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Bayern talent Jamal Musiala: Slightly successful

2021-02-26T10:19:18.193Z


After his Champions League goal and his decision for Germany, young professional Jamal Musiala is on everyone's lips. Who is this player? And what role can he play at Bayern and in the DFB selection?


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Bayern young star Jamal Musiala

Photo: 

ALBERTO LINGRIA / REUTERS

It was a special week for Jamal Musiala.

On Tuesday, his coach at FC Bayern, Hans-Dieter Flick, placed his trust in him right from the start in the Champions League game against Lazio.

Musiala scored the meanwhile 2-0 and became the youngest player to ever score a goal for a German team in the premier class.

On Wednesday it became known that Musiala had been convinced by national coach Joachim Löw to play for Germany and not for England in the future.

And this Friday, Musiala is celebrating his 18th birthday, which will enable him to sign a new contract with the Munich team soon.

The offensive player has become a big topic in German football, many are talking about the teenager, for whom even Löw and DFB director Oliver Bierhoff traveled to Munich in January to win him over to the DFB selection.

Musiala doesn't like the renewed attention at all: "I'm more of a quiet guy and not someone who seeks the limelight," Musiala told SPIEGEL.

Who is this player?

And what role can he play at Bayern and in the DFB selection?

A footballing precociousness

Jamal Musiala is something special.

On the one hand, this is due to the fact that talent of his age is rare in German football at the moment.

On the other hand, his life story is also extraordinary.

He is an upcoming German international who was largely trained in England.

Born in Stuttgart to a German mother and a British-Nigerian father, Musiala moved with his family to England at the age of seven, because his mother studied sociology at Southampton University.

His talent was noticed early on.

Musiala was signed by Chelsea at the age of eight and already played for the England U15 national team at the age of 13.

An exceptional talent even in English football, which is blessed with talent, a footballing precociousness that already appeared at the age of 15 for Chelsea's U18.

FC Bayern signed Musiala in 2019 for its youth department.

First he played in the B-youth, but was quickly pulled up into the A-youth and later in the second team, which competes in the third division.

Musiala always attracted attention with his smooth style of play and ball skill.

Since this season he has been an integral part of the Flick professional team.

He has already played 16 Bundesliga and four Champions League games and scored four goals.

"I see huge potential in him"

National coach Joachim Löw on Jamal Musiala

"He is very good on the ball and has a good feel for the rooms in which he has to be," praised Bayern coach Flick.

Löw, who still has close ties to the Bayern coach after his years with Flick in the national team, sees Musiala as having "huge potential" and has announced that he will be nominated for the international matches in March for the first time.

He had played for English youth teams 23 times, now Musiala will stay with the DFB.

Havertz, Wirtz, Musiala

Musiala told the US portal "The Athletic" that he felt two hearts in his chest: one beat for England and one for Germany.

That made the decision difficult for him.

In the end, the choice for the DFB could have been wise, because in his position in the central, offensive midfield there is no talent overflow in Germany.

Kai Havertz from FC Chelsea is the coming 1A solution, but behind him there is only Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen, who is even two months younger than Musiala and already has more Bundesliga and European Cup experience.

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Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen

Photo: Soeren Stache / dpa

Like Havertz and Wirtz, Musiala is very versatile: “At Chelsea, I was a striker at the beginning, a ninth.

Scoring goals has always been fun, like every little boy, «recalls Musiala.

“Over time, I slipped a little back into the offensive midfield, onto the ten.

I often have the ball on my feet and can dribble more, prepare goals and score.

I feel very comfortable there.

But I can also play on the wings, where it's even more one-on-one.

I like that too."

Musiala often moved skillfully between defense and midfield of the opponent.

His mobility and tight ball control allow him to push into tight spaces without hesitation.

Even when he is used as a winger, he regularly pulls into the middle with the ball at his foot.

There is most likely to be some catching up to do in the passing game, because Musiala's passes rarely find other players in important situations.

That became clear when Flick last used him in several games a little further back in midfield.

Bayern's head coach and Musiala's teammates encouraged him to play freely and concentrate on his strengths, "that is, to dribble, to go one-on-one," he says.

In Munich he could someday take on the role of Thomas Müller, 31.

Few have perfected the feeling for spaces as perfected as the 2014 world champion. And Müller is still irreplaceable with his goal threat.

In order to prepare for this task, Musiala pushes extra shifts on the header pendulum with assistant coach Hermann Gerland and is increasingly practicing deals with Miroslav Klose - formerly his coach in the B-youth, now assistant coach from Flick.

Gained seven kilograms

At FC Bayern they are impressed by the mixture of youthful lightness on the field and a maturity that is above average for their age.

That should help him to fix his biggest weakness so far.

During his first appearances in the Bundesliga, Musiala was pushed back quite often by opposing defenders despite strong dribbling and movements on the ball.

This is now becoming increasingly rare.

He regularly goes to the weight room with Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka.

At the same time he uses the services of the former Nordic combined athlete Steffen Tepel, who trains him as a private trainer in sensorimotor issues and works on his reflexive stability.

At the start of the season, Musiala weighed only 65 kilograms with a height of 1.81 meters.

Since then, he has gained seven kilograms and has grown two centimeters.

He is still skinny, but he can hold his own physically better now.

That should help Jamal Musiala to make a name for itself even after this week.

Icon: The mirror

Source: spiegel

All sports articles on 2021-02-26

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