liga is all of these things, too. The DFB’s top division is now entering its tenth season and to commemorate its anniversary, DFB.de is reflecting on “Ten years of the 3. Liga”. Today, Thomas Müller speaks about his development in the 3. Liga playing for Bayern München II during the 2008/09 season.
He is a World Cup winner and a Champions League winner. He’s won the Bundesliga six times and the DFB-Pokal four times, but the third division is where it all started. In 2008/09, Thomas Müller scored 15 goals in 32 matches for Bayern München II. One year later, he was the top scorer of the South Africa World Cup and elected the best young player of the tournament… quite a development. In a DFB.de interview, Müller talks about invaluable experiences, the firm hand of Hermann Gerland – and he explains why he is thankful to goal-scoring legend, Gerd Müller.
DFB.de:Mr Müller, what memories do you have of the 3. Liga?
Thomas Müller: Very good memories. The third division was the ideal way for me to get used to the men’s game. The mental fortitude and physicality of the game is completely different to the youth Bundesliga, so it was the exactly the right step in my development.
DFB.de:Was there a particular moment that shaped you as a player during that season?
Müller: There weren’t any stand-out moments. I have always tried to give everything in every match, quite simply because I don’t want to lose, and it was exactly the same in the 3. Liga. Thankfully this attitude worked (laughs).
DFB.de:How far did that season, when you scored 15 goals in 32 matches, contribute to your sporting and personal development?
Müller: It definitely helped me achieve a certain stature amongst my fellow players. It’s not easy to score 15 goals in the 3. Liga as a young player, but it was especially all the game time I got which helped me adapt to the men’s game quickly.
DFB.de:Your head coach in the second team was Hermann Gerland. How did he help you grow as a player?
Müller: Hermann Gerland demanded a lot from the young players but that was simply his method of integrating you into the team. His had the same goal for every player: he wanted everyone to fulfil their maximum potential as a footballer.
DFB.de:What was the young Thomas Müller’s eye for goal like?
Müller: Fortunately, I already had a certain amount of predatory instinct as a youth player. I was lucky to meet my namesake Gerd Müller when I was playing in the second team and he taught me to play with freedom in front of the goal. I’m really thankful to him for that.
DFB.de:Holger Badstuber and David Alaba were other Bayern München II players who went on to represent the German national team. Is this career path still possible today?
Müller: The pressure of immediate success is so great today that teams spend less and less time integrating academy players into the senior squad. This doesn’t mean the quality in the youth teams isn’t there because it definitely is. Nevertheless, you need the luck to be in the right place at the right time, and of course you need the quality to take the chance when it comes.
DFB.de:München II have been playing in the regional league for six years now. How likely is a return to the third tier? Or does it even matter which league they play in?
Müller: I think promotion to the 3. Liga should be the goal of the team, particularly now as we have such good youth development. I can only speak from my point of view, but I can certainly say that playing in the 3. Liga did me a lot of good.
