Emre Can at Borussia Dortmund 2020 – scout report

Emre Can was initially loaned to Dortmund from Juventus just prior to the transfer window closing. While the analysis shows that he didn’t see much success at Juventus, especially under new boss Maurizio Sarri, Can’s impact at the North Rhine-Westphalia club has been so profound that BVB secured his services for another three and a half year, with Can signing a contract less than three weeks after arriving on loan.

This scout report is a tactical analysis that looks to explain what makes Can such a good fit for Dortmund. It will examine how Can fits into Lucien Favre’s tactics at Dortmund, as well as the different areas in which he makes Dortmund a stronger club that can push to win the Bundesliga this season, assuming it continues after the Coronavirus pandemic is properly addressed by the global community.

Can’s impact on Dortmund

Emre Can’s primary impact on Dortmund has been on its defensive struggles that it has seen this season. While Can took a couple games to settle in with his new teammates, his addition has led to Dortmund conceding fewer goals. Prior to his arrival at the end of January, Dortmund had allowed 11 goals in seven games. In the seven games since Can arrived, they’ve only allowed seven goals, with three of those coming in Can’s first game against Bayer Leverkusen  a match in which he was not completely comfortable with his role.

Emre Can was essentially brought in to replace Julian Brandt, who had been playing as a central midfielder next to Axel Witsel. Whether it was a 4-2-3-1 or their more successful 3-4-3, Brandt and Witsel worked together in the midfield. Dortmund are still prioritising the 3-4-3 formation 70% of the time, but now Can has replaced Brandt, and their defence has tightened up accordingly.

When looking at the statistics over these sets of seven games, it becomes clear that Brandt was progressing forward up the pitch more consistently; as a result, he logged 1.29 xG and .98 xA (assists). Conversely, in a similar amount of minutes, Can has only recorded .19 goals and .09 xA. This suggests that Can does not advance up the pitch in as much of a playmaking role, which allows him to provide more cover for the back line with his positioning. Additionally, Can (135) and Brandt (123) have engaged in a similar amount of defensive duels; however, Can’s win percentage in those duels is 13% higher, proving him to be more defensively efficient.

What also makes Can stand out are his defensive recoveries, particularly in the opponent’s half. Can has 57 recoveries compared to Brandt’s 34 recoveries. This 67% increase makes Can seem even more valuable to Dortmund’s defensive efforts. Whats more impressive is that 31 of Can’s recoveries have happened in his opponents half as compared to Brandt’s 17. That means Can is an improvement on Brandt on regaining possession in the opponents half by 82%. One final statistic to note: Emre Can is 7% more efficient than Brandt with his backwards passes (99% compared to 92%). While back passes aren’t often seen as critical to a football team’s success, it does mean that Can helps Dortmund keep the ball in their possession more frequently than Brandt did. When taking into account these statistics, It’s no wonder that Dortmund moved so quickly to sign Can until 2024.

Can’s role in Dortmund’s build-up 

One of the reasons Can has such a successful backward passing rating is due to his role in Dortmund’s build-up and his ability to read the space that’s opening on the pitch. A lot of that space comes from his pairing with Axel Witsel. Both he and Witsel operate in the centre of the pitch, and their coordinated movement becomes incredibly important when Dortmund are in possession.

Both Can and Witsel are marked in red, with Can, number 27, higher up the pitch. In the Dortmund build-up in this instance, there were multiple horizontal lines that were passing options for the man who was about to receive the ball. If Can were to move back to Witsel’s line and therefore be at the same depth as him, it would have been much easier for PSG to mark both of them at the same time, as they operate in very similar vertical spaces. However, as they were not on the same line, Idrissa Gueye, PSG’s holding midfielder, had to make a decision to mark either Can or Witsel, which, in this case, allowed Witsel to be an option for Dortmund to play out of the back.