Tuesday, September 14, 2021
The birth of a world star?
The “new Neymar” does magic at Bayern
He is only 18 years old, but long-time national players are already taking him as a role model. Jamal Musiala is the shooting star of German football. His performances on the square make the toughest critics rave about. Will he be Germany’s next world star?
Actually, said Thomas Müller, he was “just Jamal’s placeholder”. That was aimed at the interview situation in which Müller represented his colleague Musiala as “player of the game” after the hit at RB Leipzig (4: 1). But even on the lawn, the veteran is currently still occupying the position that could, in perspective, go to what is probably the greatest talent in German football.
“At some point,” mused Müller, who turned 32 on Monday, Musiala could have his regular place at Bayern and in the national team. He wants to play a little more himself, of course – but the outstanding skills of the 18-year-old “magician”, as he called him in Leipzig, have not gone unnoticed by Müller.
What inspires Müller and many others are not just Musiala’s playful and technical qualities that make him the playmaker of the future – but “the whole package”. Besides his extraordinary talent, the special thing about Musiala is his outstanding character: “He doesn’t run up his nose through the cabin, but works hard and listens.” In this way, Musiala also gets tips from the stars when it comes to running and pressing during the game.
Musiala as a role model
This is what coach Julian Nagelsmann appreciates about his protégé. “He is very humble, wants to work and listens,” he said enthusiastically: “You never have the feeling that he is aloof.” This is how national coach Hansi Flick met Musiala, whom he helped make his Bundesliga debut at FC Bayern in June 2020. In terms of football, Flick said, Musiala is “primarily characterized by his carefree”: “He is someone who is very good at one-on-one, who plays football bravely.”
DFB team-mate Timo Werner recently reported that even the established players could learn something from the German selection. “He goes out on the field, has fun and plays whatever he wants,” enthused Werner: “Maybe the rest of us should come back there too. We play football because it’s fun. You can make a difference from your youthful looseness cut off.”
“Incredible Qualities”
Musiala has really “gone through the roof” in the past few months, marveled the professional from Champions League winner Chelsea. Lothar Matthäus even compared Musiala with a really big one: The Munich player, said the record national player, “can become a second Neymar”.
World star Musiala? His feeling for the ball and his courage in a direct duel is in no way inferior to that of the Brazilian from Paris St. Germain. “He’s built in a magnet, the ball flips back to him again and again,” said Nagelsmann, astonished at the teenager, and emphasized: “He has unbelievable offensive qualities.”
So big that even “placeholder” Müller is sometimes left behind in astonishment. During the interview, Müller denied that he still had to give Musiala tips on dribbling and said with a smile: “I’d rather ask him …”
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