German soccer and Bayern Munich legend Lothar Mateus 62 once again turned a blind eye to Kim Min-jae 27, Bayern Munich.
Mateus selected and announced the best 11 players in the first half of the 2023-2024 Bundesliga through Sky Sports Germany on the 24th. He selected 11 players who showed the best performance as of the end of the 16th round.
Among the 11 players Matheus chose, none was Kim. He deployed all of his defenders as Bayer Leverkusen defenders. Alejandro Grimaldo, Edmond Tapsova, Yonatan Ta and Jeremy Frimpong, who are guarding the rear of Leverkusen, were listed as the best 11 players in the first half.
Two Leverkusen players were also included in the midfield. Matheus made up of Ezekiel Palacios, Florian Birz hereinafter referred to as Leverkusen, Xavi Simmons Leftich, and Leroy Zane Bayern Munich, and picked Seru Girasi Stutgart and Harry Kane Bayern Munich as the front line strikers. Gregor Covel Dortmund was chosen by Matheus as the goalkeeper.
Of the 11, six were Leverkusen players, while only two were Bayern Munich players _ Kane and Janne. The result is somewhat understandable.
Leverkusen leads the league by posting 13 wins and three draws in 16 matches. It is also the only undefeated team in Europe's top five leagues. Bayern Munich also posted good performance in 15 matches with 12 wins, two draws and one loss, but is four points behind Leverkusen, which played one more match.
Matheus applauded Leverkusen coach Xavi Alonso. "Alonso has actually done a great job that many people would not have believed Leverkusen could do. He also praised the move, and all of the new players were 100 percent successful."
However, it remains to be seen that Kim Min-jae was eliminated. Despite the fact that his partners Dayo Upamecano and Mathias the Licht were injured, Kim consistently defended his defense against Bayern Munich. Moreover, he deserves a higher score considering the team does not have a professional defensive midfielder.
In terms of playing time, Kim Min-jae is better than Topsova and Ta. Bayern Munich played one less league game than Leverkusen, but Kim Min-jae played more. Kim Min-jae played 1903 minutes in 22 games overall, while Topsova played 1,705 minutes in 23 games. This shows how big a part Kim Min-jae occupies in Bayern Munich.
Kim Min-jae was named the best center back in the world in 2023. Global sports media "Sports Kida" named Kim Min-jae as the best central defender of the year. "Kim Min-jae not only has physical strength but also has composure and skills," the media said. "He has been a starting pitcher even after moving to Bayern Munich. He has excellent ability and leadership in guarding the rear line."
Soccer statistics media "Huscoord dotcom" also picked Kim as the best 11 player in the first half of the Bundesliga. Kim earned 7.14 points on average in 15 matches in the league, taking a spot in the three-back along with Odilong Kosunu and Ta Reberkusen, 7.01 points.
Kim Min-jae finished 2023 perfectly. Since joining Bayern Munich last summer, he has been forced to 'hellish' and faltered little by little in the winter. In particular, he was unable to avoid the responsibility of the 1-5 defeat by allowing five runs away from Frankfurt on the 9th.
However, he proved his true value in just one match. Kim led his team to a landslide 3-0 victory against Stuttgart on Wednesday, the very next round. Kim defended his opponents' attacks throughout the 90th minute by banking on his fast-paced predictive defense, aggressive pressure, and fast space cover. Girash and Dennis Udav 8 goals, who ranked second in scoring in the Bundesliga 16 goals, were blocked by Kim's strong defense, failing to even post effective shots.
He also displayed superb performance in his offense. Kim scored his debut goal for Bayern Munich when he headed a corner kick that Aleksandr Pavlovic sent up at the 18th minute of the second half. In fact, he scored multiple goals. Kim also shook the net at the 24th minute of the first half when he hit Pavlovic's free kick to his head. However, he was declared offside even without properly checking it due to a faulty VAR.
The match was followed by a flurry of compliments. All local media including Kicker and Bild gave Kim one point, the highest rating, while Avent Zeitung praised him, saying, "He dominated the air by himself, regardless of front and rear. It was the best match in Munich." "Sport 1" also applauded by saying, "The monster comes to life. He displayed his best performance in an important high-ranking match against Stuttgart and silenced those who doubted him." 스포츠토토
Nevertheless, Matheus seems to have fallen short of changing his mind. He also spat out bitter remarks at Kim Min-jae in September. After the draw against Leipzig 2-2, Matheus harshly criticized that "Kim Min-jae is not as good as we expected him to be. He is Bayern's unstable factor."
"Kim Min-jae needs to get used to the Bundesliga first. I don't think badly of him. But he has not met my expectations yet, considering the great honor he gained in Italy," he continued to criticize.
In fact, Mateus has a bad relationship with not only Kim Min-jae but also the entire Bayern Munich team. He constantly criticized his former team, blurring the mood, and pointed out several players. He offended Bayern Munich by saying, "There is nothing better than the days of Julian Nagelsmann," and "Coach Thomas Tuchel will lose control of the locker room if he does something wrong."
In the end, he had a big conflict with Tuchel. After his landslide 4-0 victory against Dortmund last month, Mateus said, "How did you win when the team was broken and there was no improvement? Mateus will know. Tell us what you want. We won 4-0. Now we have to tell a story that has changed 180 degrees. Do your best." Mateus, who was sitting next to him, panicked and tried to settle the situation, but he couldn't keep Tuchel away from the microphone.
