[OSEN=우충원 기자] Bayern Munich’s legend ignored Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), but local media chose Kim Min-jae as the world’s best central defender.
German soccer legend Lothar Matheus selected and announced the best 11 for the first half of the 2023-2024 Bundesliga season through Sky Sports Germany on the 24th (Korean time).
Matheus selected 11 players who showed the best performance after 16 rounds.
Matheus did not select central defender Kim Min-jae of Bayern Munich, who is competing for the lead in the Bundesliga. Mateu selected all Leverkusen players as his best 11 defenders.
The four defenders of Leverkusen’s back four, Alejandro Grimaldo, Edmond Tapsoba, Yonatan Tha, and Jeremy Frimpong, were the best 11 in the first half selected by Matheus.
Matheus’ positive evaluation of the Leverkusen players continued. Matheus formed a midfield with Ezekiel Palacios, Florian Wirtz (Leverkusen), Xavi Simmons (Leipzig), and Leroy Zane (Bayern Munich), and the front line attackers included Seru Ghirassi (Stuttgart) and Harry Kane (Bayern Munich). pulled out In goalkeeper, Gregor Kobel (Dortmund) was chosen by Matteus.
Among the 11 players, there were 6 Leverkusen players, while the only Bayern Munich players were Kane and Jaune.
Of course, Leverkusen can be evaluated positively because they are leading the Bundesliga with 13 wins and 3 draws this season. Since this is a team that is on an undefeated streak, it is natural that they receive high praise.
However, Bayern Munich is also fiercely competing for the lead with 12 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss. However, Matheus only paid attention to Leverkusen’s upward trend.
‘Bayern Munich legend’ Matheus, Kim Min-jae ignored again
In particular, Matheus applauded Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso. He highly praised Coach Alonso, saying, “Coach Alonso has actually done great things that many people would not have believed Leverkusen could do. We had a really good transfer market and all the new players we signed were 100% successful.”
However, it is clearly difficult to understand that Kim Min-jae was not selected. This season, Bayern Munich is having a difficult time due to an increase in injuries to its central defense.
Kim Min-jae’s partners, Dayot Upamecano and Matthias de Ligt, both suffered injuries. However, Kim Min-jae consistently protected Bayern Munich’s defense. Moreover, considering the team’s situation without a professional defensive midfielder, it deserves a higher score.
Kim Min-jae also surpasses Tapsoba and Ta in terms of playing time. Bayern Munich played one less league game than Leverkusen, but Kim Min-jae played more.
This season, Kim Min-jae played 1,903 minutes in 22 games across all competitions, Ta played 1,851 minutes in 23 games, and Tapsoba played 1,705 minutes in 22 games.
Minjae Kim moved to the Bundesliga after a successful European big league debut in Naples. Kim Min-jae was recognized as the best player in the first year of his move to Serie A Naples and brought the team the Scudetto. And in recognition of his abilities, he was transferred to Bundesliga giant Bayern Munich.
A difficult schedule continued. After completing his basic military training, he immediately moved to Germany to prepare for the new season. He continued his abysmal schedule.
On the 9th, they were unable to avoid responsibility for the crushing 1-5 defeat by allowing 5 goals in the away game against Frankfurt.
However, he proved his worth after just one game. Kim Min-jae led the team to a 3-0 victory against Stuttgart on the 18th, the very next round. Kim Min-jae blocked all of the opponent’s attacks throughout the 90 minutes with quick, predictable defense, active pressure, and quick space coverage. Both Girash (second in Bundesliga scoring (16 goals)) and Denis Undab (8 goals) were blocked by Kim Min-jae’s impenetrable defense and could not even record effective shots.
He also performed well in attack. Kim Min-jae scored his Bayern Munich debut goal by heading a corner kick from Aleksandr Pavlovic in the 18th minute of the second half. In fact, multiple goals were even possible. In the 24th minute of the first half, Kim Min-jae hit Pavlovic’s free kick with his head and hit the net. However, due to a video review (VAR) defect, offside was declared without being properly confirmed.
German media such as Kicker and Bild gave Kim Min-jae a thumbs up, saying he was the best.
The Abend Zeitung praised, “Kim Min-jae dominated the air alone, regardless of whether he was in the front or the back. It was the best game in Bayern Munich.”
In addition, Sport 1 applauded, saying, “The monster comes to life,” and “He silenced the doubters by showing his best performance in an important top-tier match against Stuttgart.”
Nevertheless, it seems that it was not enough to change the mind of ‘poignant speaker’ Mateus. He spoke bitterly towards Kim Min-jae last September as well. Matheus harshly criticized the team after the draw (2-2) against Leipzig, saying, “Kim Min-jae is not yet as good as we expected. He is an ‘anxious factor’ for Bayern.”
Of course, Matheus does not have a good relationship with Bayern Munich, where he played.
Matheus repeatedly made comments such as “Bayern Munich is no better than the days of Julian Nagelsmann” and “Coach Thomas Tuchel will lose control of the locker room if he makes a mistake”, thereby infuriating the team.
In the end, there was a big conflict with coach Tuchel. After the 4-0 win against Dortmund last month, he said, “There are cracks in the team and no progress, so how did we win? Mateus will know. Say whatever you want. We won 4-0. Now the story has changed 180 degrees. “You have to do it. Do it well,” he said angrily.
Coach Tuchel disappeared after speaking harshly towards Matheus. Mateus couldn’t even speak.
“Kim Min-jae, the world’s No. 1 center back.”
Of course, excluding Mateus, the local evaluation of Kim Min-jae is great.
Whoscored.com, a soccer statistics media, selected Kim Min-jae as one of the best 11 in the first half of the Bundesliga. He had an average rating of 7.14 on WhoScored.com.
Sports Kida also explained, “Kim Min-jae is not only physically strong, but also possesses composure and technique,” and added, “He has been consistently playing as a starter even after transferring to Bayern Munich. He has excellent ability and leadership in protecting the back line.” In particular, Sports Kida selected Kim Min-jae as the world’s best center back.
Sports Kida said, “The era in which center backs only play defense is over. The traditional stereotype that center backs only play defense has been broken. Center backs in modern soccer must have technical proficiency, ball-playing ability, and a tactical understanding of the game. “We can survive. We also need the sophisticated ball control, accurate passing, and positional play of modern center backs who operate as cogs, which are important in the build-up,” he explained.
He added, “This evolution of center backs brings dynamism to the game. Center backs in modern soccer contribute greatly to not only the solidity of defense but also the fluidity and creativity of the entire team’s play.” Sports Kida praised Minjae Kim, saying he is the best player. / 10bird@osen.co.kr
2023-12-26 02:44:18
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