Weekend Warm-up: Is Thomas Müller going to stick around at Bayern Munich for a lesser role next season?; Lamen…

Despite statistics pointing to the contrary, Thomas Müller’s importance to Bayern Munich seems to be dwindling in the eyes of manager Julian Nagelsmann.

No longer a starter and without much hope of finding a big role in the squad for the foreseeable future (barring injuries), Müller’s status as a club legend appears to be the only important position he has these days.

Even if the team appears to play better with the veteran on the pitch, Nagelsmann has a host of players who currently sit above Müller on the attacking pecking order including Jamal Musiala, Kingsley Coman, Leroy Sané, Sadio Mané, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, and Serge Gnabry.

Borussia Mönchengladbach v FC Bayern München - Bundesliga

Knowing this, do you think Müller will stick around to be a deep option off of the bench for the 2023/24 season? Does it even matter at this point if he is not formally in the plans?

Nagelsmann (with full backing from his bosses) has seemingly turned the page on the “Müller Era” and even if the coach’s handling of the situation has been ham-handed at best, Müller has to be feeling very similar to how be felt during the coaching tenures of both Carlo Ancelotti and Niko Kovac, who both had no idea how to use the Raumdeuter.

Nagelsmann seems to have moved on from Müller and is looking at the immediate future as a phase being led by other players. Just last week, we explored how the club is undergoing a generational shift and how that has left some fans feeling the pain of what is amounting to a very quick change.

For many in the #MüllerMafia (for the record, I have never sought induction into this, nor has the group has ever opened the books for me to take the blood oath), this has been a steady lesson in the cruelty of sports. For Müller himself, this has to be extremely frustrating despite his stoic and understanding public face.

Nagelsmann admitted as much during his press conference this morning (as captured by @iMiaSanMia).

“Thomas is a very experienced player, he was told why the decision (against Gladbach) was made. I spoke to him for a long time, of course he was not happy. But he’s very professional. He will start on Sunday. He’s a very important player,” the manager remarked.

Like it or not, though, the veteran is going to have to make a tough assessment on whether or not he wants to spend the final potentially productive years of his career sitting behind some other less-impactful players.

Moreover, no matter what he says publicly, this all can’t be sitting well with Müller. He still seems to have that fire to be a contributor and does not seem ready to accept relegation to the bench — even for a club he loves.

Still, it is hard to imagine Müller suiting up for another team in Germany or even making the move another European power in another league. Müller’s game and playing style is not exactly plug-and-play material. It would take the right coach, the right cast of teammates, and the right team environment for it all to work. Knowing that, a jaunt over to MLS does not even seem all that realistic.

So what do you think? Will Müller be back next season — or will he take a look at the football landscape this summer to see if there is a better fit for him elsewhere?

Poll

Will Thomas Müller be on Bayern Munich’s roster for 2023/24?

This poll is closed

29%
Yes — he’s a club legend and is not going anywhere even if he sits on the bench.
(149 votes)
52%
Yes — he still has a role to play on this team.
(271 votes)
6%
Yes — it would be a bad look for both sides if he leaves.
(33 votes)
2%
No — he can still play and he will look to find a place to do just that.
(14 votes)
5%
No — he will not accept a permanent benching from this coach no matter how much he loves the club.
(26 votes)
3%
No — the player and the club will work out a mutually beneficial exit plan for him.
(20 votes)

513 votes total

Vote Now

Bavarian Podcast Works: Weekend Warm-up Podcast Season 2, Episode 33

If you want storylines, Bayern Munich has those in bunches.

The club is embroiled in a crazy title race and also came out with some extremely strong public support for its manager to continue to be its leader for the foreseeable future.

Those two topics generated a lot of buzz these week, plus we heard a couple of juicy transfer rumors, which always make for good conversation.

Check out what we on tap for the Weekend Warm-up Podcast’s latest edition:

The Julian Nagelsmann Era is in full force and won’t be be derailed.
Neymar’s injury and the impact it will have on Paris Saint-Germain’s chances against Bayern Munich.
A contract extension for Benjamin Pavard?
Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona all competing for Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz? Or will Bayern make a move for Napoli’s Victor Osimhen.
Thoughts on the latest episode of The Last of Us.

