From shy Bambi to next Messi via neuro-athletics, the tactics and the temperament that turned Jamal Musiala into the future of German football. With insight from the player himself, those who have played alongside and against him, and a Bundesliga legend…
Thursday 23 March 2023 19:14, UK
Speaking to Jamal Musiala in the mixed zone after the German Super Cup win in Leipzig in July, he outlined the challenge of replacing outgoing striker Robert Lewandowski. Musiala had been the first of five Bayern Munich players to score that afternoon.
"With all the goals that he scored, it is not easy to find a player like that. But we have an amazing squad and we have to spread the goals out between all of us and have to find offensive solutions apart from Lewandowski to score goals."
As the Michael Jordan meme goes, Musiala took that personally. The 20-year-old midfielder is Bayern's top scorer in the Bundesliga this season, becoming perhaps their most important player. Against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night, the team will turn to him.
That tie pits the player Lothar Matthaus calls 'the Lionel Messi of the future' against the man himself. If that feels like hyperbole, let another legend set out the case. "Jamal Musiala is one of the most exciting players in world football," Jurgen Klinsmann tells Sky Sports.
"His vision, ball control and calmness on the ball, he knows what he is going to do before he receives the ball. I spoke with a lot of players in Qatar and they said if Germany had gone further then Musiala could have been the young player of the tournament."
Even the adjective 'young' no longer feels necessary with Musiala. It implies that he is one for the future but this is his time and his team. After a quieter start to the new year, Musiala is now Bayern's top scorer and ranks second in the Bundesliga for assists this season.
A scorer thanks to his accomplished finishing and a creator because of his neat passing, he ranks fifth for the most dribbles in the competition too. His movement, on the ball and off it, is proving elusive - an unlikely feat given that he stands six feet tall.
He is the modern athlete.
For those who have followed his journey, it represents a transformation. He was 16 when he left Chelsea for Bayern and 17 when he became the club's youngest-ever Bundesliga player. Leroy Sane christened him a 'shy Bambi' when he first broke into the team.
Callum Hudson-Odoi had been his senior within the Chelsea academy but arrived in Germany to find a different player entirely. Asked to pick out a Bundesliga player who has surprised him, he named his old pal. "He was so small," Hudson-Odoi tells Sky Sports.
"Seeing him grow in the academy at Chelsea, I was watching him there and he was very talented, you could see that. You could see him growing. Now he has come here and he has done crazy good. I am happy to see how well he has progressed and developed."
Herbert Hainer, the president of Bayern, was asked about that 'shy Bambi' nickname recently. "That is over now," he replied. Hudson-Odoi found that out when his Bayer Leverkusen were taken apart by Musiala in a 4-0 defeat in Munich in September.
"When we played against them it was obviously a difficult game for us but he played really well," Hudson-Odoi recalls. "Seeing him in person and playing against him is completely different when you have known him from so young back in the day at Chelsea."
Those spindly legs might have given rise to the Bambi nickname, but his strength belies his slender frame. Musiala's determination to turn himself into the best player that he can be has extended to working with neuro-athletics specialists to improve his movement.
Working on his core strength has helped him to retain his balance in the duels, essentially dribbling with the dexterity of a player with a low centre of gravity while bullying opponents with his newfound size. He can glide through or power through. It is a rare blend.
Julian Nagelsmann has said that the ball sticks to Musiala's foot like a magnet and the Bayern coach has found an interesting role for him in this team. The rotations around Musiala often change, the formation too, but there is a zone that he has made his own.
"Left-side 10," according to Musiala. That is how he described it that day in Leipzig. Against PSG, he occupied that position in a 3-4-2-1 formation. In what had been billed as a potential title decider against Union Berlin, he was used there in a 4-2-3-1 instead.
Musiala is trusted to interpret it as he sees fit. "It is pretty open," he explains. "You can always rotate to go out wide or come inside, there is space inside for me to turn and dribble into and create chances. It all depends on the opponent how we play, it is very flexible."
If his great friend Alphonso Davies is behind him, Musiala can come inside to free the flying full-back. His goal against Union was a near-post volley from a right-wing cross. Often, he will roam in order to create confusion and open up potential overload situations.
Musiala has the intelligence to work out which will work best. Thomas Muller talks of him always finding the right solutions on the ball, Thierry Henry speaks of an evolution in his game, while Ilkay Gundogan calls him the future of German football.
The future is now.
Because while Bayern's Joshua Kimmich tips him to be world-class, others would argue that he already is. As Jamal Musiala prepares to face Messi and Kylian Mbappe, he is not only different to the boy who left Chelsea, he might be different to everyone else too.
