Thomas Miller germany : Career

Career

Early years

Müller played as a youth for TSV Pähl, before joining Bayern Munich in 2000, aged 10. He progressed through the Bayern Munich Junior Team, and was part of the team that finished runner-up in the Under-19 Bundesliga in 2007. He made his debut for the reserve team in March 2008, in a Regionalliga match against SpVgg Unterhaching, in which he scored. He made two more Regionalliga appearances in the 2007–08 season, while continuing to play for the under-19 team. The following season, Bayern's second string qualified for the newly-formed 3. Liga, and Müller established himself as a key player – playing in 32 out of 38 games, and scoring 15 times, making him the league's fifth top scorer. He also became involved in the first-team, appearing in pre-season friendlies, and making his full debut on 15 August 2008 in a Bundesliga match against Hamburger SV. He made three more Bundesliga appearances that season, and made his Champions League debut on 10 March 2009, being substituted on in the 72nd minute for Bastian Schweinsteiger in a 7–1 win over Sporting CP. He scored Bayern's last goal as they won the tie 12–1 on aggregate.

Breakthrough season

In February 2009, Müller signed his first contract for the senior team, effective from the 2009–10 season, along with reserve team-mate Holger Badstuber. From the beginning of that season, and the appointment of Louis van Gaal as coach, both players were regular fixtures in the Bayern first team. In the first few matches Müller was a regular substitute, and on 12 September 2009, he was brought on against Borussia Dortmund and scored two goals in a 5–1 victory. Three days later, he scored another brace in a UEFA Champions League clash against Maccabi Haifa, and he rounded off September by being named the Bundesliga player of the month and earning praise from his namesake, legendary former Bayern and Germany striker Gerd Müller. After the Haifa match, Müller was in the starting eleven for almost every game, only missing one match – a Champions League game against Girondins de Bordeaux, for which he was suspended, having been sent off in an earlier match against the same team.
On 4 February 2010, Bayern Munich announced that Müller had signed a new contract that would keep him at the club until 2013. During the second half of the season, Müller has continued to be a regular first-team starter usually playing in a central striking role due to the availability of wide players Franck Ribéry and Arjen Robben. In April 2010, he scored the second goal in a 2–1 win against title rivals Schalke 04, and in the penultimate league game of the season, he scored the first hat-trick of his career, in a 3–1 win over VfL Bochum which effectively secured the German title for Bayern. This was confirmed a week later with a 3–1 win at Hertha Berlin, a match which Müller started, meaning he had played in all 34 Bundesliga games of the season, starting 29 of those and recording 13 goals and 11 assists. Bayern and Müller were back in Berlin the following week, to face Werder Bremen in the final of the DFB-Pokal. Müller started the game, which Bayern won 4–0, to complete the domestic double. Müller had scored four goals and made two assists during the competition, which made him its leading scorer for the season. Bayern's season ended at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, as they pursued a first treble, facing Internazionale in the Champions League Final. It was not to be, however, as they lost 2–0, with both goals coming from Diego Milito. Müller was in the starting line-up, and had a key chance just after half-time, with Bayern 1–0 down, but his shot was saved by Júlio César. Müller ended his first season as a first-team player having played 52 games and scored 19 goals in all competitions. In a poll conducted by the sports magazine Kicker, he was voted by his fellow professionals as the best newcomer of the 2009–10 season and was named in the Bundesliga team of the year.

Current season

Müller returned from his post-World Cup break to sign another contract extension, this time extending his stay at Bayern until 2015. As with all of Bayern's World Cup participants, he missed much of pre-season, and his first game back was the Supercup against Schalke 04 on 7 August. He was named in the starting 11, and scored the opening goal in a 2–0 win. Two weeks later he scored the opening goal of Bayern's league season, in a 2–1 home win against VfL Wolfsburg.

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