- Howard emphasizes Son’s competitive drive
- Highlights Muller’s winning mentality
- Predicts both will maintain performance levels
In the wake of two recent high-profile transfers for MLS – Son Heung-Min from توتنهام to LAFC and Thomas Muller from بايرن ميونيخ الى Vancouver Whitecaps – former USMNT star Tim Howard praised the signings.
“You’re not going to get bigger Son fan than me,” Howard said on the Unfiltered Soccer podcast with Landon Donovan. “I think the guy is awesome. I mean he’s a 10 out of 10 for me… Sonny is going to be a guy who is in it, who wants to win, who cares about winning. And by the way, as an aside, his following is stupid. I mean, if you’ve watched North London at a Tottenham game when he was there, I mean this guy is adored across the world…
“LAFC is going to see an influx of that following which is really awesome. And I think it’s a good signing. He still has legs in him, he still has the ability to carry games, to score, to get in dangerous situations. I mean, he’s as clinical as they come. So I think it’s a really good signing excited for it.”
Regarding Muller’s move to Vancouver, Howard characterized the German كأس العالم winner’s arrival as a significant achievement for the Canadian club.
“The Thomas Muller thing is interesting because he’s weird – and I don’t mean that in a bad way – like the guy loves to speak, he loves the compete,” he said. “Like no matter whether he was aging with the وطني team, or with Bayern Munich, he desperately wants to be on the field and desperately wants to score and he’s got this like, real infectious attitude and I think it’s great… he’s going into a team that’s playing really, really well. So actually you don’t have the carry a team, don’t have to lead – the team’s already going well. This is like a لطيف - جيد cherry on top. “
Both Son and Muller made the move to MLS directly from دوري أبطال أوروبا-level competition, rather than after intermediate career steps.
Son could make his full LAFC debut against the New إنجلترا Revolution on Aug. 16 after coming on as a substitute in his first game. Muller is likely to make his debut for the Vancouver Whitecaps against the Houston Dynamo on Aug. 17.
