“I’m trying to keep up!”: Jamal Musiala amazed by the footballing IQ of his Bayern Munich teammate

Jamal Musiala is having a fine season so far. Actually, that’s underselling it. He’s having an amazing season. Even by the superlative standards of Bayern Munich, the 19-year-old has managed to stand out as the best performer on the pitch. In the game vs Bayer Leverkusen, Musiala had a hand in three out of four Bayern goals — bringing his tally up to 7 goals and 5 assists in just 670 minutes this season.

However, even the golden boy has his idols. For Musiala, one man sets the standard, and that’s Thomas Muller.

Of course, this won’t be a surprise to anyone who is familiar with Muller’s game. The Raumdeuter is a unique specimen in modern football. Lacking any significant technical ability or flashy dribbling skills, Thomas Muller has made a career out of the masterful interpretation of space. His sheer intelligence has made him a mainstay of Bayern’s most successful era, and even at the age of 33 he continues to be one of the best in the world at his position.

Musiala is sometimes seen as the natural successor to Thomas Muller in the #10 role, for both Bayern Munich and Germany. The fact that he’s already looking towards emulating Muller bodes well for his future in that position. Musiala possesses technical skill and dribbling ability that is already the envy of any player in the world — if he can pair it with the Raumdeuter’s footballing IQ, then he could become literally unstoppable.