How will Borussia Dortmund line up under Nuri Şahin?
Despite reaching the UEFA Champions League final, it’s been a summer of upheaval at Borussia Dortmund. There have been the departures of legends Marco Reus and Mats Hummels, and a number of new arrivals, plus Nuri Şahin’s promotion from assistant coach to succeed Edin Terzić.
A member of Dortmund’s 2010/11 title-winning team under Jürgen Klopp, what options does Şahin have to try and bring the glory days back to the Signal Iduna Park?
The 35-year-old only returned to BVB in December as one of Terzić’s assistants alongside another former Dortmund player, Sven Bender. A record of 15 wins, four draws and six defeats from 25 games steadied the ship in the Bundesliga but also guided Die Schwarzgelben into the final of the Champions League against Real Madrid.
It was in Europe that we often saw the best of Dortmund in a generally consistent XI.
Gregor Kobel has been the reliable figure in goal for a couple of years now and will continue as undisputed number one. Terzić eventually settled on a back four of Julian Ryerson, the experienced Hummels, the left-footed Nico Schlotterbeck and on-loan Ian Maatsen.
In front of them, captain Emre Can anchored alongside Marcel Sabitzer. Julian Brandt provided further creativity behind central striker Niclas Füllkrug, with pace out wide from Jadon Sancho and Karim Adeyemi.
That was the team that started both Champions League semi-final wins against Paris Saint-Germain, and the final at Wembley against Real Madrid.
Waiting in the wings, BVB had back-up through the likes of Reus, Donyell Malen, Sébastien Haller, Felix Nmecha and more.
Watch: Farewell Marco Reus
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The question now for Şahin is whether he builds on that system, replacing players who have gone, or changes things up.
The former midfielder showed in his only previous head coach role at Antalyaspor that he tends to prefer a 4-2-3-1 formation as well. Using that, he has a straight swap at centre-back as Anton steps into Hummels’ boots on the back of a superb campaign for VfB Stuttgart,with a new-and-improved Niklas Süle in reserve.
By the same logic, Guirassy also does so in place of Füllkrug at centre-forward after netting 28 Bundesliga goals for Stuttgart in 2023/24 – second only to Harry Kane across any of Europe’s major leagues.
Watch: Guirassy under the microscope
A big, physical striker able to be prolific in the box but also able to hold the ball up has long been key to success in Borussia teams. With Füllkrug leaving for West Ham, Guirassy is the perfect replacment, and he also has the young Maximilian Beier arriving from Hoffenheim for competition.
Further back, Brandt has been handed the iconic No.10 shirt; Sabitzer’s form has been excellent for club and country this year; Can remains club captain, and Malen has shown enough moments of excellence to stake his claim, especially as Sancho’s return looks to have only lasted the original six-month loan deal. Adeyemi, the fastest player in Bundesliga history, showed decent form at the back end of last season and can still be a key asset if he can consistently produce the goods. Watch out for Jamie Gittens, though. The English talent has come off a fine pre-season and will also challenge for a spot on the wing.
As things stand, it’s at full-back where Die Schwarzgelben look at their thinnest. Ryerson can play either side, but Maatsen, Mateu Morey and converted defender Marius Wolf are all gone. The signing of Brazil international Yan Couto at right-back will certainly make life easier; Couto joins from Manchester City, having spent last year at Girona in La Liga as they qualified for the Champions League.
Youth product Tom Rothe has been sold to Union Berlin, so now it will be on BVB's only other natural left-back, Ramy Bensebaini, to improve on his debut campaign, or Ryerson will have to switch sides. There’s also Süle, who returned to pre-season early and in better shape than he ended last term, but his preferred position is in the centre of defence, despite often being used wide right.
You may expect one or two more defensive reinforcements to arrive before the end of the transfer window, so let’s focus for a moment on the perhaps the bigger question of the strikers.
Guirassy showed last season that he can work very well in partnerships, similar to Haller and the departing Füllkrug; last season saw him and Deniz Undav score a combined 46 Bundesliga goals as Stuttgart stormed to second place.
Guirassy has spent most of his career playing alone up front but struck up a great relationship with Undav at Stuttgart last year. On average they spent less than 60 minutes together on the pitch across their 24 joint appearances, but the Guinea international still scored 18 goals when playing alongside Undav.
In 2018/19, the season before both Haller and Luka Jovic left Eintracht Frankfurt for West Ham and Real Madrid respectively, they started 28 games together and scored a combined 32 goals in the Bundesliga, with Haller also providing nine assists that season.
So, could Guirassy and Haller now do it together for Dortmund?
There’s no reason they couldn’t. Both learned in their previous partnerships how to feed off the other, where to move to avoid both occupying the same space as out-and-out centre-forwards.
There has been a late spanner in the works for Haller, though, with Germany's next big thing up front, Beier, arriving from Hoffenheim. The 21-year-old stunned everyone last season with 16 goals in 33 games, and among those admirers was national team coach Julian Nagelsmann who called him up to his UEFA Euro 2024 squad.
Similar to his rivals for a spot up front, Beier spent the entire season in a front two, and will be ready to pair up with either Guirassy or Haller, should that be Şahin's preference.
A 4-4-2 formation would be the obvious choice to deploy two strikers. There would still be plenty of creativity behind them through Brandt, Sabitzer and Malen. They could work as a flat midfield alongside Can and another summer arrival, Pascal Groß, or even in more of a diamond to overload the central areas. Dortmund can even rely on the searching distribution of Schlotterbeck as they look to stretch opponents.
And then there’s the option of a back three, which Şahin deployed in his earlier games at Antalyaspor. Again, this would allow Guirassy, Beier and Haller to operate at the top end together, with Brandt pulling strings from behind.
A three-man defence would see Süle used in his preferred position – on paper at least. It’s now very common for teams to operate two systems depending on who has the ball. It could be a back three of Süle, Anton and Schlotterbeck when BVB have possession but shift to a four when they’re defending, with Süle moving out wide and the left wing-back dropping back.
So, what’s presented as a 4-4-2 could easily shift into a 3-4-1-2, and vice versa, depending on needs.
You also suspect that Dortmund’s summer business isn’t done yet as they continue their reset from the top, looking to build a team that is capable of improving on last season’s fifth-place finish and make a genuine title challenge again.
We’ve had some early sights of Şahin’s plans as BVB went to Thailand and Japan for part of pre-season. Three of four games have started with a 4-2-3-1, and another with a 4-3-3. However, with changes throughout and more players to return from summer holidays and injuries, it could be a few months before we have an idea of what BVB's best XI is.
Their first competitive fixture of 2024/25 is against lower-league Phönix Lübeck in the first round of the DFB Cup on 17 August before a big opening Bundesliga game at home to Eintracht Frankfurt the following weekend.
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