Sitting on his flight from Munich to Vancouver in August, Thomas Müller flipped between watching his new club playing a Canadian cup match and a documentary about the Whitecaps’ 1979 North American Soccer League title, the Soccer Bowl. 

It was then that he first saw the potential of his choice—the city he picked from dozens of suitors who courted his skill set after 25 years with Bayern Munich. 

“It was really nice to see what can happen with a city, maybe at former times, with a village, if there is success, if you win against bigger cities,” Müller told reporters earlier this week. “That’s what we want to do, and that’s the story, it’s part of the journey, and what I’m focused on is grass, the balls. We need balls.”

Ahead of that 1979 NASL final, telecast commentator Jim McKay described the “deserted village of Vancouver,” with all its people tucked inside to watch the Whitecaps in the Soccer Bowl against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

On Sunday, Müller looks to lead the Whitecaps to that pinnacle again, starting with a first-round best-of-three series against FC Dallas.

“When I meet people out there in the streets, they’re just super positive for the Whitecaps and also to me personally. So I feel quite comfortable right now,” he added. “We want to have this feeling to get the city going. That will be a big achievement for us, to see people going because of us, because of the Whitecaps. That’s a big pride for me as well.”

Change Upon Arrival 

Thomas Muller
Thomas Müller has been a commanding presence since arriving in August. | Elizabeth Ruiz/Getty Images

Since arriving, Müller has forced Vancouver to change its mentality. He’s inspired a fanbase to new heights drawing sellouts of the 25,000-seat lower bowl at nearly every match. 

With the 36-year-old, the Whitecaps have gone 5-1-3 in MLS play.

He also helped secure a fourth-straight Canadian Championship title, making him the most decorated German soccer player in history with 35 titles. All told, he’s scored eight goals and provided four assists in eight games since debuting Aug. 17 vs. the Houston Dynamo. 

“Imagine, you take a choice to get to a new city, to a new club, to a new country, and you score your first goal after two minutes—it was ruled offside, but the feeling was insane,” Müller said of his called-back strike against the Dynamo. 

“The whole stadium got crazy. I’ve never had fireworks in the stadium, so after two minutes of playing here, there were fireworks because of a goal from my side. So, what is a better choice you can make?”

With his form, the reintroduction of the talismanic captain and DP attacker Ryan Gauld, who had been injured for seven months, and the thwarts of eyeballs now on the team, there is renewed hope with the Whitecaps.

It’s what they had dreamed of after a crushing 5–0 defeat to Liga MX’s Cruz Azul in June’s Concacaf Champions Cup final, at a time when Müller was nowhere near their plans. 

“There could be many perfect moments to bring in Thomas throughout the season, because of the player and the person that he is,” Whitecaps’ Jesper Sørensen said on a pre-playoff media call. “On the pitch with such quality that he’s shown that he still has... the way he’s committed all the time to helping his teammates, also to push his teammates to get even back, setting high demands to everybody around him.

“He also has an idea of how to execute things on the pitch, and that’s why he’s very involved in everything we do.”

Making History in MLS Cup Playoffs

Whitecaps - Inter Miami - Concacaf Champions Cup
Vancouver Whitecaps fans have come out in droves this season. | Courtesy of Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Through adjusting to Vancouver, Müller has also become familiar with the Whitecaps’ underwhelming MLS history. The team has never advanced past the first round of the playoffs and hasn’t been anywhere near a title. 

“In the first two months, everyone was telling me about the rain in Vancouver and all this stuff, but I enjoyed the beach and I enjoyed wins,” the 2014 World Cup winner said. “People told me, Vancouver in the last few years, they had no great success, but we’ve outplayed all the expectations so far.”

The Whitecaps qualified for the Concacaf final while also remaining competitive in the upper echelons of the table throughout the campaign.

Then, they signed Müller. A team that had never signed a superstar got their man.

Through a rigid tactical structure and reliance on systems and mentality rather than personnel, Sørensen’s team has achieved reliable success, even without star players available due to injury. 

“It’s more about belief in the playing style, belief in certain situations, and what to do and trusting habits,” Müller added. “[We have to] be brave enough to do the right thing, even if it sometimes seems a little bit too aggressive, but sometimes it is the right thing to do.”

“You have to overcome maybe a little fear.”

Vancouver’s Path to MLS Cup

Whitecaps
Ryan Gauld (left) missed nearly seven months due to a knee injury. | Christopher Morris-Imagn Images

With the mentality changed, Müller and the Whitecaps are hoping for an extended run through the fall, first needing to beat Dallas—who they lost to on Decision Day—in a best-of-three series, something entirely foreign to Müller. 

Afterwards, the Whitecaps could clash with LAFC, the team that eliminated them from the playoffs the last two seasons and boasts Son Heung-min and Denis Bouanga. 

The Whitecaps know their quality and have never had a player like Müller. At the same time, they are also hopeful to get USMNT striker Brian White and MLS Defender of the Year nominee Tristan Blackmon back at some point in the first round. 

And after coming up just short of the Concacaf Champions Cup title, there’s an added desire in the group not to let another trophy elude their grasp, no matter how hard the two-month grind to MLS Cup may be. 

“The journey has been quite sensational for me with the Whitecaps and with these players. We are doing well, and I’ve been able to provide some goals and a little bit more than that, and that was always my goal: to bring something here,” Müller added. 

“My job is not done yet, and I’m here to help the Whitecaps win the MLS Cup.”

READ THE LATEST MLS NEWS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND GOSSIP


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Thomas Muller Sends Strong Message to Vancouver Whitecaps Ahead of MLS Playoffs.

Test hyperlink for boilerplate