Hummels’ Bench Seat Divides Roma – Coach Juric: “My Fault, Not His”

Still without use

Mats Hummels’ free transfer to AS Roma was celebrated as a transfer coup for the Serie A club in the summer. Last season, the 35-year-old was one of the best defenders in the Champions League and reached the final with Borussia Dortmund. The 2-0 defeat against Real Madrid was the world champion’s last competitive game to date, and he will not play in the Italian capital. This causes unrest and criticism of coach Ivan Juric.

In the 1-0 win against Dynamo Kyiv in the Europa League, Hummels was on the bench for another 90 minutes on Thursday evening. For the seventh time since he signed at the beginning of September, he remained without a game despite being in the squad. Before kick-off there were reports that the German would make his debut. Instead, the established central defense around ex-Frankfurt player Evan Ndicka (25), Mario Hermoso (29) and Zeki Çelik (27) played again.

Coach Juric, who has only been in office for just over a month, had to face questions about his decision after the game and explained: “He has the attitude of a great professional. I’m not using him at the moment, but he never misses a training session.” At the moment, however, he sees the Frenchman Ndicka a little further ahead, who is “growing from game to game. I didn’t want to change much defensively. Hummels’ time will come and I am convinced that he will do us a great service. The fact that he’s not on the pitch yet is my fault and not his.”

In fact, there is currently no major reason for changes in defense. Against Kyiv, Roma kept a clean sheet for the fourth time this season and only conceded eight goals in eleven competitive games. Nevertheless, the fans seem to be waiting for the newcomer to play. According to Corriere dello Sport, Hummels’ name was cheered during the announcement of the team line-ups before the game, while there were whistles for Juric.

The next chance to play is on Sunday in the away game against Fiorentina (8.45 p.m.). When asked about a possible personnel change, Juric said: “I still have to decide, I can’t say exactly. We need Hummels and I want to see him in games, we have to decide when the time is right. I’m seriously thinking about it.”