Bundesliga News

Matthäus questions Boateng signing: "The time of Kevin-Prince is over."

By Peter Weis   @PeterVicey

German footballing legend Lothar Matthäus questioned Kevin-Prince Boateng's role at Hertha BSC during a Sky Germany discussion round on Wednesday. 

The 34-year-old Charlottenburg native also had a training ground dust-up with head-coach Pal Dardai yesterday, though the capital city club quickly smoothed things over on social media. 
Kevin-Prince Boateng (right) with Hertha boss Arne Friedrich.
Kevin-Prince Boateng (right) with Hertha boss Arne Friedrich.Photo: City-Press GmbH/Hertha BSC
Kevin-Prince Boateng's return home made for one of the offseason's biggest storylines. Thus far, however, it doesn't appear as if the 34-year-old has assisted the team leadership-wise in quite the manner that was hoped for. The midfielder has yet to get his name on the scoresheet.


Back issues have also ensured that he's been unable to play the full 90 minutes in any of his seven competitive appearances. Boateng has started just five times in eight league/cup ties, never making it past the 60th minute mark.

Speaking on Sky Germany, German football legend/commentator Lothar Matthäus questioned whether sporting CEO Fredi Bobic was wise to bring him in to the team this summer. Bobic also picked up the elder Boateng brother on a free when he was in charge at Eintracht Frankfurt in 2017.

In Matthäus' opinion, circumstances were quite different back then.

"Of course, Fredi and Kevin-Prince benefitted from another in Frankfurt," Matthäus said on Wednesday, "but the time of Kevin Prince--who was an outstanding player--is over."

"What role does Boateng have?" Matthäus went on to ask rhetorically, "Is he supposed to lead the team on the pitch or in the locker room? Is he supposed to be an extension of the coach's influence? These are things that the players also wonder about."


When it came to Hertha's direction in general, Matthäus spoke of "administrative competence without a clear purpose".

"Where to they want to go?" Matthäus asked, "I'm not sure what's going on and perhaps the players don't know either."

German media cameras caught Boateng and trainer Pal Dardai in a heated training ground exchange yesterday. Boateng apparently took issue with the coach whistling him down for being offside.

Hertha released no formal statement about the scuffle, but did post a picture of the two together on its social media feed in an effort to show that the two had made up.

Tensions run high for "die alte Dame" of the country's capital. Hertha have lost four, conceded twenty goals, and sit in 14th place in the Bundesliga table.




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