On Thursday (KST), Germany’s Sport1 published an article titled “How long should Kim Min-jae’s abuse last?”. ‘With Bayern’s defense thinned out, too much pressure is being placed on Kim Min-jae,’ the outlet said. ‘Kim has played 959 out of 990 minutes in the Bundesliga. In the four Champions League games, he played the full time in every match. I don’t see any recovery time in the A-match period. Kim Min-jae’s nickname is Monster. After winning the Scudetto (Italian Serie A trophy) with Napoli, Kim’s tackling and toughness quickly established him at Bayern. Now he faces a new challenge. He is the only player in Bayern’s thin defensive squad who is a consistent starter.레모나토토
Finally, Sport1 wrote: “Kim Min-jae has a busy schedule outside of the A-match period. He will play Singapore in his home country, the second Asian qualifier for the 2026 North and Central American World Cup, and then travel to China. Then he has to travel to Cologne in less than 80 hours. That’s 20,000 kilometers of traveling. The fatigue level is high, but Kim won’t complain. Still, the monster will tire at some point. Bayern should give him a proper rest.
As Sport1 pointed out. Kim Min-jae has been playing a grueling schedule lately. Not only did he switch leagues, but he also underwent basic military training before the season started. Last winter, he played in the World Cup in Qatar, and even then, he wasn”t 100%. He needs to be managed, but Bayern can”t afford it. There’s a reason. It’s because of the Bavarians’ misshapen squad. The Bavarians have only three center backs. Bayern spent a lot of money on Kim Min-Jae this summer. In the process, they lost Luca Hernandez and Benjamin Pavard to Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan, respectively. Josip Stanisic, who can play in the center or on the flanks, was also loaned to Leverkusen. Of course, the Bavarians have three big-name center backs in Kim Min-Jae, Dayo Upamecano, and Matthias Dürichtl, but it’s still a very thin squad for a team that competes in the league, Champions League, and FA Cup.
Mitchell Rumenigge, who played for Bayern, says: “Bayern neglected their defense when they bought Harry Kane. Tuchel has expressed concern about this many times and now they have a very thin squad due to injuries.” “Bayern want to make a lot of signings in the January transfer window, but there are no top players in the January window. Or you can get them for a ridiculous transfer fee. Bayern will spend very little money on players. Especially after spending so much money to sign Kane. Bayern’s season is not looking rosy,” he said. Former Germany midfielder Sami Khedira was also negative: “Bayern have a very thin squad. It’s good enough for now, but when we get to the Champions League tournament in March and April next year, Bayern could be in trouble. From the outside, it’s a thin layer of players. You always have to worry about injuries.”
This situation has put Kim in a precarious position. Naturally, his performance was not normal. It was an uncharacteristic roller coaster ride. Against Saarbrücken, Kim had a poor performance. He made a few bad passes and missed tackles that led to the opponent’s equalizer. On the day, Kim made one block, three clearances, one interception, 10 recoveries, two ground balls won, and two aerial balls won. In the buildup, he attempted 130 passes, completing 120 of them. That’s a passing success rate of 92%. He also made 10 passes into the attacking third and three long passes.
He received harsh criticism from various media outlets. “He made unnecessarily risky passes that led to Bayern Munich conceding goals,” said TZ. He often failed to focus on the buildup and was not aggressive with the ball. German outlet Sportschau noted that ‘Kim Min-jae’s mistake allowed Saarbrücken to equalize’. ‘Der Licht was the only center back left for Bayern Munich after the injury,’ said Spox. A sloppy pass from Kim Min-jae led to the equalizer. He had a lot of possession as usual, but couldn’t have done much better.
Tuchel was particularly vocal. In his post-match press conference, Tuchel said, “Franz was under a lot of pressure and his decision was definitely not good. He was in a 50-50 chance fight, but he could have kept pushing forward.” He blamed Kim for the first goal. “That happens to us too often. We take risks where we don’t need to. We take risks where we don’t need to, even though we want to play diagonally, we often get stretched too far,” he added.
