Waldemar Anton: Dortmund’s Defensive Leader and Benchmark

The shouting started long before the final whistle. It usually does when Waldemar Anton and Serhou Guirassy share a pitch.

"It actually happens in every game that we shout at each other once," Anton admitted recently. Old friends, old habits. They have known each other long enough to let the emotions run high and the words run hot.

On Saturday night in Stuttgart, Anton had fresh material.

Guirassy, substituted in the 74th minute of Dortmund’s 1-0 win over VfB, ambled off too slowly. Under the new rules, Fabio Silva then had to wait 60 seconds before he could come on. For a full minute, BVB played with ten men. Niko Kovac did not hide his anger at the striker’s lack of urgency.

Anton, though, did not allow himself to be dragged into the drama for long. He had a different battle to fight.

Booed in Stuttgart, Unmoved in Defence

Back at his former club, every Anton touch came with a chorus of boos. The resentment over his abrupt move to Borussia Dortmund two years ago has not faded. If anything, it has hardened.

The 30-year-old did not flinch. He rarely does. Stuttgart pushed, the atmosphere simmered, yet once again neither Anton nor his team were breached.

Kovac has turned Dortmund’s back line into a grindstone. Opponents come away worn down, frustrated, goalless. Last season BVB already boasted the best defence in the league with just 34 goals conceded. 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 at the heart of that transformation.

From Injury Setback to “Total Constant”

His first season in Dortmund did not hint at this dominance. Two muscle fibre tears, almost back to back, kept him out longer than at any other point in his career. Rhythm gone, momentum stalled.

He came back different. Harder. Sharper.

Over time he grew into what Kovac months ago called a “total constant” at BVB. The coach rarely misses a chance to underline Anton’s importance, even if the defender himself shrugs off talk of being a “defensive leader”.

Before the Champions League opener against Villarreal, Kovac laid it out clearly: Anton is a leader, a player who lives football around the clock, who drags others with him, who never gives up, who empties the tank for the team. A role model.

The numbers underline that image. Last season Anton outperformed even Nico Schlotterbeck defensively, while his partner also missed time through injury at the start of the year. The “Ironman”, as Kovac labelled him, barely missed a beat: only three of 47 competitive matches in 2025/26 without him. In league and cup, he played all 35 games from first to last whistle.

No Rest, No Drop-Off

The World Cup with Germany cut his summer to the bare minimum. Many players returned needing time. Anton did not.

He slipped straight back into his old rhythm. Same intensity. Same timing. Same edge.

The 15-cap international has simply carried on where he left off. His constant availability is one thing; the way he uses it is another. Discipline, mentality, resilience – he leads with all three. He does not chase the spotlight, he just erases danger.

Anton defends without fuss and without fear. He goes into duels with a warrior’s conviction, anticipates attacks early and steps out aggressively. Since Mats Hummels, no Dortmund centre-back has defended on the front foot with such intelligence and clarity.

Best of the German Bunch?

The data tells the same story the eye does. Anton ranks among the league’s best for duel success rate, aerial duels won, interceptions and clearances. He anchors Dortmund’s stability and has become one of the defining faces of the Kovac resurgence.

On current form, there is no German centre-back performing better.

That inevitably drags the conversation towards the national team. Jürgen Klopp wants to rebuild Germany on a rock-solid defensive base. Anton fits that blueprint almost perfectly: seasoned, physically and mentally sharp, vocal in organising the back line, and a natural support for younger defenders.

He offers almost every trait Klopp needs for his vision of the new DFB side.

Long term, the equation is not quite so simple. Schlotterbeck’s strong left foot and his diagonal balls in the build-up give him a tactical edge in certain systems. And at Bayern Munich, Jonathan Tah remains the undisputed number one in the centre of defence.

The competition at international level will be fierce. It should be.

Quiet Man, Loud Impact

Anton will not campaign for himself. It is not his style. Kovac once summed him up as “very calm, very modest, very humble” – a player who puts his ego aside and the team first. Outstanding, in the coach’s words.

At Dortmund, the debate has already been settled. In a side leading the league and building its identity on defensive steel, Anton no longer has to prove anything internally. He is the reference point.

The only real question now hangs over the national team: with Germany searching for a new backbone under Klopp, how long can anyone afford to ignore the man who never seems to break, never seems to rest, and almost never gets beaten?