Don't mistake Tillman’s shyness: the American midfielder is happy to let his game do the talking
His voice may not rise often but, for a split second, a burst of passion comes out. That's because he has a confession to make: he knows what people think of him.
Tillman is naturally quiet, but he has become very aware of what his shyness portrays. He knows how it's perceived when he doesn't bat an eye, yell or react when things don't go his way or, more importantly, his team's way. He knows that there's a segment of U.S. men's national team fans that see him walking off the field emotionless and wonder one thing: why doesn't he feel this as much as we do?
From the outside, it may look like he doesn't care. Tillman sees that, feels that and understands that, but he's also determined to set the record straight.
Malik Tillman does, in fact, care, perhaps more than even those closest to him realize.
"Some people say I'm not interested in the game just from the way I look," Tillman tells GOAL, "but it really is more or less the other way around. That's just how I express myself. I'm a chill guy, and that's also me on the pitch. I might seem relaxed or seem like I don't care, but it really is the other way around.
"I mean, this is just how I am. This? This is how I can be the best I can be."
Tillman is reaching a point where the USMNT will need him to be at his best. With new coach Mauricio Pochettino leading the charge, there are big expectations now being placed on Tillman's shoulders, including from the coach himself. On the club level with PSV, Tillman is the best he's ever been. He's third in the Eredivisie with four goals and he leads the Dutch league in chances created with 21. The goal of being at the 2026 World Cup is in sight, particularly if he continues on the path he's currently on.
Tillman doesn't talk about his goals much. In fact, he doesn't talk about anything much. He generally keeps to himself, both on the field and off of it. Don't mistake his shyness for meekness, though. As he looks to make his mark and seize opportunities for club and country, he has one more message to send:
"As soon as the game comes, for me, I'm not afraid of anyone," he insists.
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'He was always a bit shy'
There isn't a person in this world who understands Tillman quite like his older brother, Timothy. There's a bond there, naturally, like all brothers have. In many ways, though, the Tillmans' bond is different.
That's because, for nearly their entire lives, Malik Tillman followed his older brother, who is three years his senior, just about everywhere, both figuratively and literally.
Born in Germany to a German mother and American father, Timothy Tillman emerged at the academy of Greuther Furth. Malik Tillman did, too. When older brother moved to Bayern Munich in 2012, younger brother came as part of the deal. It wasn't until 2020, when Timothy Tillman returned to Furth before then joining LAFC, that the two were separated. For nearly their entire young lives, the Tillmans did everything together.
So who better to ask than the elder Tillman: was your brother always like this? Was he always so reserved?
"He was always a little bit shy," Timothy Tillman tells GOAL. "Especially when we were younger, we just would just tell people, 'He's very shy'. Now that he's older, we just know that he's very quiet. It's not really that he's shy; it's just he's not a very outgoing person.
"That doesn't mean he doesn't care about things, and he's more talkative with me than with other people, but yeah, he's always been like that, and I'm not sure if that will change at any point in his life.
"He wants to achieve things, and that's why he puts so much pressure on himself. He just wants to reach things without talking to someone about it or without someone knowing it before he does it. If you're not very outgoing, then you just have to deal with everything by yourself. He's always been like that, and he has done some great things so far. He has his circle, and I feel like towards us, he is talking about those things, but he's not very open."
The younger Tillman brother agrees. There are so many things that the two have in common, including their profession, but there are many differences between them.
"He's very chill, too but he's more open, more active," Malik says. "He's not really the opposite. He's the same as me, but we're also so different in a lot of ways."
Soccer has always united them, from childhood to adulthood and, while it's taken them on different paths, it also brought them both to America.
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The American experience
After spending five years in Germany's youth setup, Tillman made the bold call in 2022 to switch to the USMNT. It was seen as a massive win for the U.S. This wasn't a player with no future with one country joining another for playing time. No, there were those in Germany who felt frustrated to lose out on a player of Tillman's talents.
He officially made the switch in 2022. One day later, he earned his first cap in a 3-0 win over Morocco in Cincinnati. He traveled to Kansas City and Austin soon after, getting his first real taste of life as an American soccer player.
The first big change? His name. Pronounced Mal-ick in Germany, Tillman's name was Americanized to Ma-leek almost immediately.
"I told the guys here, that's how you pronounce it in America, so I'll go with it while I'm here," he says. "They also call me that now at PSV, too."
That summer of 2022 was an introduction for Tillman, regardless of how folks pronounced his name. Born and raised in Nuremberg, those first few games were his first big taste of America and, even looking back on it, he still feels that sense of being just a little bit overwhelmed.
"My first experience being here, I told everyone this country is too big," he says with a laugh. "Everything is just bigger here than it is in Europe. For example, the highways! It's so different. I can't really explain it. Just everything is bigger, everything is further away."
Tillman hopes to travel through the country someday, like really travel. Due to his schedule with club and country, there isn't much time to really see America. He often jets into a city, hangs at the hotel, plays and leaves. Someday, maybe he can see these cities, live them, experience them.
"I've been more or less to the same cities every time," he says. "We just stay at the hotel. We might look around a few blocks when we take a walk, but that's it."