Song of the Week: “Pages” by White Reaper

I recently got turned on to this tune from White Reaper, which was released in 2022…and I am digging it.

White Reaper is an interesting group — partly because the name makes it sound like the band should be playing Death Metal. Whatever the case, they always seem to deliver. Just about everything I hear from them is solid.

Check it out and let me know what you think:

Entertainment Rundown

The Last of Us

This episode packed a punch, eh? Let’s get to it:

There was some ominous foreshadowing of a health issue for Joel and — let’s skip to the most key part of the episode, then jump back — he ends up catching a splintered baseball bat handle in the gut. The unfortunate (and unplanned) stabbing sees Joel end the show bleeding out in the snow. Does he die? The ominous ending to the episode definitely wants us to believe that.
I don’t believe Joel dies — even if the preview for next week solely focused on Ellie’s next adventure. Again, I’m purposely not trying to find out anything about the video game story, but it seems like a massive red herring. If Joel does pass away, it feels a little early to go that route.
We got a lot of great character interaction with Joel and Ellie in this new environment when the duo is discovered by Tommy’s new community. Some of the best was when Ellie overhead Joel trying to convince Tommy to take Ellie on the next part of this journey because he was “too old” to make the journey.
The trek to the University of Eastern Colorado was surprisingly smooth until the duo actually got there to find it empty. There were no Fireflies there (they seem to have left in a hurry), just a group of raiders who attacked them (which leads to that scenario we saw in the opening bullet of this section).
Overall, I thought it was a great episode. We saw Joel and Ellie reach their destination, Joel reunited with Tommy (who has a wife — Tara from True Blood aka Rutina Wesley) and a child on the way in what looks like a very stable and safe community. However, there is some doubt about exactly what happens when someone does discover that community. Anyway, it was an episode built on character development, more high-level diving into Joel’s past, and some terrific action. It was a very solid episode to say the least.

Mindhunter

I think we all knew this was coming, but David Fincher confirmed that Mindhunter is dead.

Netflix’s fictionalized look at the FBI’s first unit focused on serial killers has been slain and it is a damn shame. The show was absolutely fantastic and offered terrific acting, good storylines, and a great juxtaposition of several short-terms stories wrapped within one overarching grand plot (solving the BTK case) was really awesome:

Networks often make terrible decisions and this is one of them. Instead of flooding viewers with contrived garbage like Ginny & Georgia, Outer Banks, or any of the other hundreds of useless shows it has on its roster, we lose a great show like Mindhunter.

It would have been great to watch the series play out, but that ship has apparently sailed.

Bavarian Podcast Works: Preview Show — Bayern Munich vs. Union Berlin

A title race in the Bundesliga?

Yup, that is exactly what we have and when Bayern Munich and Union Berlin square off this weekend, two of the three league leaders will do battle in a match that will have major championship implications.

Let’s take a look at what we have on tap for this episode:

A look at where each team is in the Bundesliga table and what their current run of form is.
Examining the fighting spirit of Union Berlin and why the match up is not as absurd as it might appear to be on paper.
A look at Bayern Munich’s potential starting XI and why Julian Nagelsmann is like to leave some fan favorites on the bench once again.
A prediction on the match.

Predictions

Bayern Munich vs. Union Berlin does not look like the logical matchup to potentially determine the Bundesliga title race, but here we are.

Bayern Munich has been very good (not great) in the league this season, which has led to enough draws to make things interesting. As for Union Berlin, they just keep scrapping and clawing their way to Bundesliga points (they have more wins than Bayern!).

This match, however, represents a chance for Bayern Munich to “right the ship” and gain back a good portion of the control needed to win the league — and I think they will.

Julian Nagelsmann’s lineup decision are always at the forefront of fan discussion and the manager has been very unpredictable during his tenure in Bavaria. This starting XI selection will be heavily scrutinized if it somehow fails and the bossman could find himself firmly in the crosshairs of some vocal members of the media — and fanbase — once more if he fails here.

The good thing for Nagelsmann, however, is that Bayern Munich is going to win this match.

Prediction: Bayern Munich 3-1 Union Berlin

Other Bundesliga Match Day 22 predictions include: