2023-12-25 21:31:00
[OSEN=노진주 기자] ‘Iron Pillar’ Kim Min-jae (27, Bayern Munich) was once again ignored by Lothar Matheus (62), who is considered a club legend.
On the 24th (Korean time), the global sports media ‘Sports Kida’ selected and revealed the five center backs who showed the best performance this year and announced that Kim Min-jae was number one among them. However, Munich legend Matheus ignored Kim Min-jae. He was not included in the best 11 for the first half of the 2023-2024 Bundesliga season.
First, ‘Sports Keyda’ explained that the reason Kim Min-jae was selected as the world’s best center back this year was that he contributed greatly to the club’s first win in 33 years at Naples in the Italian Serie A in the 2022-2023 season before moving to Munich this season.
He added, “Kim Min-jae is not only physically strong, but also possesses composure and technique. He has been consistently playing as a starting member since moving to Munich. He has an excellent ability to protect the back line. He also has leadership.”
After Kim Min-jae, the second-place center back is Manchester City’s Ruben Dias. He contributed to Manchester City’s triple win last season. 3rd place is David Alaba (Real Madrid), 4th place is William Saliba (Arsenal), and 5th place is Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool).
Kim Min-jae, who transferred from Fenerbahce (Turkiye) to Napoli ahead of the 2022-2023 season, contributed greatly to his former team Napoli’s first Italian Serie A win in 33 years with his unwavering defensive ability. With that ability, he wore the Munich uniform just before this season.
In Naples, Kim Min-jae was honored with the Player of the Month Award by the Serie A Secretariat in September of last year and the Player of the Month Award by the Italian Football Players Association in October due to his consistent performance throughout the season.
Kim Min-jae was ‘officially’ recognized for his performance. Last June, Italian Serie A selected Kim Min-jae as the best defender in Serie A for the 2022-2023 season. This was the first time that the Serie A Best Defender Award, which was first established in the 2018-2019 season, went to a member of the winning team. In addition, Kim Min-jae became the first Asian player to receive this award.
Thanks to his performance in Naples, Kim Min-jae signed a five-year contract with ‘Germany’s prestigious club’ Munich last July. He is playing as a starter in Munich this season.
Kim Min-jae, who has been consistently appearing as a starter, scored his Bundesliga debut goal in the 15th round home game against Stuttgart on the 18th. Kim Min-jae, who started alongside Dayot Upamecano in the match against Stuttgart (3-0 win), led the team to victory with overwhelming performance in offense and defense.
Kim Min-jae showed off his solidity by blocking Stuttgart’s attacks repeatedly from the beginning. He blocked Denis Undab’s shot inside the box in the 9th minute of the first half with hand-to-hand defense, and quickly blocked the opponent’s counterattack attempt in the 19th minute of the first half. A minute later, he crossed the center line and cut the ball away with strong pressure.
The net was also shaken. In the 24th minute of the first half, Aleksandar Pavlovic took a free kick, and Minjae Kim finished with a header. However, due to a video review (VAR) defect, offside was unfortunately declared. It is reported that some cameras were broken and it was not possible to properly check whether it was offside or not.
Kim Min-jae also dominated the air in attack. He headed Pavlovic’s free kick in the 10th minute of the second half, and Harry Kane finished it off with a header again. After the game, the official Bundesliga website acknowledged Kim Min-jae’s help. It was the first point of attack in Munich. However, a day later (the 19th), Kim Min-jae’s ‘help’ record disappeared. It appears to have been corrected.
After a performance that was nothing short of helpful, he even scored his Munich debut goal. In the 18th minute of the second half, Kim Min-jae jumped into a corner kick raised by Pavlovic and put his head on it, and the ball hit the defense, deflected, and was sucked into the goal. It was a goal created after overcoming an unfair goal being canceled due to a VAR glitch. The fans who filled the Allianz Arena chanted “Kim.”
After that, the ball stopped in front of Kim Min-jae. He cut off the opponent’s pass with a quick tackle in the 22nd minute of the second half, and moments later, he read Seru Girashi’s movements in advance and blocked the forward pass.
