Against Lazio Rome and Mainz 05, the record champions‘ defence showed itself to be stable again after recent shaky performances. Coach Thomas Tuchel made changes in central defence and opted for Eric Dier and Matthijs de Ligt instead of Minjae Kim and Dayot Upamecano. Bayern legend Klaus Augenthaler has now commented on the Bayern defence and called for more understanding for Kim.
Augenthaler told tz München: „When Upamecano and Kim played together in central defence, you could see their individual skills. But they lacked what makes a good defence: coordination.“
In his view, the language barrier also plays a role with Kim: „In terms of communication, it’s not so easy for Kim. He comes from South Korea, moved from China to Turkey, from there to Italy and last summer to Munich.“
„He had to learn a new language every time. You shouldn’t underestimate that!“ said the 1990 world champion. Kim moved from SSC Napoli to FC Bayern for €50 million in the summer of 2023 and has since featured in 28 games. However, the South Korean has yet to take on the leading role he had hoped for.
„Automatisms not 100 per cent in place“
In the 66-year-old’s opinion, the defensive performance against Lazio Rome and Mainz was better again: „But I don’t think it’s just down to the individual defenders. In my opinion, the automatisms were not 100 per cent there.“
From Augenthaler’s point of view, too much has been tried out, partly because the results have not been right: „The big question for me is: Who is the leader in defence?“
He added: „I thought Upamecano could be the boss. He has everything: he’s strong in the air, quick and strong in tackles. But he was always criticised for mistakes that led to chances or goals conceded.“ Upamecano is too inconsistent in the eyes of the Bayern legend.