Eventually, Kim had to prove himself again against Dortmund, and he did. From the start, the team’s strong man-to-man defense shut down the Dortmund attack. Kim also looked good offensively in the 35th minute, when he made a quick run forward and connected with a precise long pass to Sane on the left. In the 42nd minute, Marius Wolf tried to break through on the right side of the penalty box but was denied by an exquisite tackle. In the fourth minute of the second half, Royce continued his solid defense with a neat interception of a penetrating pass from a teammate. According to soccer statistics company Footmob, Kim had a total of 97 touches of the ball and a passing success rate of 91% (74 out of 81 attempts). He had two interceptions, five clearances, two headers, and one interception. He won two aerial contests.
After the game, Kim received decent ratings from various media outlets. He received a 7.5 from FootsieMob. In the defense, he was second only to Upamecano (7.8). He also received a 7.5 on Sofascore, behind Upamecano, who received a 7.6. He also scored a 7.6 on WhoScored.com. He has the 2nd best defensive rating on the team, behind Upamecano, who has a 7.8 rating. He had the third-highest rating on the team according to HootScore.com.
However, his fitness was an issue. In the last game against Dortmund, he was seen stretching his calf during the match. Against Galatasaray, he held his thigh several times. Of course, Kim Min-jae performed at a high level even in difficult situations. He made four clearances, one interception, and one tackle. He won 100% of his ground battles and won three aerial balls. Kim Min-jae did a great job defending against Galatasaray’s attacks.
But eventually, the limit came. Upamecano was sent off in the second half, and midfielder Leon Goretzka came on in his place. Kim Min-jae had to play a ‘one-back’ defense again. But his body wouldn’t listen. The final goal was typical. Cedric Bakambu, who played with Minjae at Beijing Guoan, ran into the box, and Minjae tried to compete but was outpaced. Or rather, he didn’t even chase him at all. It was an unfamiliar scene. With his explosive run and power, Kim has always had the upper hand on opposing strikers. However, he was not feeling well and was not sprinting at 100%. Germany’s Avent Zeitung said, “Kim Min-jae was too slow in the goal.” RAN also said, “Kim Min-jae was late to cover at the end of the first half. He was unable to react in the event of a goal.
Kim Min-jae has been performing at a high level despite the harsh conditions and one-man defense. While he hasn’t yet been as spectacular as he was against Fenerbahçe and Napoli, those who have watched him are still saying, “He’s still Kim Min-jae. Sites specializing in statistics based on real data are giving him a decent rating. However, the German media has a different opinion. The bilts and kickers are rated near the bottom of the list every game. In addition, Mateusz and even Tuchel have been harsh on Kim Min-jae. Coach Tuchel’s assessment of Minjae’s tactical burden and mistakes is harsh, to say the least.
Of course, Kim Min-jae is undoubtedly the best center back in the world. In addition to being recognized as the best center back in the world, he was also recognized as the best player in Asia. Kim won the AFC International Player of the Year award at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Awards in Doha, Qatar, on March 31. “The AFC International Player of the Year award was presented to Kim Min-jae after an extraordinary season in which he led Napoli to their first Serie A title since 1990,” the AFC said in a statement. The AFC International Player of the Year award recognizes Asian players for their best performances abroad. In short, he is recognized as the best player in Asia. Kim beat out Mehdi Taremi (Iran) and Kaoru Mitoma (Japan) to win the award for the first time in his career. It is the second time a South Korean player has won the AFC International Player of the Year award. Previously, Son Heung-min won the award three times in 2015, 2017, and 2019.
The AFC said: “Kim’s stock has risen significantly since his move from Beijing Guoan to Turkkiye Fenerbahçe in 2021. After his stellar form, Napoli decided to sign him before he had even completed a year with the club.” “He helped Napoli reach the quarterfinals of the European Champions League for the first time in club history and helped the team keep a clean sheet in 16 games. He scored two goals and provided two assists in 33 games as Napoli won their first Serie A title in 33 years. “A two-time K League champion with Jeonbuk Hyundai, Kim made his A-match debut in 2017 and played a key role in South Korea’s qualification for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, their 10th consecutive appearance in the tournament. He started three of the four matches in Qatar. Korea advanced to the round of 16 with an upset win over Portugal.