Müller on Kim: “I haven’t seen him like this at Bayern yet” | OneFootball

For South Korea, Minjae Kim is the undisputed leader of the defense—something that hasn’t been evident at Bayern Munich lately. Thomas Müller has closely observed the difference at the World Cup and speaks openly about what he felt was missing in Munich.

While Kim has recently fallen short of expectations at the German record champions, the center back has been a key figure in South Korea’s defense at the World Cup. Müller, who is covering the tournament as an expert for MagentaTV, last saw Kim in action during his home country’s 0-1 loss to Mexico early Friday morning—and drew a clear comparison to Kim’s performance at Säbener Straße.

“He has that confidence there; he’s the undisputed number one in South Korea’s defense. He’s a star there. That gives him the confidence to also be a leader,” Müller said of the 29-year-old. In Munich, he had seen a different side of the defender. There, Kim had come across more “as one might expect from players from South Korea or Japan: raised to be rather reserved and to first assess where he stands.”

Müller pinpointed the decisive difference in a specific play against Mexico. Kim had “organized a push to move the offside line back up. That’s an interesting observation, which may be logical—and yet I would have preferred things to be different at FC Bayern.”

Kim continues to struggle in Munich

This is exactly the kind of leadership Müller expects from a center back: “When he sees that the defensive line needs to move up,” the “alarm bells” should go off and “he should tell everyone: up, up, up. I haven’t seen that happen in Munich yet.”

Müller, however, has no doubts about Kim’s soccering ability. Kim is “a very, very good defender—especially when it comes to tackling, aggressiveness, and running duels—there’s no doubt about that. That’s why he’s the undisputed number one and a leading figure in South Korea’s defensive lineup.”

Photo: IMAGO

Müller also assessed Kim’s situation at FC Bayern. In his second year, the defender “had a bit of trouble adjusting to his new role at the beginning” and had most recently been used more often as a substitute. “Even though he didn’t play that much and was mostly a substitute, I really liked what he brought to the field when he came on for FC Bayern. I got the impression that he adapted quite well to that role,” Müller said.

On top of that, there were physical challenges. Kim had “repeated minor Achilles tendon issues during his first season, which was very demanding.” According to Müller, less playing time might even help the defender: “Maybe it’s actually good for him physically to be thrown into the rotation every now and then.” Kim joined Munich from SSC Napoli in 2023 for 50 million euros and is under contract with FC Bayern through June 2028.