Profiling Yan Couto and why he will be pivotal for Borussia Dortmund's success

With a new back-4 setup used against Bochum, Celtic, and Union, it could become a tendency for Sahin to maintain that same formation in the coming matches, which would give Couto more first-team minutes. Whether that trend would materialize or not, the Brazilian seems to have a promising future in Black-and-Yellow. There are some concerns regarding his game that we need to discuss, however.

Defending was never Yan's strongest suit, and he had a few shaky moments during his first performance at the Signal Iduna Park. His height and lack of physicality compared to Bundesliga forwards he has faced could be a more long term concern, particularly if that influences opponents to target him. But, despite those few moments, he was not directly involved in any conceded goals in both Bochum and Celtic matches.

As we discussed in a previous episode of the Dortmund Dispatch podcast, Couto was not the one to blame for Bochum's first goal, for instance. Waldemar Anton's early attempt to anticipate the attackers completely broke Dortmund's backline, which exposed not only Yan but the rest of the defense as well. During the Celtic match, Couto also had a hard time stopping Maeda at the left flank, but he did not make any critical mistake that ended up directly in goal concessions.