Joshua Kimmich can’t imagine Bayern Munich without Thomas Muller

Thomas Müller’s unrest at Bayern Munich has become increasingly evident since Niko Kovac has continuously left him on the bench this season. It seems as if he’s been relegated to strictly a substitute’s role for Bayern, and the Raumdeuter himself recently expressed his frustration of his current situation. It is speculated that he might look elsewhere away from Bayern if his lack of minutes continues, but teammate Joshua Kimmich said it’d be difficult to imagine Bayern without Müller (Bild).

Having been teammates with Müller for over four seasons now, Kimmich is understanding of his frustration having not started five consecutive matches for Bayern:

It’s obvious that Thomas is dissatisfied with the situation. He has the ambition to want to play. [...] I understand that he’s dissatisfied after five consecutive games on the bench. That’s not how he pictures things.

Despite Müller’s frustration, Kimmich highlighted how effective he’s been, and can continue to be, coming off of the bench:

You have to say: when he comes on, he always does it very well. It’s hard for the opponent to get the qualities of a free spirit under control. It’s hard to control him because the opponents never know what’ll happen.

Moving forward, Kimmich said he can’t imagine Bayern without Müller. Muller, he said, is just such a massive figure for Bayern:

It’s hard to imagine Bayern without Thomas. He’s a major identification figure, just as Schweini or Philipp Lahm were, and now David Alaba. There is almost not a single player from our own youth system who has made it to become a proven player. He is a towering figure for the club.

Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images for AUDI

Kimmich dons the captain’s armband

Kimmich wore the captain’s armband for Die Mannshcaft in their 2-2 friendly draw against Argentina in Dortmund and put it in a solid 90 minute shift. While he wore the armband with pride, he mentioned his arm may have been a bit too small for it:

The armband was somewhat big. It kept falling down during the first half. Maybe I have to pump up my left biceps a bit.

Amusingly enough, Thomas Müller had exactly the same problem when he captained Bayern in Manuel Neuer’s absence. Müller said at the time (Bild), “There isn’t really a model that fits my upper arm.”

Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Bongarts/Getty Images

Wearing the armband for Germany was a special moment for Kimmich :

It was a special moment in my career to wear the armband for the German national team. It was very special. It would have been perfect if we had won the came. I think that every player would like to have the captains armband sometime. On Sunday, Manuel Neuer will wear it — and it won’t fall down.

Kimmich also commented on fellow Bayern teammate Serge Gnabry, who’s been in fine form for both club and country this season and scored Die Mannschaft’s first goal in the 2-2 draw against Argentina. He started as the center-forward for Germany, which is something Kimmich said he likes:

Personally, I really like Serge in the middle. He can show even more of his range, his qualities there. He can help us when he comes into the midfield and plays with us, as well as when he makes deep runs. He has a very good feeling there that you need in critical moments. He also has very good finishing.

He went on to describe Gnabry’s nose for goal, but also his balance of making the right decision in the final third:

I have seldom seen a player who is as goal-oriented as Serge. He always looks for the goal, but also keeps an eye out for his teammates. If he gets his qualities out on the pitch so often, he will help any team in the world. I’ve known Serge for a longer time than the others. In my opinion, he was the best player among us in our class. He is absolutely world-class. You have to travel far to find these abilities.

Photo by Matthias Balk/picture alliance via Getty Images