Leeds ace Koch explains why he wasn’t called up to Germany squad
Robin Koch has been left out of the latest Germany squad due to his recent injury issues at Leeds United, the defender has confirmed.
Koch, 24, has been out of action since early December with a knee injury but returned to Marcelo Bielsa’s matchday squad for the first time last weekend when he was an unused substitute against Chelsea.
The ex-Freiburg defender was left out of Joachim Low’s latest Germany squad for upcoming World Cup qualifiers versus Iceland, Romania and North Macedonia.
However, it seems that Koch had a discussion with Low beforehand and accepted he wasn’t fully fit.
“I made an agreement with the national coach that the three international matches would come too early for me because I had no match practice after the injury,” said Koch, as quoted by Sport1.
“I’m using the international break in Leeds with a test match to regain the necessary fitness.”
Clever decision
Koch has a long way to go before being back to full fitness with the defender missing over three months’ worth of Premier League action at Leeds.
The Germany international looked impressive in his first appearances for the Whites and helped keep clean sheets against teams like Aston Villa, Arsenal and Everton.
Koch is someone who’s proven in the Bundesliga and has seven caps for one of the world’s best international teams so he’s definitely someone who will come good for Leeds in time.
Unfortunately, injuries have disrupted his and Diego Llorente’s first seasons at Elland Road while Liam Cooper has also had the odd spell on the sidelines.
Pascal Struijk and Luke Ayling have impressed when they’ve stepped into the centre of the the defence but we really want to see what Koch and Llorente can do alongside one another.
It’s a clever decision for Koch to sit out of Germany’s upcoming international fixtures. Hopefully he can get himself back to peak fitness in time for Leeds’ first match after the break against Sheffield United on April 3.
In other Leeds United news, this player is likely to play through the pain barrier against Fulham.