February 2025 BAYERN GAME
FIRST CONTACT MANY OPTIONS
Musiala‘ s snake run begins with the reception of the ball. Even his first contact is multifaceted and magnificent. Musiala doesn‘ t just pick up the ball, he also initiates the next action. At one point he turns and winds around the opponent in a flowing semicircle. At other times he simply lets the ball whizz past, leaving defenders stranded. Thanks to his brilliant first touch, Musiala is“ able to create a new game situation,” said Danny Schwarz, who once coached Musiala at FC Bayern U19 level.
VARIETY IN THE TOOLBOX
Musiala doesn‘ t just have one special move, but a whole repertoire. At the start of a dribble, for example, he often does a“ La Croqueta“, passing the ball back and forth between both legs and letting his opponent run into empty space.“ I was always up against stronger opponents,“ he once said.“ I had to find other solutions to get my way.“ Even as a seven-year-old, he had already learned tricks from Ronaldinho, Messi and Zidane. The snake run combines the tricks of his idols into ever new movement sequences.
EFFICIENCY MORE IMPORTANT THAN SPECTACLE
Every move Musiala makes seems to be perfectly adapted to the movement of his opponents. His snake run does not follow a fixed program, but is always new and unique – and therefore unpredictable. Musiala is not interested in the show or a spectacular effect. In an interview with the Spanish sports newspaper“ as“, he once criticized his generation.“ Quite a few try to force dribbles in order to spread them on social media,“ he said. But it is more important to know“ at what point in a game they are effective“. Musiala does not care that the highlight reels of his dribbles are shared millions of times online:“ Sometimes a simple pass can have more impact.“
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