New roles for BVB stars: Kovac gets extra options | OneFootball

The international break may have handed Niko Kovac a new option at BVB. Two Dortmund defenders in particular gained experience in unfamiliar positions with their national teams. Daniel Svensson moved over to the right side for Sweden, while Kauã Prates was even used in central defense for Brazil.

A change of position is nothing fundamentally new for Svensson. The Swede is mainly used by BVB as a left wing-back, but this season he has also already played as a left center-back and on the right flank.

Among other matches, Kovac used a system with inverted wing-backs in the Super Cup against Bayern Munich, which saw Svensson and Ryerson switch sides. After that, however, both returned to their usual flanks.

Svensson was now once again deployed as a right-back for the Swedish national team. In the 3-1 win over Poland, the 24-year-old played the full match on the unfamiliar right side and put in a solid performance there: despite an early yellow card, he won 71 percent of his duels.

That could certainly be interesting for Kovac. If Julian Ryerson, who was substituted after just 16 minutes against Wales, is indeed unavailable, BVB would have another option in Svensson, who also knows the role from the national team.

That means Svensson may not only be able to provide relief on the left side in the future. His experience on both flanks expands the BVB coach’s options — especially when the squad requires improvisation.

Prates in central defense

Kauã Prates’ role was even more unusual. The 18-year-old summer signing has played 55 minutes in three appearances for BVB this season. In each case, he was used on the left wing. During the international trip with Brazil’s U20s, however, he was deployed as a center-back.

In the 4-1 win over Denmark, Prates played around 60 minutes in the heart of the defense. The position is not entirely unfamiliar to the youngster, though. He has also been used as a center-back on several occasions for Brazil’s youth teams.

Photo: IMAGO

This gives Kovac another possible option. In the long term, Prates could serve not only as an alternative to Svensson on the left side, but potentially also as an option in a back three. At 1.84 meters tall and with his strong left foot, the Brazilian at least has some of the attributes needed for that role.

This could give Kovac some valuable additional options. Over the course of a long season in particular, flexible solutions like these can prove crucial when injuries, suspensions, or workload management make personnel changes necessary.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.