German 2014 World Cup winner Mats Hummels took his turn to weigh in on the current Borussia Dortmund crisis while speaking at a press event prior to the forthcoming Europa League clash between AS Roma and Eintracht Frankfurt. Hummels – relayed by Kicker via quotes from ntv and RTL – declined to mince words.
“Some things one can see coming,” said Hummels. “Some issues don’t develop in a few weeks, but are rather indicative of long-term problems. I think it’s now become clear that this stems from a confluence of issues that have been around for a while.
“I had a lot of internal discussions [about said issues while at Dortmund],” Hummels continued. “[It’s good to see] such issue coming to the forefront.“
One surmises that Hummels referenced the fact that the BVB squad – as is common knowledge – wasn’t on the same wavelength with previous trainer Edin Terzic. Moreover, the common complaint from Bundesliga observers that the BVB front office is overloaded with too many bosses surely irked Hummels.
Hummels – sitting alongside Roma head-coach Claudio Ranieri – also noted that he looked forward to facing “old friends” in Frankfurt colours during Thursday’s Europa League fixture at the Stadio Olimpico. A reunion with former Dortmund teammates Mario Götze, Mahmoud Dahoud, and Ansgar Knauff beckons.
Former German national team colleague and current head-coach Kevin Tapp also came up when an Italian journalist brought up the fact that centre-back Hummels had scored five goals against Frankfurt in his career.
“It’s important that Trapp knows that,” Hummels remarked with a sly grin.
GGFN | Peter Weis
