Matt Kilgallon has praised Robin Koch following his display in Leeds United’s midfield as the Whites drew with Newcastle on Saturday.
Kilgallon was speaking on BBC Radio Leeds after Sam Allardyce’s side earned a point against the high-flying Magpies to keep themselves in contention to get out of trouble in the Premier League relegation zone.
It was an amazing game, full of events and drama. Leeds made a number of mistakes. But it was also arguably their best performance since beating Nottingham Forest more than a month ago.
Robin Koch praised after Leeds draw
And one of the more encouraging aspects of the performance was the effort of the midfielders. Allardyce started with a trio of Robin Koch, Weston McKennie and Sam Greenwood. And Adam Forshaw came on for the second-half.
Koch has been a stalwart at centre-back this season. But he did not look out of place in the middle of the park, really getting stuck in. And actually, there were a couple of times when the Germany international seemed to be pressing higher than Rodrigo.
Certainly, Kilgallon felt that Koch did well enough in the position to potentially keep his place for Leeds’ crucial final two games.
“I thought Koch played well today,” he told BBC Radio Leeds. “He did a job. He’s not going to get on it and start spraying things. But he was winning headers, he was getting in the centre of the field. And I think you can almost play people out of position a few times and in different games.
“I couldn’t see him in there for 10, 15 games. But maybe for these last few, yeah, shore it up a little bit. Leeds did defend well today apart from the craziness that happened.”
Koch is not a stranger to the position. He would often move forward into midfield when Kalvin Phillips was sidelined with injury before his departure last summer.
There were some bright moments. He was absolutely outstanding in our first season back when Leeds blew Spurs away at Elland Road. But it probably says a fair amount that that appearance remains fresh in the memory more than two years on.
Ultimately, with Tyler Adams sidelined, Leeds do not have a lot of choice right now. But if he plays that well in the final two games, Leeds will certainly be in a better position to get the results we need.