Waldemar Anton: The Backbone of Borussia Dortmund's Defense

Waldemar Anton does not shout often. When he does, Serhou Guirassy usually hears it first.

"It actually happens in every game that we shout at each other once," Anton said recently. It is part of their pact. They have known each other "so long that we can tell each other what we think on the pitch too, even if it might sometimes be a bit over the top," as the Borussia Dortmund defender put it.

On Saturday night in Stuttgart, Anton had every reason to let Guirassy know exactly what he thought.

A flash of anger, then total control

In the 74th minute of Dortmund’s 1-0 win at VfB Stuttgart, Guirassy ambled off the pitch too slowly for Niko Kovac’s liking. Under the new rules, Fabio Silva then had to wait 60 seconds before entering. For a full minute, BVB played with ten men. Kovac’s irritation was obvious on the touchline.

Anton did not waste the moment. He stayed locked on the task that has come to define him.

Back at his former club, in front of fans who still whistle and boo him every time he touches the ball after his abrupt switch to Dortmund two years ago, the 30-year-old had enough to contend with. The noise, the hostility, the subplots.

None of it broke him. None of it broke Dortmund.

The spine of Kovac’s new Dortmund

Defensive work has become a daily duty for this BVB back line since Kovac arrived. Now it looks like a finished product.

Last season, Dortmund already had the best defence in the league, conceding just 34 goals. Four matchdays into the new campaign, they have three clean sheets and sit joint top of the defensive table with Bayern Munich on only two goals conceded.

Anton stands right at the heart of that shift.

After a troubled first year in black and yellow, when two muscle fibre tears in quick succession sidelined him longer than ever before in his career, he has turned into what Kovac called months ago a "total constant" at BVB.

The coach rarely lets a microphone pass without praising his centre-back. Anton shrugs off titles like "defensive leader", but Kovac does not. Before the Champions League opener against Villarreal, he went all in: "He is a leader. Someone who leads the way. He thinks, eats, sleeps, drinks football 24/7. Someone who supports his team-mates, never gives up and gives everything for the team – a role model."

On the pitch, the description fits.

Ironman numbers, ironman mindset

Anton had already delivered a standout season last year. He looked more secure than his partner Nico Schlotterbeck, who missed the start of this year through injury. The "Ironman", as Kovac calls him, backed up the nickname with cold numbers.

Out of 47 competitive games in 2025/26, Anton was unavailable for only three. In the league and cup he played all 35 matches from first whistle to last. No rotation, no managing minutes. Just reliability.

Even the World Cup could not knock him off course. Despite his involvement with Germany, which left him with less preparation time than almost anyone else in the Dortmund squad, he came back and simply carried on. Same rhythm, same level. A 15-cap international in the form of his life.

Availability, though, is only the foundation.

Anton leads through discipline and an almost stubborn resilience. He plays without show, defends with a relentless, robust edge and throws himself into every duel like it matters more than the last. His anticipation has grown into a real weapon. Since Mats Hummels, no one at BVB has defended on the front foot with such intelligence and timing.

The best German centre-back right now?

The data backs up the eye test. Anton ranks among the league’s elite in duel success rate, aerial wins, interceptions and clearances. He is the central pillar of Dortmund’s new stability and one of the clearest faces of the resurgence under Kovac.

On current form and given his start to the season, there is no German centre-back performing better.

That raises an obvious question for the national team. Jürgen Klopp wants his Germany to rest on a rock-solid back line. Anton offers exactly that: experience, sharp fitness, a strong voice in the back four and constant guidance for younger players. He ticks almost every box for the future DFB blueprint.

National team battle on the horizon

The competition will not disappear. Long term, Schlotterbeck’s strong left foot and his diagonal balls in build-up could give him a tactical edge for Germany. Those passes open games, they break lines, and in a Klopp system they can be gold.

And then there is Jonathan Tah. At Bayern Munich, he remains the fixed point, the set number one in the centre of defence. Dislodging him will not be easy.

Anton will not sell himself. He never has. Kovac once summed him up as "very calm, very modest, very humble": a player who "puts his own ego to one side and the team to the fore – simply outstanding."

That is how he moves through a season: quietly, consistently, relentlessly.

At Dortmund, the current league leaders, no one questions his place anymore. The real duel now lies in a different shirt, under a different coach, with a different kind of pressure.

If Klopp really wants his defence built on rock, how long can he ignore the man already playing like granite every weekend?