Stuttgart looked for an opportunity with Girashi, who is second in Bundesliga scoring with 16 league goals, and Undab, who has eight league goals. However, he was powerless in front of the ‘Iron Wall’ Kim Min-jae. Both Girashi and Undab didn’t even have effective shots.
The person who received the most spotlight after the game was Kim Min-jae. In 90 minutes, he scored 1 goal, 93% pass success rate (39/42), 1 successful dribble, 1 successful long pass, 1 successful tackle, 6 clearances, 6 interceptions, and 6 recovery of possession. It flew wild as I recorded it. Football statistics media ‘Foot Mob’ gave him a rating of 8.6. The ‘sofa score’ was 8.2 points, giving it the highest score among players on both teams.
All German media gave it the highest rating of 1. ‘Kicker’ and ‘Built’, who always give scores, also gave Minjae Kim 1 point and selected him as the best player of the game.
After the game, soccer statistics company ‘WhoScored.com’ also selected Kim Min-jae as one of the best 11 in the first half of the Bundesliga on the 22nd. He earned an average rating of 7.14 points in 15 league games, occupying a place in the three backs along with Odilong Kosunu and Ta (Leverkusen, 7.01 points).
Earlier on the 19th, Kim Min-jae also heard the news that the Bundesliga Secretariat had selected him as one of the best 11 in the 15th round. He earned one defensive spot on the roster, which consisted of a 3-5-2 formation.
However, Kim Min-jae did not receive the ‘Best 11’ rating from Mateus.
Matheus selected and announced the best 11 for the first half of the Bundesliga through ‘Sky Sports Germany’ on the 24th, and instead of Kim Min-jae, the list was made up of Bayer Leverkusen defense.
Alejandro Grimaldo, Edmond Tapsoba, Yonatan Tha, and Jeremy Frimpong, who guard Leverkusen’s rear, were named in the best 11 of the first half selected by Matheus.
There were also two Leverkusen players included in the midfield. Matheus formed a midfield with Ezequiel Palacios, Florian Wirtz (Leverkusen), Xavi Simmons (Leipzig), and Leroy Zane (Munich), and selected Seru Ghirassi (Stuttgart) and Harry Kane (Munich) as the frontline attackers. . In goalkeeper, Gregor Kobel (Dortmund) was chosen by Matteus.
Among the 11 players, there were 6 Leverkusen players, while the only Munich players were Kane and Jaune.
It’s a list that makes you nod your head to some extent. Leverkusen is the sole leader with 13 wins and 3 draws in 16 league games. They are the only undefeated team in Europe’s top five leagues. On the other hand, Munich is performing well with 12 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss in 15 games, but is 4 points behind Leverkusen, who have played one more game.
Even so, Kim Min-jae’s elimination remains somewhat disappointing.
Kim Min-jae consistently defended Munich’s defense even as his partners Upamecano and De Ligt alternately fell due to injuries. Moreover, considering the team’s situation without a professional defensive midfielder, it deserves a higher score. But he was ignored.
Kim Min-jae also surpasses Leverkusen’s Tapsoba and Ta in terms of playing time. Munich played one less league game than Leverkusen, but Kim Min-jae played more. Across all competitions, Kim Min-jae played 1,903 minutes in 22 games, Ta played 1,851 minutes in 23 games, and Tapsoba played 1,705 minutes in 22 games. This is a point where you can see how big a role Kim Min-jae plays in Munich.
Mateus also set his sights on Kim Min-jae last month. He pointed out that “Kim Min-jae is not yet as good as we expected. He is an ‘anxiety factor’ in Munich,” and added, “Kim Min-jae must first get used to the Bundesliga. Considering the great honors he has achieved in Italy, he has not yet lived up to my expectations. “I couldn’t do it,” he pointed out.
However, afterwards, Kim Min-jae performed well with his debut goal, which evaporated such criticism. Mateus also seemed to refrain from criticizing Kim Min-jae and excluded him from the best 11 in the first half of the year. /[email protected]
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