Leeds Live’s William Jackson has taken aim at Robin Koch’s performance in 1-0 pre-season loss against Aston Villa, labelling it ‘rusty’.
Leeds squared off against Villa in a tightly-contested affair, with the scores level until midway through the second-half when Danny Ings converted from the spot to hand Steven Gerrard’s side the lead. The forward was handed the penalty after watching on as Philippe Coutinho saw his earlier spot kick saved by Illan Meslier.
Jackson was left particularly unimpressed by the performance of Koch in the narrow loss, saying in his player ratings: “Caught out once or twice in the first half and looked a little rusty at times.”
The Leeds Live journalist then went on to award the central defender with a fairly average score of 6/10. Koch will hope to have now shaken off any initial rust ahead of the start of the Premier League season in August.
Next up for the Yorkshire club in pre-season is a game against Crystal Palace, before ending their pre-season against Cagliari Calcio at home, and starting the Premier League campaign by hosting Wolverhampton Wanderers on 6 August.
TIF Thoughts on Robin Koch…
Leeds United have no time to accommodate rust come the beginning of the season. Getting off to a good start must be seen as imperative for their survival chances. And, if that means making what seem like harsh decisions, then so be it.
Should Koch be starting against Wolves?
Yes
No
With plenty of new arrivals this summer, too, Leeds will be desperately hoping to enjoy a far more comfortable campaign than last season, and, therefore, avoid the dreaded drop.
However, if there is a time to shake off the rust then pre-season is the time to do it and Jesse Marsch will certainly be hoping Koch can get up to speed as soon as possible.