performance against Bayern Munich but has denied he
was picking on any specific team-mates.
Mats Hummels has denied singling out Borussia Dortmund
team-mates for criticism following a 5-1 Bundesliga thrashing
at the hands of Bayern Munich.
The centre-back was furious with his side's failure to implement
their tactics in the crushing defeat away to Pep Guardiola's side
on Sunday - specifically their inability to counter long passes
from Jerome Boateng, which led to two of Bayern's goals.
Hummels, however, insisted he was not attempting to focus
blame on individuals and accused the media of manipulating his
comments.
"I am used to words being used in recent years so they fit into a
headline," he said ahead of Germany's Euro 2016 qualifier away
to the Republic of Ireland.
"After the match against Bayern I didn't use one word to criticise
single players.
"I only talked about one tactical issue and I did not exclude
myself from that. In fact, I said that [Robert] Lewandowski was
quicker than Sven Bender and myself. But that hasn't been
written. Of course, it would not have been fitting for the story."
Hummels went on to wish former Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp
success ahead of a likely move to take charge at Liverpool.
"This won't be a big surprise, but I consider him a great coach,"
he said.
"If you think about what could be his next step after Dortmund,
the club that people are talking about at the moment is one that
comes to mind.
"I am interested in what he does next. I will keep my fingers
crossed for him to have similar success to what we had with
Dortmund."
The 26-year-old also hailed Germany centre-back partner
Boateng ahead of the world champions' meeting with Ireland, in
which they can guarantee their place at Euro 2016 with a draw.
"Boateng is one of the best centre-backs in the world. Maybe
you could even go a step higher with that quote, but I don't
watch other players regularly enough.
"I am a big fan of Jerome and the way he plays. He improves
every team he plays in."
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