Lea Schüller at Manchester United: Looking for lightness

DLea Schüller knew how to use the big stage at Old Trafford to remember which player FC Bayern let go this winter. First she rushed into the penalty area, crossed and hit the outstretched arm of her former captain Glodis Viggosdottir. Which led to the penalty and equalizer by their new captain Maya Le Tissier. Then Schüller tried it himself with his foot and head. She struggled with the fact that she hadn’t done what strikers like to do most of all that evening in the 2-3 draw between her current and her old club. Of course she isn’t completely satisfied, but: “It’s a goal difference – it’s still possible,” said Schüller about the prospects of reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League against the favorites this Wednesday (6.45 p.m., Disney+) in front of more than 20,000 spectators in the Munich Arena.

Which would have a signaling effect on two levels. It would underline United’s efforts to become one of the top clubs. Participation in the quarter-finals for the first time shows the development. And for Schüller personally, it would be further proof that he made the right decision. She was in Munich for five and a half years before moving to Manchester in the winter. Schüller won the championship four times, the DFB Cup once and the Supercup twice. She was one of the most famous faces in the Bundesliga – and one of the best strikers. She scored 104 goals in 181 games for FC Bayern alone. Even though the 28-year-old was only in the starting line-up nine times in 19 appearances in the first half of this season, she scored eight times. But the numbers mask the difficulties that have recently plagued her.

At the Disney+ microphone after the first leg, Schüller talked about her first experiences in England. And the symbolism could hardly have been more appropriate than the moderator concluding the conversation by pointing out that there was now another player waiting who they didn’t want to keep waiting: Pernille Harder. The fact that Schüller increasingly slipped into a supporting role at FC Bayern was due not least to the Danish national player, who, with her game intelligence and goal threat, has become enormously important for FC Bayern and who has overtaken her.

Harder scored twice against Manchester and leads the Bundesliga’s scoring list with 14 goals. While Schüller likes to lurk in the penalty area or move directly towards the goal, Harder also rotates to the ten or the wing during a game, which makes the attacking game variable and unpredictable. It’s similar with Jovana Damnjanovic. Even in the final phase under Alexander Straus, things didn’t always go smoothly for Schüller. She didn’t seem to quite fit into the possession-oriented system of the new Munich coach José Barcala. In the end, Schüller watched two games as a spectator until the final whistle.

Their frustration with the lack of perspective and their own fluctuations in performance also affected the German national team. Instead of taking on the undisputed role as top scorer after Alexandra Popp’s career ended, Schüller has to struggle. At the European Championships in Switzerland she showed her qualities and her instincts, but Christian Wück was not satisfied and after the first games he preferred Giovanna Hoffmann, who was more combative and variable. At least he signaled support. “If you are convinced of a player who is currently going through a very difficult phase, it is also the job of the coaching team to support the player,” said the national coach at the beginning of March after the World Cup qualifier against Slovenia, in which Schüller scored her 55th goal in 84th international match. The aim was for her to gain self-confidence again: “I hope that she finds her way back to her old form. That would be good for all of us. I think that she has taken the right step by making the change.”

In England, Lea Schüller went in search of her lost lightness. The step was accompanied by the difficulty of building a new environment and finding your way abroad and immersing yourself in a different football culture. Which can be challenging for a rather reserved person like Schüller. “The last few months haven’t been easy. I was very dissatisfied and not at a good football level,” Schüller said recently. She left all her friends in Munich, but “I really like it in England.” Like FC Bayern, Manchester United is a top club, “there are no big differences”. It’s the more athletic, intense game that drew them to the island. Schüller wants to get fitter and therefore better: “That’s just never really been my strength, and I think I’ve been able to develop further in a short time.”

In addition, the fourth-placed team in the Women’s Super League bases its game on quick counterattacks and long balls – which suits Schüller far more than the Munich style. “Lea’s goal record is phenomenal, her style of play will give our attack an exciting new dimension,” sports director Matt Johnson enthused when she signed her. Schüller has only scored once in 14 games. But she’s never needed particularly long to warm up.