Ever since his first full season as a senior Bayern Munich player in 2009-10, Thomas Muller has been remarkably consistent. In his six full professional campaigns, he's never been directly involved in under 31 goals in all competitions, and he has contributed to 40, 41 and 39 in his last three seasons.Yet in 2015-16, Muller's stardom has reached even greater heights.Formerly a second-tier star behind Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery, he's become as big a name in the Bayern squadas any. And that's for good reason. He's well on course to shattering personal records for a club that looks to be a contender for trophies in three competitions.Traditionally, Muller's goals:assists ratio has fluctuated but generally maintained a level in the region of 1:1. Last season, he tallied 21 goals and 18 assists. This season, per Transfermarkt, he's already scored 20 goals himself. However, he's assisted just four. The ratio of goals:assists is at its highest ever, at 5:1.On current pace, Muller will not even come close to exceeding his personal best of 20 assists, which was set in 2011-12. However, he's already closing in on his career-high of 26 goals, set in 2013-14. And the season isn't even half-over yet.Muller's increased goals tally may have something to do with his being more regularly deployed in a central role off main striker Robert Lewandowski; it's the position in which he started his career, although until this season, he would often play on the right wing or as a lone center forward.Having a permanent central position leaves him better placed to put the ball in the net, and playing with a formidable striker in Lewandowski also means Muller will be less focused upon by defenders and more able to find space to run into as he is so famous for doing.With Robben often injured this season and Douglas Costa proving to be a creative wizard, Bayern have needed more goals from Muller than assists, and the 26-year-old has provided. However, it's not that he hasn't tried to set up his teammates.According toSquawka, he's already created 30 chances for teammates in Bundesliga action this season, just 10 below than his 2014-15 tally. The difference is that other Bayern players were about five times as likely to score from his set-up passes in 2014-15 than they have been in the current season. This isn't to say Bayern's finishing has declined, but it suggests iteitherisn't quite as sharp from Muller's service or that he isn't making as clear-cut chances.Otherwise, by the numbers, Muller has been remarkably consistent this season relative to the last. He's shooting more often, and with slightly less accuracy compared to last season. In the 2014-15 Bundesliga, Muller was on target with 61 percent of his attempts, an average of 1.31 per game compared to his 0.84 misses per game. In the current campaign, he's put 58 percent of his shots on target, averaging 1.64 per game compared with 1.21 misses per game.The biggest difference in his shooting is he's scored much more often with his attempts on goalthat stands at 32.5 percent this season, up from 18.8 percent the year before.Muller is much more than just a finisher or player of the final ball, and he often plays a significant role in the build-up. His passing accuracy is up from 72 to 76 percent relative to last season, and he's also completed an average of 1.17 passes per game more than he did in 2014-15.It's not a huge difference, and his average pass length (15 meters) is the same as yesteryear.It's noteworthy that Muller is playing the long ball at a significantly greater rate in 2015-16 than he did last season and headed passes much less often. In the last campaign, he completed just 20 long-range passes and headed 45. Already he's reached a teammate from afar on 14 occasions and nodded the ball to teammates only 12 times. These differences may be explained by Bayern moving to a more direct approach to football, transitioning quickly and requiring a bit more in terms of long-range passing.The most important aspect of Muller's game is his productivity in front of goal, and by the numbers, he's having yet another brilliant season. Arguably football's most consistent player over the last six years, he's producing similarly in most every way compared to last season. However, his efficiency in finding the net with his chances on goal has dramatically improved.He should break the 30-goal barrier for the first time in his career with ease. He could well hit 40 or even 50 in all competitions. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo beware: Muller is a real contender for scoring honors and, although snubbed yet again for the Ballon d'Or, may one day snag the award if he continues on his current trajectory.@Mr_Bundesliga
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