Football
Mark Rodden 8y

Borussia Dortmund CEO unhappy with Mats Hummels' criticism of teammates

Borussia Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke plans to have talks with Mats Hummels following the club captain's public criticism of his teammates.

Dortmund lost for the first time under new boss Thomas Tuchel when they were hammered 5-1 by defending Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on Sunday.

Two of Bayern's first three goals came from Jerome Boateng's long balls over the top of a visiting defence that was led by Hummels, 26, at centre-back.

After the game, the Germany international complained that Dortmund's tactics had specifically focused on stopping Bayern centre-back Boateng from playing such passes.

The comments seemed to suggest that Hummels felt he had been let down by teammates further up the pitch. They came a week after he had criticised the team following the concession of a late equaliser in the 2-2 draw against Darmstadt.

Dortmund boss Tuchel took issue with the former Bayern Munich player's remarks on that occasion, saying that he assumed that Hummels was not exempting himself from censure over how the home team had defended the second goal.

On Monday, Watzke made clear that he has not appreciated the club captain's recent statements.

"I think it's very important -- and I hope Mats does too -- that we should review these things internally," Watzke told Sport1. "That's what we'll do.

"What I have to say to Mats, I'll say to him in private. We definitely have to talk."

Speaking at a news conference ahead of Germany's Euro 2016 qualifier with Republic of Ireland, Dortmund midfielder Ilkay Gundogan felt Hummels' comments were of no real concern to the other players.

"I talked about this subject with Mats," Gundogan said. "I haven't seen the interview word for word. Mats only explained to me what he said.

"Honestly I found that what he said was not so dramatic. As captain he's the spokesman for the team and he has to comment on certain things.

"There's a difference between what you say openly and what you say internally but I believe Mats so to be honest I don't see it as being dramatic.

"I also think that not everything was properly reflected the way he said it so for me the issue is already done with."

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