Mats Hummels’ public criticism of his teammates at Borussia Dortmund recently made waves. The central defender’s grumbling offensive could also have consequences for BVB coach Edin Terzic.
According to business coach and ex-professional Mounir Zitouni, the conflict could become a problem.
“Because some rules have to be respected so that the team structure remains stable and an alpha man like Hummels doesn’t lose support in the group. If that happens and the coach doesn’t register it, it can also become a problem for Edin Terzic’s standing.” , wrote the 52-year-old in his “sports1“-Column.
Above all, it is important that the problems are addressed as early as possible. “It is imperative that criticism is expressed in a small group of the team or in person before it is expressed elsewhere,” Zitouni rebuked Hummels’ advance.
In addition, the proportionality must be right: “Is the occasion worth criticizing? How serious was the misconduct that I approach a colleague?”
Have there already been discussions internally “so that Hummels now had to ignite the next level of criticism from his point of view? Then he would certainly have the approval of many others in the team,” said Zitouni.
But Hummels could have scored points with the young players in particular if he had left it at general criticism and excused the mistakes of others in order to gossip about it internally,” emphasized the German-Tunisian.
“Frustration, defense and disloyalty” at BVB?
Zitouni also warned: “The fact that he, as the alpha, chose one of the weaker members (in the sense of the hierarchy) for his public criticism can certainly cause incomprehension from other team members if they feel that someone is taking an easy job instead of dealing with members of the same strength”
Hummels’ allegations can ultimately result in “defensive reactions”. “Public criticism usually only creates frustration, resistance and disloyalty,” emphasized Zitouni.