Players to Watch at the World Cup This Season: The Korean Monster Kim Min-Jae
I have a confession to make.
I am a long-time admirer of Kim Min-jae.
No, not the Korean actor of identical namesake who pops up when you Google his name. Speaking of Korean actors, I am actually quite the aficionado of South Korean cinema. But alas, that is a story for another day.
I am of course referring to the Napoli and Korean international center back Kim “Monster” Min-jae. As a fan of the South Korean national team, I have followed his career with great interest. Even more so than EPL Golden Boot winner Son Heung-min. Why?
South Korea are known to produce quality midfielders and attackers like Son Heung-min, Park Ji-sung, and Cha Bum-kun, just to name a few. But they have not produced as many quality defenders. There are some who have been successful in European football such as Lee Young-pyo or been named on Pele’s FIFA 100 like Hong Myung-bo. However, South Korea have not seen a premier defensive talent like Kim Min-jae in decades.
After his recent summer transfer from Fenerbahce, Kim has wasted no time in acclimating to Italy. He won the Serie A Player of the Month for September, leading Gli Azzurri to the top of the domestic table. His 96th minute block against AC Milan left even legendary defender Maldini in awe.
Ironically, the last time a defender won the Serie A Player of the Month was exactly one year ago in September 2021. Guess who was the winner then? Former Napoli center back Kalidou Koulibaly, the very person whom Kim had been brought in to replace.
Not a bad start to life in Italy for the 25 year old South Korean.
But not all Napoli fans thought Kim was capable of replacing Koulibaly at first. If only they had watched the Monster wreak havoc for the Korean national team and abroad.
Nationality and a lack of European experience aside, it is hard to see why Kim hasn’t generated more attention from top clubs.
Kim is a physically imposing CB at 6’3” (190 cm), but he is also mobile for his size. As seen in the graphic above, he was clocked at a top speed of 34.7 km/h at Fenerbahce last season.
Physically, he can deal with a variety of attackers. He is tall and strong enough to deal with target men yet quick enough to mark pacey wingers. He has the physical attributes of an ideal all around defensive stopper. And with his dominance in the air, he is a goal threat on set pieces. In only 10 Serie A games, Kim Min-jae has already scored two headers in his Napoli career.
At the World Cup next month, Kim will face quality players like he does in Serie A. Better quality than the likes of which he sees at the national team level.
So rather than taking a deeper look into his international appearances, let’s take a look at how he’s doing in Italy.
With Napoli, Kim has played as both a left-sided and right-sided CB in a back 4. This will come as a surprise to many Korean fans who are accustomed to seeing KMJ play at his preferred right-sided CB role.
There were some growing pains at the beginning as a result, but KMJ quickly settled. He has formed a solid partnership with Amir Rrahmani at the heart of the Napoli backline.
In terms of style, he is a clean defender. He likes to stay on his feet and goes to ground only when necessary. 0.5 fouls per game and one yellow card in 900 minutes in the Serie A exemplifies his ability to stay out of trouble. In 233 appearances across the club and national team level, he has never received a straight red card. And in 12,192 minutes for his club teams in Korea, China, Turkey, and Italy, he has only 21 yellow cards. This means he averages a yellow card around every 580 minutes.
Now, one might think a lack of yellow cards or fouls are the characteristics of a timid defender. With Kim, that is not so. Rather, it shows maturity, discipline, and control for a defender who knows when to be aggressive.
Here he is on a 1 v 1 against quick and tricky Liverpool winger Luis Diaz in the Champions League. For a man of his size, Kim displays great balance and fluidity, eventually using his power and agility to clear the ball away for a corner.
Keep in mind that only 10 Serie A games have been played. Still, it’s impressive to see that Kim has won 63% of his duels and 64.3% of his aerial duels so far. In fact, among all Serie A defenders he wins the most aerial duels per game (3.6). In addition, Kim also has the second most blocks (1.3) and is top 5 in clearances (4.5) per game.
Recently, when asked about his strengths as a player, KMJ listed “recovery ability” as a strength of his. Unfortunately for comic book fans, he isn’t talking about Wolverine type of stuff here. He’s referring to his reaction speed and how fast he recovers from bad positions or angles.
In the clip via YouTube user MShow below, Kim Min-jae recognizes he is closing in on the attacker at an awkward angle, so he adjusts his hips and body to get a better angle to win the ball.
He has very good instincts and can read the game well for someone with not much experience in top European football.
But from time to time, he lacks proper positioning as he himself has alluded to in interviews. Sometimes his elite recovery speed is needed because he puts himself in unfavorable positions.
However, with more experience against tougher opponents it would not be surprising to see him improve in this aspect. In any case, I don’t like to overly nitpick players and their weaknesses, especially when they have been so good. But it is always good to stay grounded.
In terms of technical skills, KMJ is no slouch. He’s averaging almost 89% in passing completion rate, including 92% on short passes (592/641). He’s 2nd among Serie A CBs in successful short passes behind only Milan Skriniar. While Kim isn’t bad at long passes (his 28/57 is comparable to Alessio Romagnoli’s 28/52), it could be an area of improvement for him.
That being said, KMJ isn’t the finished product. He can still develop evenfurther, and has plenty of room for improvement. That’s why I am looking forward to seeing him play in the World Cup, where he can play against elite competition in a high pressure environment.
South Korea will depend on Kim at the center of their defense, but it can’t just be up to him. One defender can only do so much. KMJ will also need help from his teammates in defense.
Kim Young-gwon, who famously scored the 91st winner against Germany back in 2018, will be his center back partner. And on the flanks, there will likely be former Hoffenheim left back Kim Jin-su and God-knows-who at right back.
Even a monster needs help.
And against the likes of Portugal and Uruguay in Group H , Kim Min-jae will need to play like one.
Sources:
WhoScored, https://analytics.soccerment.com/en/player/249621/kim-min-jae-1996-11-15/stats
MShow. “Kim Min-jae 2022/23 — Amazing Defensive Skills — HD”. YouTube, 19 Oct. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTGlSLridT4
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