Nagelsmann and Müller keep talk small after draw: "I've had better answers before."
Neither Julian Nagelsmann nor Thomas Müller wanted to make too much out of what they both called a "fair result" at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei on Sunday.
Müller made use of some of his trademark humor when asked what it felt like for him to begin on the bench.
Müller made use of some of his trademark humor when asked what it felt like for him to begin on the bench.
| Thomas Müller. |
"It's fine," a significantly less animated Nagelsmann told his post match interviewer, "It was not undeserved for either side. In the end we have to make do with a 1-1 draw. [For us] the energy level did not match our previous performances."
With Nagelsmann being tight-lipped, reporters then turned to Thomas Müller for better quotables. The 32-year-old German football legend found himself in an unfamiliar position at the start of the match. Namely, on the bench. On the topic of energy levels, Nagelsmann very rarely feels the need to rest Müller, not even in Champions' League weeks.
"I liked it very much," Müller said with a wide sarcastic grin when asked how it felt to not be on the field when proceedings started, "I've always been a fan of Union Berlin; the way they play football as a team. We knew what to expect."
"We came right back [after Union scored the opener]," Müller further noted when pressed, "but we essentially burned up our goal quickly because you only get one to five [scoring] situations against the Union block."
"All credit to Union," Müller added, "I can only congratulate them. They're not up near the top of the table for nothing."
Asked whether he had a good answer for why Nagelsmann opted to keep him out of the XI, Müller kept it short before departing the interview unceremoniously.
"No, not really," he said, "You always like to play, but there's such high quality in the squad at the moment that it's hard to make choices up front. Next week, one makes choices again."
"I've had better answers before," Müller concluded before striding off, "I give myself a 'C-Minus" [for the answer]."