Tillman, like all dual nationals, does feel the push and pull that come with that status. Like other USMNT stars Yunus Musah and Folarin Balogun, he also experienced the wave of recruitment. He saw the flags and eagle emojis on his social media posts, as is now a tradition for any rising star who's eligible to wear red, white and blue.
They made him feel welcome, but they also made him feel pressure to prove that he really was the guy fans wanted in Stars and Stripes. He never outwardly showed it because he hardly ever does, but Tillman was aware of the weight that came with being labeled as the USMNT's recruit of the moment.
"Before, it's like people hop on the hype train," he says, "but then, after that, I would say you put pressure on yourself as well. That's quite normal. You always have high expectations of yourself, so it's the same when you play for your club."
He added, "For me, it's not really different, obviously changing nationality is different, but you have high expectations of yourself, and you just have to try to do the best you can."
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Pochettino's Dele challenge
Since making his USMNT debut in 2022, Tillman has earned 15 caps. He's yet to score in a USMNT shirt, though. It's a wild statistic given how prolific he's been with PSV, particularly this season as he's scored four goals in eight games as a No. 10.
In a way, though, those 15 caps don't really matter anymore. All that matters is the next one.
That's because Mauricio Pochettino has arrived and, upon his arrival, he had a clear message for Tillman. He also had a role model to point him towards to show him the way.
"When I first came in, he immediately spoke to me," Tillman says. "He says that, when he's watching my game, he sees a little bit of Dele Alli. It's an amazing feeling because everyone knows he's a big coach. He's done amazing at Tottenham."
Pochettino laughed when asked about the comparison. It's true, he says: there are similarities there. Both are 6'2", lanky playmakers. Both can influence games with goals and assists. Pochettino believes that Tillman, like Alli, has the potential to be a game-breaker.
"When we talk about talent, they maybe have similar talent, but they come from different backgrounds. Malik, we need to use our experience to challenge him to try and compete in this way," Pochettino explains. "If Malik competes in a way that is similar to Dele Alli, he has the capacity, the talent, the body, the power…everything. He has character that he needs to express a little bit more, but he has that talent."
Alli was unplayable between 2015-18, scoring 37 Premier League goals while providing 26 assists from a midfield position during that span. He's had his struggles since but, make no mistake: At that time, there were few midfielders in the world better than England's rising star.
Tillman isn't there yet. His nine goals and 10 assists last season in the Eredivisie was a start. So, too, are his five goal contributions so far this season. Pochettino challenges Tillman to be more, though, and he can provide his young midfielder with the perfect case study.
"Dele Alli was an animal," Pochettino recalled. "Very competitive. He was unbelievable. When he arrived at 17 years old from MK Dons, it was impossible to stop him. We're not even talking about football; we're talking about competing. He was killing everyone: teammates and opponents. Sometimes we had to stop him and tell him to be calm.
He added: "Don't take it in a bad way. [Tillman]'s an amazing talent, but we want him to be better and better. Whether it's [Christian] Pulsiic or a different player, we need to help them be better and better."
Tillman is up for the challenge. He appreciates the comparison and wants to prove his new coach right. And, along the way, he wants to make an impact with the national team in ways he hasn't quite been able to just yet.
"He's coached amazing players and he wants us to reach the top," he says. "It's all about winning games. With him, you have to have the mentality to just win games. That's all we care about, and that's how we should see and how I should see the game."
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Enjoying the moment
In the end, there's something that Timothy Tillman wants the world to know about his brother. It's something he's come to learn during their lives together. He, more than most, understands how his younger sibling can be, but he also wants the world to see his brother the way he does.
"I think a lot of people don't get that you could really have just a good time with him," he says. "People tend to think, 'Okay, yeah, you can't really have fun with this guy because he's so quiet and not really outgoing'. Even when he does fun stuff, he's not expressing himself a lot, so people think, 'Okay, he's not enjoying it', but he really is enjoying it. He's always just really enjoying the moment."
That's how the man himself sees it, too. He very much tries to live in the present. He doesn't dwell on the past, nor look at the future and its implications. As a game is being played, that's usually where his head is at: on the game.
That's why he often comes off as aloof or uninterested. That's why those who don't know him question what he thinks of it all. He rarely comes out and says it. All that's left to do is assume.
The next time fans see him, Tillman hopes they assume he's just doing his thing. He's just being who he always was: quiet, reserved, introspective. He may never be the face of the USMNT. He may never be a vocal leader or an emotional heartbeat. To him, that's okay. That's not him.
And, the next time fans see him, Tillman hopes that they know that he's enjoying it all just as much as they are. The highs, the lows and the rollercoaster of it all… the ride is fun. It even makes him crack a smile once in a while.
"If you think about it, yeah, you've been working your whole life for this moment," he says, "but as soon as you're in the moment, you feel like, 'Oh yeah, this is going quickly'. This can all happen quickly and it cannot. It can also change quickly again, too. I just live through the moment. Maybe, after my career, I will say, 'Yeah, I've been, I've been working hard for this, for these moments'. Right now, I'm just glad I'm a part of it."