Marius Müller: Great characters within our group of goalkeepers

Marius, happy birthday! You won’t be having a big party here in the castle, will you?
No (laughs). We’re here for a training camp to prepare for the new season. Everyone did have a little sing for me at lunch though. They didn’t sound too bad…

You have been a Schalke player since the start of the month. How has the team welcomed you?
They’ve been great – they’re all really friendly. The team is always the most important thing for me and I think we have a really amazing team here.

Max Meyer was recently your teammate in Luzern. Did you speak to him when the offer came in from Gelsenkirchen?
Yes, Max said that I definitely should take this opportunity and that Schalke is a super club. I can confirm what he said already after just two and a half weeks.

Goalkeepers are often like their own separate team in training. How are you getting on with your fellow keepers?
We’ve got some great characters within our group of goalkeepers. It’s fun to work with the other guys. We push each other in every training session and Simon Henzler always has a good session planned for us. Ralle isn’t part of day-to-day training due to his injury and is working individually so far, so we’ve not got the full group together yet, but we’ve obviously got to know each other away from the training pitch. We got on right away, and the same has to be said for Justin Heekeren, Michael Langer and Justin Treichel, who is here in Mittersill from the U23s.

You were first-choice goalkeeper at FC Luzern last season and won the Swiss Cup with them two years ago. What are your ambitions with FC Schalke 04?
I obviously want to play games, it would be wrong if I didn’t want to. However, Ralf Fährmann played really well last season and his performances were a big part in S04 having a chance of survival on the final day after only having nine points at the halfway mark. I have been signed to provide him with competition and I want to do that by doing well in training. Ralle has performed for Schalke consistently over the years, so he’s obviously going to be in front of me in the pecking order. I totally understand that. My job is to work hard every day and stay top fit. I’ll be there if I’m needed.

How would you describe your style of goalkeeping in a few sentences?
I normally don’t like talking about myself, but I’ll make an exception here. I think I’m somebody who can keep a cool head in tricky situations and I can provide a degree of calmness to things. I’m also brave, especially with high balls. The experiences I’ve picked up over my 10 years as a professional also help my game – I’ve seen a lot in my time.

You came through the academy at 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Gerry Ehrmann, a long-term goalkeeping coach there, has helped the development of a number of top Bundesliga goalkeepers over the years, including Kevin Trapp, Roman Weidenfeller and Tim Wiese. What did you learn from your time there?
Passion, ambition. The desire to want to save every single shot. Every goal feels like a personal defeat. My time with Gerry Ehrmann was quite a while ago now though, and football has changed a bit since then. I had a coach in Switzerland recently who kept challenging me to play more with the ball at my feet. That helped develop me in this regard.

Our first home game is against your former club. What went through your head when the fixture list was announced?
I was delighted when I saw that we will host Kaiserslautern on matchday 2, even if barely anyone is still there from my time with the club. I left the Betzenberg five years ago now, so only a few staff members are still there. It will definitely be a special game for me. I spent my whole youth there and my first few years as a professional.