If you look back at the semi-final in 2010, no Muller. The semi-final in 2000, no Muller. When you look closely at those games, Germany lacked that killer cutting edge. When they attacked, you just couldn't see where the creation would manifest itself from. Spain had them on lock and those two goals from Italy just shellshocked them and they had no response to it.
Muller is a great goalscorer, but it's the OTHER aspect of his game that won me over. I remember seeing him in the 2010 Champions League final when Inter took home the gold. For the life of me, I could not understand how such an untidy player could get into a professional team. He was so unorthodox and random in the way that he played that I believed he would be forgotten. But that unorthodox and unpredictability has made him one of THE most effective footballers on the planet.
As Muller finally, we hope, gets his chance to play in a semi-final, Scolari would be wise to try and employ a tactic to stop him. It will be difficult because what makes Muller so deadly is his understanding of what's happening on a football pitch. He knows how to be elusive, when to make those runs and how to sneak round the back of defenders.
There is that danger. I don't think Muller will shrink under the pressure but he is young and the atmosphere in that semi will be unlike ANYTHING he has ever experienced. The noise, the sound and the aura will be off the chain. That can unnerve most people. So it's important that Muller, just like the rest of the German team keep their heads and their focus. If Muller can block the noise and just do what he does...he may just be the defining factor in what will be a real close match.
http://www.havehopefootballhut.com/the-hut-forum.html
HH
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
