Gerd Müller ~ "I could score 60 goals nowadays"

[Freddy Adu]

"I could score 60 goals nowadays"

Gerd Müller will always be remembered as probably the best striker the Bundesliga has ever seen. bundesliga.de about the "nation's bomber".

Gerd Müller: the "nation's Bomber". He is still the Bundesliga's best-ever striker, a man who had the killer instinct in front of goal. When it came to the crunch, FC Bayern's scoring legend could always be relied on.

40 goals in 1971-72

Müller was crowned the Bundesliga top scorer seven times. And in the 1971-72 season, he netted an amazing 40 goals; a record that still stands today.

"I'm constantly being reminded of my record. Journalists ask me if Roy Makaay or someone else will be able to break it or not. I think it's all silly. At the end of the day they should say: someone's broken the record. And then move on!”

But which player can break Müller's scoring record? No other player even comes close. In 1972, when the "bomber” scored 40 times, the Bundesliga's second-best striker only managed 22!

60 goals nowadays?

"I don't think anyone will score more than 40. Nowadays, people say 'it was easier to score back then'. But now you have four men at the back, which makes it easier for a centre-forward. Franz Beckenbauer once said I could score 60 goals nowadays. I think I could as well! You have space to operate against a four man defensive system. Back then, you had a sweeper and a stay-at-home defender. In turn, that meant you were always up against two opponents", Müller explains.

Gerd Muller enjoyed a simple, but hugely effective game plan: he was always in the right place at the tight time. Müller instinctively knew how to exploit an opponent's weakness. His former coach Udo Lattek thinks very highly of him.

One of the most sympathetic players"

"As far as I'm concerned, Gerd Müller was one of the most sympathetic players I ever coached. He was an honest man, who kept his feet on the ground, despite being blessed with so much talent", Lattek says.

But just what is the secret of Gerd Müller's success? After all, no striker has even come near to scoring as many goals as the "bomber”. As Müller sees it, talent is the key.

A question of instinct

"As a young kid I'd always play in the penalty area, and you can't just learn how to do that. Either you have the instinct to score or you don't. So you end up playing there, and not even thinking about it. As a centre-forward you have to keep an eye on what your opponent is doing. You have to react quicker than he does. Above all, you have to be able to know where the ball will be", the striking legend states.

Netting 40 goals in one season was a special achievement. Maybe it is a feat that will never be repeated again!