Kim Min-jae talks about his first season in Munich…“I’m not satisfied, I’ll be stronger next year”
Kim Min-jae reflects on his tumultuous first season in Germany’s top flight at Bayern Munich.
Kim won the Italian Serie A title with Napoli last season, making him one of the best center backs in Europe and beyond. His performances at Napoli earned him a move to Munich in the summer transfer window last year, where he was able to ‘step up’ to a world-class club.
In the early days of his career, Kim played a lot of games in a controversial manner. With his center-back partners Matthias Dürich and Dayo Upamecano suffering from injuries, Kim was given the chance to shine, and it looked like he would conquer Italy and then Germany.
However, Kim’s position began to falter in January, when he was away for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) 2023 Asian Cup in Qatar, and given his absence and the form of the existing center backs, Tottenham Hotspur signing Eric Dier pushed him into the starting lineup.
Munich head coach Thomas Tuchel preferred a center back like Dyer, who could hold the line and distribute the ball reliably, rather than a defender like Kim who could clear the line and get out in front to actively mark opposing attackers.
As he played fewer games, Kim struggled to maintain his form. On a few occasions, Kim looked uncharacteristically out of sorts, including a costly mistake in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinal against Real Madrid, his first start in a long time.
After a disappointing season in many ways, Kim reflects on his first season in Munich. German media outlet T-Online published an interview with Kim on Tuesday (July 20).
“As a defender, I always played with conviction,” Kim said of Tuchel’s criticism of him after the Real game, according to T-Online. But in Munich, that 바카라 quality was not always required, so I was confused about myself.”
The media asked, “Why is Kim Min-jae internally conflicted? Kim is known for his aggressive defense and aggressively winning the ball. This is one of the reasons why he was named the best defender in Serie A last season with Napoli. With this style of defense, he was a monster and feared by opposing attackers,” explains Kim.
“There were many times when I didn’t play with confidence during the game, and I was hesitant. I tried a lot to show the coach what he wanted me to do,” he said, adding that he tried to be what Tuchel wanted him to be, but it didn’t work out as well as he had hoped.
“As an athlete, you always think a lot about the end of the season. What did I do right, what was lacking, what was needed,” he said, adding, ”Personally, it 슬롯사이트 추천 was an unsatisfactory season. I think I need to improve even more next season,” he said, emphasizing that he needs to be better next season.
After the season, Kim will return home to South Korea to prepare for the June A match. The South Korean national soccer team will play Singapore and China in the fifth and sixth matches of Group C of the second Asian qualifying round for the FIFA World Cup North America 2026 in June.
Kim Min-jae, a key defender for the national team, is likely to play against Singapore and China. According to the Korea Football Association (KFA), the roster for the June A matches will be announced on June 27.
