Everyone is acknowledging Kim Min-jae, and Kim Min-jae is proving himself.
Bayern Munich won 4-3 against 메이저놀이터 Liverpool in a pre-season friendly match held at the Singapore National Stadium in Singapore at 8:30 pm (hereinafter referred to as Korean time) on the 2nd. The tense match ended in Munich’s victory thanks to Frans Kratzik’s winning goal at the end of the second half.
Kim Min-jae started two consecutive games following the Kawasaki Frontale match. Unlike the last game where he played with Benjamin Pavard, Minjae Kim’s partner against Liverpool was Dayo Upamecano. Like the Kawasaki match, Kim Min-jae played as a left center back and was responsible for the team’s defense. In the scene where he allowed Cody Gakpo the opening goal, he made the mistake of giving space behind him due to forward defense, but later made up for his mistake by blocking Mohamed Salah’s shot.
Afterwards, Kim Min-jae completely washed away the mistake with an assist. In the 33rd minute of the first half, he connected an accurate long pass to Serge Gnabry, who ran forward, and Gnabry calmly finished after passing Joel Matip and scored the chase goal. Munich, riding on momentum, faced halftime with Leroy Sane’s equalizing goal before the end of the first half. Kim Min-jae was substituted for Matais de Ligt at the start of the second half.
Coach Tuchel also gave thumbs up to Kim Min-jae’s performance. When asked at a press conference after the game how he felt about having world-class center backs on his team, Coach Tuchel said, “It’s an easy question. If you weren’t great, you wouldn’t have been on our team.” Currently, Munich has outstanding center backs such as Kim Min-jae, The Licht, Upamecano, and Pavar.
Coach Tuchel believed in Kim Min-jae right after he joined Munich. After Kim Min-jae’s joining, coach Tuchel said, “Kim Min-jae showed a fantastic performance at Naples last season. Kim Min-jae has an unusual career, joining Naples after going through China and Turkey, but this is the part where you can see Kim Min-jae’s quality. Kim Min-jae He is tall, fast, and really reliable. Minjae Kim has had a flawless season. He is the perfect replacement for Luca Hernandez.
Subsequently, in the video released on Munich’s official channel, coach Tuchel approached Min-jae Kim, hugged Min-jae Kim and stroked his cheek, showing affection and saying, “You will be able to do really well here. I am very happy that you are here. You will like life in Munich. promise,” he said.
This is Kim Min-jae, who has been building trust since the preseason. Prior to the match against Liverpool, Kim Min-jae also showed his strength in the match against Kawasaki in Japan. Even if it wasn’t 100% condition. Kim Min-jae enlisted for basic military training at the beginning of last month after the end of last season, and after training for about a month, he was discharged at the beginning of this month. Afterwards, he took a vacation and joined the Munich pre-season training, but his condition and game sense fell due to training and vacation. Coach Tuchel and Minjae Kim also acknowledged this. Kim Min-jae made several pass misses, including at the beginning of the game.
Nevertheless, Kim Min-jae clearly showed his strengths. After threatening the opponent’s goal with a header from a corner kick in the 7th minute of the first half, in the 11th minute of the first half, after cutting off the opponent’s attack from a high position, he drove the ball and immediately joined the attack, went up to the left side of the box and made a cutback pass to a colleague inside the box. gave up Minjae Kim’s pass did not result in a goal, but Munich won a corner kick in this attack. It was a scene that confirmed Kim Min-jae’s strength of attacking ability.
In the 29th minute of the first half, he gave the ball to the opponent due to a defensive miss, but Kim Min-jae quickly returned and cut the ball off. It was a defense where Kim Min-jae’s recovery ability shone. In this way, Kim Min-jae showed his strengths several times in his debut match, although his condition did not improve clearly, and his debut match was compliant. Kim Min-jae played 45 minutes and was replaced by Upamecano. Munich won with Josip Stanisic’s winning goal in the second half.
Expectations for Kim Min-jae are high within Munich as much as coach Tuchel. After the announcement of the recruitment of Kim Min-jae, Munich posted a post containing information about Kim Min-jae through the club’s homepage. Although Kim Min-jae developed into a world-class defender last season, this post was for fans who lacked information related to Kim Min-jae.
