Why Thomas Muller Is the Bayern Munich Player Who Must Step in for Arjen Robben

Bayern Munich's recent defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach will of course trouble fans when they consider the three points dropped, yet most of the Allianz Arena faithful will be bothered by something much worse: a prolonged stretch of games without Arjen Robben.

The Dutch international was of course forced to come off after just 24 minutes against the Foals and has since been ruled out for up to two months with torn stomach muscles. That leads many to ask a very simple but deeply profound question: Just whom should Pep Guardiola count upon to replace Robben's production? 

Mario Gotze may seem like an appealing candidate, yet the former Borussia Dortmund forward has struggled to match the kind of performances that Robben pulled off for Bayern from one week to the next while he was still fit. 

Gotze does have an impressive Champions League record—with four goals and three assists in seven games, according to Transfermarkt—yet his Bundesliga tally is truly woeful. The young attacking midfielder has just two league goals since late November, so the team surely can't expect him to step into Robben's role and thrive in the position.

Perhaps a more logical decision would come in asking the club's former talisman and playmaker-in-chief, Franck Ribery, to pick up Robben's responsibilities.  

Since returning from injury, Ribery has actually looked like his old self and certainly looked up to the task of matching Robben's form. Over the past month we've seen the left-winger score against Hamburg, Paderborn, Cologne and Shakhtar Donetsk while providing countless assists and key passes throughout. 

Yet what truly holds this player back at the moment is injury. After taking the winter break off with a muscle injury, Ribery was only able to play four Bundesliga games before he was once again ruled out for the win over Werder Bremen and the defeat to Gladbach. 

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

Ribery may still have the talent to take over for Robben, but it doesn't seem as though his body is ready to let him storm through the rest of this current season without another serious injury. 

We then turn to Thomas Muller, the only real option Guardiola actually has in plugging the Robben-shaped hole in his attack. 

The most obvious reason for Muller to simply fit into Robben's role within the team is that his favoured position is in fact on the right side of the attack, where the Dutchman tends to do his trade. 

Muller has played this role in a handful of games this season—most recently against Werder Bremen a few weeks ago, leading to a goal—and would quite naturally slot into the right wing without any problems or complications. 

Of course, there's much more to it than that. 

As any well-versed football fan will know, Muller is an exceptional source for goals and assists for both club and country. The German international has managed to pick up no less than 18 goals and 14 assists in 35 games this season, according to Transfermarkt, and is quite simply Bayern's second-best bet for putting the ball in the back of the net when Robben isn't around. 

Yet it isn't just Muller's quantity of goals that makes him so appealing as a replacement for Robben; it's the quality of his goals that stand out as well. 

Like Robben, we've seen Muller score with his head, right foot and left foot from all areas of the pitch as well as pop up with some important goals, such as the five he's scored in just six Champions League appearances this season. 

Among an entire squad of world-class talent rising and dropping in form, Muller is perhaps the only other attacking player in this side who has remained consistently effective for Bayern alongside Robben this season. And that's why he'll step in for the flying Dutchman. 

@Sbienkowski