Thomas Muller has some very large boots to fill with such a name

The name Muller carries massive weight in Bavaria.

‘Der Bomber’ Gerd Muller is a legend at Bayern Munich as his scoring feats are unmatched notching 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga games with the club. His international record is even more impressive with 68 goals in 62 helping Germany to the 1972 European Championship and 1974 World Cup so when the young Thomas Muller emerged he was greeted with a mixed response. Some were excited with the young prospect who shared a name with the legend whereas others refused to be drawn into the hype surrounding the young star claiming a talent like Gerd appears once in a blue moon.

But Thomas Muller is doing his level best to change their minds.

Joining Bayern at the age of 10 Muller made his way through the ranks but made a name for himself at reserve level where in the March 2008, he scored on his debut before missing the remainder of the season through injury. The next season he looked to build on what was an impressive start and duly did so with 15 goals in 32 appearances. That season he also began to get a look in with the first team making his first team debut in August against Hamburg. He was used sparringly that season but took his chance when handed a Champions League debut against Sporting Lisbon scoring Munich’s final goal in a 7-1 thumping.

This season Muller who is no relation to Gerd, has become more involved with the first team and his emergence has been part of the reason Italian Luca Toni has dropped to the reserves. He grabbed a brace as Bayern beat Dortmund and did the same 3 days later in the Champions League against Maccabi Haifa. His performances lead Germany manager Joachim Low to publicly announce that the youngster was in line for a full international debut and the following month he was called into the Germany squad due to face Ivory Coast.

Unfortunately, due to the untimely death of national keeper Robert Enke, Muller never got to play as the game was called off. Under those circumstances it was felt that it was best that Muller did not make his international debut and hes subsequently dropped down to the u21 squad.

Thomas Muller’s creativity means unlike Gerd who was at his best in the box, he can occupy a number of attacking positions. But this is not to say he is not a goal scorer as he also gets on the end of chances too, reminding those who had the priveledge to see him, of Gerd with his excellent in box movement as well as strong shooting.

Bayern Munich general manager Uli Hoeness heaped praise on him earlier in the season stating:

“He has an excellent shooting technique and is not the type of player who hesitates in front of goal, furthermore, he has great vision and knows exactly what is happening around him.”

But as with every young player there is the problem of building up unrealistic expectations and both Piotr Trochowski and Zvejdan Misimovic were touted for big things having come through the Bayern ranks but now ply their trade elsewhere. There is also Toni Kroos, who despite being touted for big things at the Allianz Arena, is now out on loan at Bayer Leverkusen.

But Thomas Muller is steadily building his reputation and taking his chances when Van Gaal hands them to him so if he carries on, Bayern Munich may have finally found a new #10.