After going three matches in a row without a win, FC Bayern celebrated victory once again on Wednesday evening. World champion Thomas Müller put his team on the road to victory with his goal in the 4-1 win over PSV Eindhoven. The striker spoke after the match about the pressure on the team beforehand, his team’s form and his goal to open the scoring.
Interviewer: Mr. Müller, a 4-1 victory after three winless matches – what has it been like over the past few days?
Thomas Müller: You simply try to put each game behind you. We were very determined right from the start. Of course it is better to be playing at home and we also all made sure we did our own jobs properly so it worked very well, but we have some tough games coming up. Mönchengladbach come to Munich on Saturday – it certainly won’t be boring.
Interviewer: How much pressure was there against Eindhoven?
Müller: When you look at the table, anything other than a win would have made life difficult for us. As a result we are very happy. It was a convincing victory which is what we wanted. Now we need to build upon that because the table looks good for us in the Bundesliga but our opponents are right on our heels. And of course we weren’t happy with the draws we’ve had in our last couple of games.
Interviewer: Did the match feel particularly special after the team’s recent dip in form?
Müller: There will always be games that you come away from feeling unsatisfied and you have to show a reaction to it. That is always going to happen at some point when you play 50 matches in a season. You can’t win every game 4-0. We were frank with each other and said that we all need to look at ourselves to see what is going wrong and to question if we are putting in 100%. We have to always give it everything and never stop working in a match. This time we did that very well. Now it depends how we get on in our next few games. We’ve been taught a lesson and now we have to learn from that. Mentally we need to stay sharp and tactically work together as a team. We’ve got to make sure we do all of that in our next game.
Interviewer: The latest criticism from the players shows how high the team set their standards, doesn’t it?
After going three matches in a row without a win, FC Bayern celebrated victory once again on Wednesday evening. World champion Thomas Müller put his team on the road to victory with his goal in the 4-1 win over PSV Eindhoven. The striker spoke after the match about the pressure on the team beforehand, his team’s form and his goal to open the scoring.
Interviewer: Mr. Müller, a 4-1 victory after three winless matches – what has it been like over the past few days?
Thomas Müller: You simply try to put each game behind you. We were very determined right from the start. Of course it is better to be playing at home and we also all made sure we did our own jobs properly so it worked very well, but we have some tough games coming up. Mönchengladbach come to Munich on Saturday – it certainly won’t be boring.
Interviewer: How much pressure was there against Eindhoven?
Müller: When you look at the table, anything other than a win would have made life difficult for us. As a result we are very happy. It was a convincing victory which is what we wanted. Now we need to build upon that because the table looks good for us in the Bundesliga but our opponents are right on our heels. And of course we weren’t happy with the draws we’ve had in our last couple of games.
Interviewer: Did the match feel particularly special after the team’s recent dip in form?
Müller: There will always be games that you come away from feeling unsatisfied and you have to show a reaction to it. That is always going to happen at some point when you play 50 matches in a season. You can’t win every game 4-0. We were frank with each other and said that we all need to look at ourselves to see what is going wrong and to question if we are putting in 100%. We have to always give it everything and never stop working in a match. This time we did that very well. Now it depends how we get on in our next few games. We’ve been taught a lesson and now we have to learn from that. Mentally we need to stay sharp and tactically work together as a team. We’ve got to make sure we do all of that in our next game.
Interviewer: The latest criticism from the players shows how high the team set their standards, doesn’t it?
Müller: It’s not a negative thing. We also kept emphasizing that we are a great team, not just in terms of football but also the characters in the squad. We all really want to win and are so hungry for success – we’ve got to have that feeling whenever and however often we play.
Interviewer: How did you find it playing on the left?
Müller: It doesn’t really make a difference to me. The main thing for me is to find the space where I can be dangerous and that has always been making runs and getting into gaps. It’s no secret and there is nothing particularly special about it. On this occasion it worked really well and I will keep trying to get better at it.
Interviewer: It was a short corner once again that led to your goal.
Müller: We’ll see how long that works for. I’ve got nothing against it if it continues to be effective. It is not a pre-rehearsed trick or anything, but rather something spontaneous if the opposition leaves the space open there. It’s about reacting fast. Arjen Robben quickly turned and I was there to put it in. It’s always great when you are able to surprise the opposition. But a goal is a goal. For a goalscorer, it doesn’t matter how it goes in.
Interviewer: Does that speed of thinking represent a marked improvement in the side?
Müller: Of course we were already very motivated and really wanted to win on Saturday (2-2 draw against Frankfurt). However this time everything clearly worked a lot better. That is mainly down to the fact that our build-up play was a lot more secure. Maybe the opponent also played a part in it. We’ll take all of this into the next game but it won’t come about on its own, we have to keep putting the work in.
