Hummels Finally Set to Make His First Start with Roma | OneFootball

Barring late surprises, Mats Hummels will make his first start with Roma. Evan N’Dicka is out for the clash with Union St. Gilloise due to an illness. Mario Hermoso is missing as well. Ivan Juric would have to go out of his way not to give him the nod.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the German veteran is on the radar of some Bundesliga sides since his Italian sojourn hasn’t gone well. It’ll be up to him to prove that he desires to stay, both on the pitch and outside. He has had a few snarky remarks on his social media pages already. He was saddled with an own goal in his lone appearance so far.

Juric has motivated his exclusions by saying that he preferred N’Dicka over Hummels in the middle of the defense, and Angelino as a left ‘braccetto’. His stance has limited the potential playing time for him and fellow free-agent acquisition Hermoso.

That could change under a different coach, as the Croat is hanging by a thread. The defender finished 29th in the recent Balloon d’Or voting after contributing to Borussia Dortmund’s deep Champions League last season. He has 115 appearances in the cups. Roma will lean on his experience as they try to make ground in the Europa League group stage.

Our Take on Hummels

Conditioning was the main reason at first, but he should be up to speed at this point. Juric has been stubborn with his choices, especially since the wing-backs haven’t given him a lot. He could have easily moved Angelino there and N’Dicka, who isn’t a pure anchor of a three-man line, to the left-hand side of the rearguard.