Dyer, who was benched at Tottenham Hotspur, played as the main player for Bayern Munich last season in the second half of the year, but went back to the bench this season, when the head coach was replaced from Thomas Tuchel to Bang Sang Kompany. There is even talk that Dyer, who has been in hell with heaven for about eight months, may leave Bayern Munich.
Germany’s top soccer magazine Kicker published a report that sheds light on Dyer’s recent plunge. The media pointed out that Dyer is not adjusting to Kompany’s defensive system, which wants players to pressure opponents throughout the stadium.
In fact, Dyer is one of the representative players who has rapidly declined in position since Kompany took office. He emerged as the main center back under Tuchel last season and was in charge of Bayern Munich’s rear with Matheis Derricht, but this season, he gave up his main position to Kim Min-jae and Dayo Upamecano and spent longer sitting on the bench.
It is a picture that Dyer did not expect. Dyer, who was a teammate of Son Heung-min at Tottenham, left Tottenham in January when the 2023-24 season turned around, and wore a Bayern Munich uniform. At that time, Bayern Munich needed to reinforce its center back due to Diricht and Upamecano’s poor condition and Kim Min-jae’s participation in the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, and after searching for several candidates, decided to urgently loan Dyer.
Even when Bayern Munich recruited Dier, it was widely expected that the club would use him as a rotation resource, but Dier broke this expectation and became Bayern Munich’s main defender. Dier’s weaknesses, which were pointed out when he was with Tottenham, became rather an advantage for Bayern Munich. Tuchel trusted Dier because he had good chemistry with Dier.
Dyer, who quickly became the main player of the mega club, even transferred to Bayern Munich, meeting the conditions of the full transfer included at the time of the contract. Dyer, who became Bayern Munich’s main defender from Tottenham’s bench resources, must have been full of expectations that he would be able to play as the team’s main center back ahead of this season.
However, Kompany was a leader who had the exact opposite style from Tuchel. Kompany preferred center backs to actively compete with strikers rather than backing down, and instead used Kim Min-jae and Upamecano, who have good points in active defense, as the starting center backs, Dyer naturally went down to Munich’s three options.
In the recent game, Dyer’s position has changed from last season. Dyer played for about 10 minutes in place of Kim Min-jae, who was injured in the opening match of the German Bundesliga in 2024-25 against Wolfsburg on the 25th of last month, and on the 18th, it was used as a replacement card for Kim Min-jae’s physical strength in the UEFA Champions League match against Dynamo Zagreb.
There are even observations in the region that if Japanese defender Hiroki Ito, who is down due to injury, returns, Dyer may fall to four options.
“Dyer is likely to be the fourth of the center back options when Ito, who is currently undergoing rehabilitation after suffering a broken leg, returns,” Kicker said, predicting that Dyer’s position will become even narrower in the future. In addition, Dyer is one of the three who is dissatisfied with Kompany’s way of managing players. This is because Kompany does not see Dyer as a rotation member.
Another German media outlet Sport 1 reported that Kim Min-jae and Upamecano’s faster speed could be the reason why the two players are the main players. “Die is lagging behind (Kim Min-jae and Upamecano) in terms of speed in Kompany’s dangerous high defense line,” adding, “Die is also lagging behind (Kim Min-jae and Upamecano). Dier also lacks competitiveness in build-ups. He is known as a hard worker.”안전놀이터
The club, which didn’t even notice Kim Min-jae and Upamecano until last season, also seems to believe in the two players this season. Bayern Munich’s general manager Max Eberle praised the two players after the match against Werder Bremen, in which Bayern Munich won 5-0.