European players winning in Asia are certainly very commonplace. But Asian players making it big in Europe? Not many. In the previous decade, there were the names Park Ji-sung and Shinji Kagawa who were able to shine at the highest level of European football. Apart from that, there are several names such as Keisuke Honda, Yuto Nagatomo, to Son Heung-min who are able to compete in Europe’s top leagues. Now, one name appears in a position that rarely gets attention, namely Kim Min-jae. South Korean center back who plays for Napoli.
Kim Min-jae’s name began to be discussed a lot when Napoli this season played very dominantly from the start of the season. The climax when Napoli managed to confirm their third Scudetto as well as end their wait for 33 years. Not only that, they have locked the title since Week 33 of Serie A which shows Napoli’s dominance over other teams. Luciano Spalletti’s team has accumulated 80 points that their competitors have not been able to catch up with.
The Serie A title that Napoli won this season was arguably an absolute victory and very dominating. Napoli until week 33 was the team with the most goals (69 goals), the highest average ball possession (62 percent), the most touches in the final third (6349 touches), and the most touches in the penalty box (934 touches). Not only that, Napoli is also listed as the team that rarely concedes goals. They only suffered 23 goals until week 33.
When compared to last season, they still have a difference of eight goals conceded. In fact, the number of goals scored this season is still lower than last season’s total. That is, an important aspect that was able to bring Napoli to the throne of Serie A champions is defense. So it is natural that the name Kim Min-jae is in the main spotlight for his contribution to the Napoli defense line.
No wonder the coach, Luciano Spalletti, rated Kim as the best defender in the world. “Kim does at least 20 incredible things per game, for me he is really the best centre-back in the world. When he starts running with the ball at his feet, he can put it in the opponent’s penalty area within five seconds,” said Spalletti after the match against Atalanta (12/3).
An important criterion when assessing a defender (especially a centre-back) is of course defensive attributes. The center back’s main task is to prevent opponents from getting close to dangerous areas to score goals. Therefore, defensive attributes such as dueling ability, block, intercept, tackle, sweep, and some attributes that are more cognitive (field control, ability to read the direction of attack, and so on) are the main criteria.
It is true that today’s football judges defenders not only by their defensive attributes, but also by their ability to assist attacks. This is the impact of a shift in style of football which is far more positional. Almost all players are involved in all phases. Starting from the phase of attack, defense, to the transition. A defender is forced to contribute to the attack. Likewise, an attacker must be willing to be involved in a defensive system. Even defenders with certain roles prioritize attacking attributes rather than defensive attributes (eg wing-back).
Therefore, in football that is currently developing, a defender who has complete attributes (defense and attack) is certainly a big gift for the team he defends. This completeness is clearly seen in Kim Min-jae. He is able to combine the main sources of power in football, namely physical strength, technique and intelligence and then apply them in the phases of attack, defense and transition in a balanced portion.
When defending, Kim indirectly intimidates the opponent before facing him. With a posture of 190 cm makes him very strong in air duels. It is proven that Kim is the player with the third most aerial duel wins in Serie A (until Week 33) with a record of 87 duels won. This ability is certainly not only useful when defending, but also when attacking to threaten opponents from headers.
Intelligence-wise, Kim is quite adept at reading the game (especially in transition moments) combined with decision-making and aggressiveness. This attribute is important for a centre-back because they have a wider field of vision than other players (excluding goalkeepers). These attributes make Napoli quite comfortable when attacking because Kim always gives calm.
In addition to his quite complete defensive attributes, Kim has another very useful attribute for the team, namely his ability to play as a ball playing defender. He was recorded as the player who most often sent passes into the final third (185 passes) until Week 33 of Serie A. Even though he played as a central defender. This record beats other players who are in position is more up front like Stanislav Lobotka, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, even Nicolo Barella.
A ball playing defender is almost always a requirement for centre-backs playing at the highest level and Kim is able to play that role well. Not only with bait, Kim was able to contribute to Napoli’s attack by dribbling. Indirectly shows that Kim’s mindset when building attacks is very simple. Pass to a friend when an opponent is approaching, dribble if no opponent is approaching.
If an opponent makes a high press, Kim always finds a way to pass the ball to the next line by means of a combination of passes, long balls or dribbling. This ability makes Napoli very comfortable planning attacks from the back line.
ASL
