Leeds United staff stunned by unexpected Germany development for Robin Koch – Phil Hay
Jesse Marsch believes Robin Koch has been one of the best-performing players at Leeds United since his arrival at the club earlier this year, according to The Athletic journalist Phil Hay.
Koch, 26, has been a mainstay of the American’s defence this season, playing every minute of all of Leeds’ Premier League fixtures so far.
However, despite his growing influence at Elland Road, Koch was left out of the last Germany squad and there’s a chance he won’t make it to the World Cup this summer.
It’s something that has surprised staff at Thorp Arch, according to Hay.
Writing on The Athletic website on Friday (14 October), Hay said: “In Marsch’s estimation, Koch has been one of the club’s best performers to date and as a result, Flick’s last Germany squad caught people at Thorp Arch by surprise. The expectation was that Koch would be in it.
“His attributes as a central defender are those of an all-rounder, not visibly outstanding in many respects but strong across the board. He can compete aerially and he is comfortable on the ball, distributing it and carrying it. He presses aggressively and he is not prone to an excess of errors or errors leading directly to shots and goals. And though Leeds have not begun discussing a contract that expires in less than two years, that conversation will come onto the agenda when the time is right. At 26, he should be moving into his peak years.”
Get him signed up
We’ve been impressed with Koch this season.
He’s not been incredible but the former Freiburg defender has stamped his authority in this team and made himself arguably the first-choice centre-back.
Liam Cooper’s returned from injury now and on his return to the side, he replaced the more experienced Diego Llorente in the side so that Koch could continue playing.
Llorente’s form has been rotten so that may have made Koch look better.
However, it’s hard to remember an instance where the Germany international really put a foot wrong.
He’s had injury issues since arriving at Leeds in August 2020 and he’s also had to put up with being played in the midfield due to other fitness concerns in the squad.
But now he’s playing consistently in his preferred position and we are starting to see the best from the centre-back.
Koch might not make it to Germany’s squad for the World Cup in Qatar and that’s a massive shame for him.
He’s done all he can at Leeds to get in the side so hopefully, for his sake, there’ll be a bit of a change of tact from the European heavyweights ahead of going to Qatar this winter.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites could place financial sanctions on a London club due to an expected twist in the last couple of weeks.