When Kim joined Bayern Munich, the team was already loaded with star defenders and had a relatively light schedule. You’d think he’d be able to rest more often, but in reality, he’s lucky to get a game off.
Kim started playing more than one game per week on the third day of the week, and the schedule will continue to be intense until mid-October. He made his first full-time appearance for Bayern on the 3rd against Mönchengladbach. He then played a total of 180 minutes in two consecutive A matches against Wales on the 8th and Saudi Arabia on the 13th. He also played a full match against Bayer 04 Leverkusen on the 16th, just three days after the Saudi game.
There’s a lot more to come. On the 21st, they host Manchester United in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) season. From there, it’s two games a week until Bochum on the 23rd, Prussia Münster at the DFB Pokal on the 27th, RB Leipzig on October 1, UCL Copenhagen on October 4, and Freiburg on October 9.
After that, it’s a similar schedule until the October A-Match, then two games per week, the November A-Match, and then mid-December. There are midweek games almost every week. In total, 27 matches are scheduled over 15 weeks. If Kim continues to play full-time for his club and national team, it will put a huge strain on his body.
Before his move to Bayern, Kim wasn’t sure if he would be able to compete for a starting spot, but now that he’s here, it’s a case of keeping him and choosing a partner. With the departure of Luca Hernandez (Paris Saint-Germain), Benjamin Pavard (Inter Milan), and Josip Stanisic (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), all of whom can play center back, and the arrival of only Kim Min-jae, the team has become incredibly thin. There are now only three center backs, Kim Min-jae, Dayo Upamecano, and Matthijs Derrikht. There’s an 18-year-old prospect, Tarek Buchmann, who came up from the second team, but he’s not considered a first-team option yet.
Furthermore, Diricht seems to have slipped under Thomas Tuchel’s radar after starting the season out of form. In his last two Bundesliga games, he’s been a late substitute in back-to-back games, and that was in a midfield role, not as a defender. After the Leverkusen game, Dürricht said, “What can I do,” but he was still determined. That leaves only two center backs, Kim Min-jae and Upamecano, who have the manager’s trust.
Playing too many games could be toxic for Kim in the long run. Since joining Bayern, Kim has been excluded from training after showing signs of stiffness in his groin. The injury was a result of Napoli’s intense style of play in the 2022-2023 season and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. There is a risk of it becoming a persistent injury.
Bayern are organized enough to use a variety of medical tests to determine if a player needs to rest. However, even if the medical advice is that Kim needs to rest, if they don’t have an alternative center back, 안전놀이터 they have no choice but to keep playing him every four days. Diricht needs to regain Tuchel’s trust and play in place of Kim more often than not.
After the last game of the first half on December 20, the Bundesliga will have a Christmas break. With four fewer regular season games than the other big leagues and no League Cup, the Bundesliga will take about three weeks off before returning in mid-January. Kim can use this time to rest his tired legs. Until then, it will be hard to leave him out of every must-win game. There are three matches in Pokal, and if they get a relatively easy draw, they can play without him several times. First up is Prussia Münster on the 27th, a team from the third division.