Munich said, “Kim Min-jae always played as a starting player no matter what team he played for. Kim Min-jae was 190 cm tall and showed a strong performance in aerial competitions at Napoli. He won 92 aerial competitions in the league last season. Among the defenders, It was a record that corresponds to second place. And I scored two goals only with my head,” explaining that Kim Min-jae’s ability to compete for the ball in the air is excellent.
He continued, “Kim Min-jae excelled in competition situations last season. He has a 63% competition success rate across all competitions. Also, in 35 league games, he allowed the opponent’s dribble only five times.” It was also pointed out that the dribble breakthrough was not well tolerated.
In addition, Munich said, “Kim Min-jae is a player with build-up ability in addition to defense. Kim Min-jae has a pass success rate of 91% in all competitions, and last season, among field players in the top 5 European leagues, the most forward passes (1,057). ) and the third most passed player (2,547),” he also mentioned Kim Min-jae’s build-up ability.
After Munich started to take an interest in Kim Min-jae, they quickly approached and even reached an individual agreement. When the summer transfer market opened following the early Manchester United transfer rumors, Munich jumped into the competition to recruit Kim Min-jae, and has maintained the lead ever since. Although Manchester United had been linked with Kim Min-jae earlier, they could not beat Munich in the recruitment match. In the end, the final winner with Kim Min-jae was Munich.
On the way, Min-jae Kim had to come to Korea to receive basic military training, but it is known that Min-jae Kim’s overseas agent constantly contacted Munich and negotiated to reach an agreement. Munich was willing to pay Kim Min-jae’s buyout amount, and captivated Kim Min-jae by offering him a high salary.
Munich put their heart and soul into the recruitment of Kim Min-jae. In order to quickly complete the recruitment of Kim Min-jae, the club’s medical team was dispatched to Korea on the date of Kim Min-jae’s discharge from the training center, and Kim Min-jae’s medical test was conducted in Korea. This was unusual, and the German media who saw Munich’s move even used the expression “crazy medical test.”
It was expected that the official would come out immediately after the medical test, but it was quiet for a while. There have been many speculations and explanations about this. Federico Fedele, a famous Italian agent, appeared on ‘Radio Marte’ and said, “Why is Kim Min-jae’s transfer to Munich delayed? This is likely due to Munich’s strategy. Munich probably wants to save money.” In order to save this money, he said he was trying to pay Kim Min-jae’s buyout later.
In fact, the news came out that Munich paid Kim Min-jae’s buyout right before the expiration of the buyout clause for Kim Min-jae. On the 14th of last month, the Italian media’Coreere dello Sport’ said, “Kim Min-jae is not on the list of defenders in Napoli. He said that Munich had triggered the buyout clause for Kim Min-jae.
Immediately after joining, Kim Min-jae seems to have captured the hearts of his teammates and coach Tuchel. Germany’s ‘TZ’ said, “Kim Min-jae became Munich’s role model after rejecting coach Tuchel’s proposal. New player Kim Min-jae is in the middle of the Munich training camp,
This was because of Kim Min-jae’s attitude. Kim Min-jae was enjoying his vacation after coming out of the training center after completing basic military training earlier this month. He was resting in Korea and spending his personal time. Kim Min-jae was able to join the team according to Munich’s Asian tour schedule while enjoying his vacation more, but he chose to join the team first despite Munich’s offer. In addition, Kim Min-jae participated in training immediately after joining, and it was inevitable to leave a good impression on the team.
‘TZ’ said, “Kim Min-jae did not want to waste time in the process of becoming the defensive boss, and politely declined the club’s offer to join the Asian tour. Kim Min-jae would rather prepare for the season at full speed than enjoy a vacation. He explained that Kim Min-jae chose to join early instead of enjoying a vacation.
In this way, Kim Min-jae is building the trust of coach Tuchel and his colleagues with his good attitude and good performance. This is why Kim Min-jae’s life in Munich is expected.