Ottmar Hitzfeld feels Thomas Müller should keep playing for German national team

Thomas Müller is one of a small handful of players on the German national team that have been to four different World Cups and Bayern Munich’s Raumdeuter is at a crossroads in his international career. At 33 years of age, while the decision might not be entirely up to just him, he’ll have to think about whether or not he wants to continue on playing for Germany. Some of his compatriots, most recently Real Madrid’s Toni Kroos, have already hung up the boots internationally, while both Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan and Borussia Dortmund's Mats Hummels have both pondered it recently.

For a majority of Bayern and Germany fans, they’ll want to see Müller continue, even if he didn’t have his best outings in Qatar. It’s also hard to imagine Hansi Flick not seeing that as an option, but it is ultimately his decision at the end of the day. The DFB has already expressed their firm backing of Flick despite Germany’s second consecutive World Cup disappointment.

In a recent interview with kicker, former Bayern Munich manager Ottmar Hitzfeld said that he feels that Müller should stay with the German national team until at least Euro 2024. For Die Mannschaft, Hitzfeld thinks that Müller is too important and effective of a player to leave out of the squad. “For me, Müller is one of the most important players in German football at the moment. Müller should continue until the EM. He helps the team,” Hitfzfeld stressed (via Sport1).

Assuming he has Flick’s blessing to stay in the squad, Hitzfeld also realizes that Müller has a difficult decision to make in terms of being able to stay fully committed to both Bayern and Germany. “Müller is always very important for a team. He has to decide for himself whether he can and wants to invest his exemplary mentality in two teams,” he said.

Hitzfeld does have conditions, though. Assuming Müller does continue on with Germany, he does not want to see Bayern’s number 25 assume a false 9 role, or be the most advanced player in attack. This is something we saw from Flick during the World Cup in Qatar and Müller was not able to be as effective from there. As history with both Bayern and Germany has showed, he’s far better playing just behind a striker or as a more advanced midfielder. “It’s not his position at the very front. Thomas is strongest when he has a man in front of him,” he said, adding that Werder Bremen’s Niclas Füllkrug deserves an extended run as Germany’s striker by saying, “he proved himself at the World Cup and deserves our trust.”

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