Thomas Müller ready for new season after World Cup disaster

For Thomas Müller, Germany’s shock early exit from the World Cup in the group stages is going to serve as motivational fuel for his upcoming season with Bayern Munich under new manager Niko Kovač. After an extended four weeks of holiday following the disappointing tournament, Müller, along with most of Bayern’s World Cup stars, have returned to full training at Sabener Strasse ahead of the new campaign.

In one of his first public interviews with FCBayernTV (transcribed by Az), Müller reflected on just how deflated he felt after the World Cup exit:

It’s hard to deal with such an exit, such a kind of failure. It was not anticipated and the complete opposite of our goal. The first few days when I was at home were not exactly the nicest in my life.

During his extended holiday, he admitted tat he thought quite a bit about what went wrong in Russia and how he performed individually. Such a ponderous period, though, has helped Müller motivate himself for the upcoming season with Bayern under a new manager:

What I have taken away from these reflections is immense motivation for the future, both at FC Bayern and with the national team.

Bayern are now at in Tegernsee for their first training camp as a full squad, where they’ll likely be put through the paces at a high intensity by Kovač and his coaching staff. Speaking on the new boss, Müller’s got no shortage of confidence that Kovač and his staff can get Bayern firing on all cylinders before the season officially starts. Müller is looking forward to getting to know Kovac (via kicker),

Then we’ll see what idea about the team the coach and how he wants to have us play soccer. There will be this testing phase now.

Müller is not concerned, since both Kovač “and his brother were also players, so that he have a level on which you can meet.” Ultimately, all Müller is concerned about is winning, “so we should find a common, positive thread there.”

Lastly, Müller added that he’s ready for an incredibly demanding week in Tegernsee with the squad. Despite how beautiful it is there, it’ll be strictly business for Müller and Bayern:

A pretty area, but I think we won’t sail around much in a little boat or go diving for fish.

For Müller, he’ll personally be looking to improve upon the 15 goals and 18 assists he recorded across all competitions in the 2017/2018 season en route to Bayern’s sixth consecutive Bundesliga title, falling just short in the DFB-Pokal and Champions League. With a fresh start under Kovač, the stage is set perfectly for Müller and his Germany teammates to bury the wounds from the World Cup and show the world they mean business.

AFP PHOTO / Patrik Stollarz