After competing for European titles under Jose Mourinho, Roma promptly fired arguably the greatest manager of all time at the first sign of trouble, which was a problem created by a lack of offseason investment from one of European football’s worst ownership groups.
That same ownership group lucked into one of the best up-and-coming managers in Serie A in club legend Daniele De Rossi, only to fire the former Roma defensive midfielder early this season at the first sign of trouble again.
As Roma toil in the middle of the Serie A table with no tactics, a poorly constructed squad, and an anemic attack, club supporters are left to watch as the organization disrespects a third modern day legend of the game.
Roma signed Mats Hummels this past summer after his defensive heroics led Borussia Dortmund to an unlikely Champions League Final, and he was pushed out of the club he helped turn into a powerhouse a decade ago because of a manager on a power trip who also drove club legend Marco Reus out of the club, too.
Hummels chose Roma over competitive bids from other notable Serie A suitors like Bologna, but he has frustratingly yet to feature in a game for the Giallorossi despite his obvious talent and the fact that the club are starting very attacking wing back Angelino at center back.
New Roma manager Ivan Juric addressed the bizarre and total lack of minutes for the club’s main summer upgrade at center back in rather disrespectful fashion, via Fabrizio Romano, “It’s my responsibility, I see him as a back up option for Ndicka; he will have his chances.”
Evan N’Dicka is a solid center back, but Hummels has consistently outperformed him throughout his career, including in the same league in Germany. Further, any questions about Hummels’ lack of athleticism at 35 years old are mitigated by playing in a back three where he has less ground to cover.
Hummels could easily start over Angelino now that he is fit. There is place for Hummels in the Roma starting lineup, especially after the season he had with Dortmund in 2023/24, and to pretend otherwise is blatant disrespect from Juric, a manager who should not be coaching the Giallorossi in the first place.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.