Aberdeen goalkeeper Marius Muller has insisted he will look to improve every day until the day he retires, despite being 33 years old. The German has established himself as the Pittodrie No. 1 since his summer move from Wolfsburg and is one of the most experienced players in Stephen Robinson's squad.
Muller, who enjoyed a top-level career in the Bundesliga, uses those standards to drive him on. He also credited Aberdeen goalkeeping coach Craig Hinchcliffe for pushing him to reach new heights.
Hinchcliffe influence
Muller said: “Mostly I have to say (a big selling point) was the conversation I had with Hinchy, our goalkeeper coach, because he is my boss on the pitch every day. I work with him every day. It’s just the style of how he (Hinchcliffe) works, how he thinks about football. I think the style of football has changed a lot in the last 15 years I've been a professional.
“The style of playing as a goalkeeper has changed. Yes, now I have a 33-year-old. He's (Hinchcliffe) experienced and we're just doing some things, but I still want to improve. And when I play till 40, hopefully I will improve till the last day. I will get better and better.
"I don't want a goalkeeper coach who trains like in the 90s or who's just happy that I'm here. So he gives me a very good feeling of his kind of his style of how he trains. In the end, it's like some goalkeeper thing. Nobody will understand in the world unless you are a goalkeeper.”
German connection
Another fellow German in Aberdeen’s sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel was a big driver in the signing of Muller. The keeper confirmed: “You have this German connection which is important. He was big in talking about the club and what they want to achieve. It was also good to speak to somebody about Aberdeen in my mother language.
“I wanted to understand how is his kind of style and style of working. In the end, Lutz told me the numbers and the salary, then I said yes.”
Evolution of goalkeeping
Muller took his first steps as a professional with Kaiserslautern back in 2012. He noted that the art of goalkeeping has changed significantly since then, with keepers now expected to start play from the back as well as stop shots. He is comfortable with this and on occasion will throw in a Rabona clearance.
He said: “Yes, definitely the play with the foot or with the feet. This is one of the biggest changes. When I played my first professional games, there was no match plan building up from behind so we could drag out the opponent.
"We have much more space in the front. So that's why you play from the back so much and the style has changed. But also like in 2014, you put your ball on the five metre line and pushed it out. There was a key target player. We had a target where we want to play when we play long balls, when we play from the back, we have a shape.
"You know, this changed a lot and also the speed, the athleticism. This is one of the biggest things which changed over the last 20 to 30 years. It's like the athleticism, the speed of football, like in every sport. Yes, and it will continue every year.”
Robinson's approach
Robinson also wants his Aberdeen side to play in a fast and attacking way. Muller explained: “He wants to play fast. You know, he wants to play like also with a plan. But if we can play fast, we play fast. He's also very like open for every opponent. Also, you have some coaches who just want to bring their ideas no matter where against who you play.
"I think also as a football player, you have to you have to watch where your opponent and which system or which situation does fit the best. The manager does well and speaks a lot with us. I really enjoyed working with him, I have to say.”
