The Raumdeuter Position In Modern Football And How It Works

It was in 2011 when a 21-year-old attacking midfielder was giving an interview to Süddeutsche Zeitung, one of the largest newspapers in Germany. Was macht Sie zu speziell oder besonders (What makes you special) ?

The interviewer asked the player.  Irgendwie bin ich schon ein Unikat. Es gibt Dribbler, die sich ziemlich ähnlich sind, auch Stürmer, aber was bin eigentlich ich (I am somehow unique. There are dribblers who are quite similar, also Striker, but what am I actually)? Then, Thomas Muller would drop that famous line, ich bin ein Raumdeuter (I am a space interpreter). 

It is perhaps the first and only time in football that a player has coined the term for his role, unlike other positions such as Regista, Mezzala, or Trequartista.  The Raumdeuter or the space interpreter that was popularised in the football dictionary after Muller’s interview. And the reason behind the term’s popularity can be traced to the German’s playing style.

Explaining the Muller effect :

Read if you want to understand why he called himself the “Raumdeuter”. pic.twitter.com/4Wd2Mj5zhI

— AUGUSTUS 🔴 (@Der_Augustus) June 20, 2021

Muller has scored 269 goals and provided 247 assists in 712 games for Bayern Munich, winning 31 trophies. However, his physique, playing style, and skills don’t even remotely match that of a typical goal scorer or a creative force.

For this, we will need to dissect the role of Raumdeuter.

What is a Raumdeuter?

Raumdeuter or space interpreter is a role in which the player has two main objectives. First, find the space in the opposition’s defence. Second, exploit the space. The player does not occupy a fixed palace; his position on the pitch is determined by where the space is. One thing is sure, most of his play occurs in the attacking third of the pitch.

Due to this reason, the Raumdeuter usually plays behind the striker. This helps him form a two-player attacking threat for the opposition’s team.  

After making his debut under Jurgen Klinsmann in 2008, Muller was fully integrated into the first team by Loui van Gaal. He repaid the Dutch manager’s confidence in him with 19 goals and 16 assists that season.

And by the time the interview was conducted, Muller had scored 18 goals and provided 35 assists for Bayern Munich. 

At Ajax, Van Gaal gave a platform to likes of Kluivert, Davids, Seedorf, Van Der Saar, De Boer brothers etc.

At Barca, Iniesta, Xavi, Puyol.

At Bayern, Muller.

At Man Utd, Rashford &…