Eric Dier (Bayern Munich), who played alongside Kim Min-jae, is receiving harsh criticism for lacking speed.

Bayern Munich won 3-2 against St. Pauli in the 27th round of the 2024-2025 Bundesliga at their home stadium, Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, on the 29th (Korean time).

With this victory, Bayern Munich continued to lead the Bundesliga with 65 points.

Bayern Munich saw Kim Min-jae return from injury to team up with Eric Dier as center backs. Jonas Urbi, Kim Min-jae, Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, Harry Kane, Leroy Sane, Dier, Michael Olise, Raphael Guerreiro, Konrad Laimer, and Jamal Musiala started as the best 11.

Currently, Bayern Munich's defense line is in tatters due to injuries. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is out indefinitely with a calf injury. Alphonso Davies has also suffered a serious injury with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. To make matters worse, Kim Min-jae's partner, Dayo Upamecano, is out for at least three months due to a knee injury.

Ultimately, Kim Min-jae, who had not fully recovered from his injuries, returned early and had to bear the brunt of the defense. This directly contradicted Bayern's recent policy of protecting players, which was set against various national teams. German media had reported that Kim Min-jae would return only around early April, as part of management considerations following the initial release from national team duty.

Indeed, Kim Min-jae had struggled with hamstring issues since October. His injury worsened before the March national team call-up, preventing him from coming to South Korea. Head Coach Hong Myung-bo expressed regret after learning about Kim Min-jae's condition and distancing himself from the call-up, noting that "there are issues with Bayern's player protection."

In Germany, it was remarked that if the South Korean national team was worried about Kim Min-jae, they should not have called him up since last October, leading to a blame game. It would have been contradictory for Bayern to start Kim Min-jae early in the match on the 29th.

Faced with limited options due to multiple injuries, they decided to play Kim Min-jae, who is not at 100%. While Bayern had cited player protection when calling up international players, they are now arguing that "we are the employers that pay the players' salaries." Bayern is also in conflict with the Canadian Soccer Association over Davies' injury.

While they won the match, Bayern felt the significant gap in their defense. In the game, Bayern displayed decent attacking strength, with Kane scoring in the 17th minute and Sane adding two goals in the 8th and 26th minutes of the second half.

However, the defense was a problem. The absence of regular defenders was felt during the first instance from St. Pauli. They allowed a quick counterattack in the 26th minute of the first half. Rather than stepping in during the absence of Davies, Guerreiro failed to prevent the opponent from comfortably crossing the ball.

In the ensuing situation, Kim Min-jae failed to cut the ball, and Dier could not properly maintain the offside line, allowing Elias Saad to score the equalizer without challenge. If Upamecano had been in for Dier, he might have reacted quicker to prevent the situation.

Additionally, Hiroki Ito, who returned to replace Guerreiro in the 12th minute of the second half, showed his usual fragility. While Ito could be considered the best player among Bayern's backup fullbacks in Davies' absence, his repeated injuries have hindered the team.

The challenging situation was also reflected in local media evaluations after the match.

On that day, Dier had 107 touches and a pass success rate of 96% with Kim Min-jae. He recorded one key pass, one interception, one tackle, and one block, and cleared the ball nine times. In eight ball contest situations, he won four.

European football statistics outlet SofaScore rated Dier as the highest among Bayern's defenders with a score of 7.1.

However, German media remained critical. Ran remarked about Dier’s performance against St. Pauli, saying, "He started in place of the injured Upamecano but there was a bigger problem than in the last game. The equalizer came too late," giving him a score of 4.

Sport noted, "Dier occasionally failed to cover the penalty area adequately. Saad, who scored the equalizer, was not challenged by Dier at all. Dier also showed passive behavior during the second goal situation."

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