Niko Kovac commits to starting Emre Can against Bochum | OneFootball

Borussia Dortmund head coach Niko Kovac was surprising candid about his squad selections ahead of this weekend’s Bundesliga derby clash with VfL Bochum. The biggest reveals at Friday’s press conference revolved around his plans for BVB’s back-four.

Kovac, fully aware of the hellish criticism his captain Emre Can has been through over the past two seasons, took the opportunity to express backing for the skipper. Kovac committed to starting Can again in central defence over Waldemar Anton, just as he did in the recent Champions League victory.

Kovac did take care to emphasise that Anton’s UCL benching had nothing to do with the unfortunate own-goal the German national team centre-back scored against his former club in last weekend’s loss to Stuttgart. Moreover, Anton could still feature in the XI if Kovac switches to a back-three.

“It has nothing to do with own-goal [against VfB Stuttgart],” Kovac said. “Schlotti [Nico Schlotterbeck] returned with a strong left foot. That gave us the advantage. Emre is doing really well at the moment, so I’m very happy about that. We’ll leave it as it was in Lisbon for now.

“It still remains open what sort of defensive chain we play with,” Kovac continued. “I don’t want to commit to a specific system.”

A back-three nevertheless seems unlikely, in large part because Kovac doesn’t have a reliable option on the right-hand-side. Julian Ryerson must sit the encounter out suspended. Yan Couto – based on Kovac’s words – isn’t ready for a start yet.

Niklas Süle, who does have experience as a right back, returns from injury and may not yet be ready. The most likely scenario sees Kovac move Pascal Groß to right back, just as his predecessor Nuri Sahin did several times this season.

“Yan has only just come to the Bundesliga, so I need a little more time to get to know him better,” Kovac said of Couto. “He’ll get his minutes. The question is when and how quickly, but, as I said, I need a little more time.”

Anton did have experience playing as a right-back under former VfB Stuttgart trainer Bruno Labbadia during the 2022/23 campaign, but Labbadia’s experiment was widely regarded as a total failure. The new summer addition hasn’t played on the right side since.

GGFN | Peter Weis