Robin Koch's Leeds United story arc, Ben White comparisons and how he was tracked all the way by obsessive Whites fansWhen Robin Koch flew into Yeadon on Saturday, tracked all the way by diligent to the point of obsessive Leeds fans, he completed a story arc that began in Victor Orta’s office on January 31.By Graham Smyth Sunday, 30th August 2020, 5:40 am
When he was photographed, by a Leeds fan, entering Thorpe Park Clinic for his medical, he had all-but closed the chapter of the Elland Road story dedicated to the man he has replaced.
When he was filmed, by a Leeds fan, walking into the stadium to sign the paperwork and pose in an Adidas home shirt, he became a part of Marcelo Bielsa's Premier League squad.
The German defender has been signed to take the place of last season’s Young Player of the Year and YEP Player of the Season, Ben White, who Brighton refused to sell to the Whites.
What Leeds are getting, with their new defender, is not a carbon copy or like-for-like replacement for White, but Orta knows exactly what he has spent a sum of around €13m on.
Almost seven months ago the director of football sat down at Elland Road with the YEP to talk about Jean-Kevin Augustin, the one that hasn’t yet got away, despite there being no future for him at the club.
The conversation centred around scouting and Orta was only too happy to share details of the sheer scale of his database, containing a little over 8,000 reports.
In an effort to show the variety of the reports on file, he pulled up a page on a Mansfield Town game, then flicked to his dossier onSC Freiburg’s Koch.
It is unusual that a club official would speak about a potential transfer target on the record, but with a little under half a season still to play in England’s second tier and promotion far from a certainty, Koch wasn’t yet a viable option, he was on the wishlist.
Orta explained that the work of his department is to find players who are suitable for the club’s current reality and players suitable for the possible future realities. Bringing Koch, a twice-capped German international, to the Championship was just not going to happen.
So shortly after Emile Smith Rowe scored Huddersfield Town’s second goal at home to West Brom on July 17 to guarantee Leeds a place in the Premier League, Orta was cavorting on the Elland Road pitch and dreaming of the places he would go and the players he would bring back with him.
Last week Orta was in Valencia, negotiating for record buy Rodrigo and successfully pulling off a deal that took a lot of pestering and chasing to complete, even after it was agreed in principle.
There appeared to be no such issues with his next signing, who said goodbye to his team-mates on Friday afternoon and alerted Leeds fans to his travel plans with an Instagram picture in a jet on Saturday morning.
So who is this man who was followed through the air on FlightRadar by transfer spotters?
Firstly, he’s good in the air. Very good. Far more dominant than White was, in fact.
He ranked third in the Bundesliga last season for aerial duels won with 139 – 16 of which came in a single league game against Union Berlin.
That prowess, off the ground, brought a pair of headed goals for Freiburg.
On the ground, he didn’t make as many interceptions as White, per game, but he passed the ball well, with an 89 per cent accuracy from open play, and passed it further than any of his team-mates, clocking up 31.226 yards.
And while his profile is closer to a defensively solid passer in Liam Cooper than a dribbling-out-of-defence White, the new boy has featured in central and defensive midfield for more than 50 per cent of his match minutes since 2017/18.
That experience playing higher up the pitch and his versatility – quickly becoming the watchword of this Marcelo Bielsa squad – are key to his arrival in Leeds.
A right-footed partner for the left-footed Cooper, versed in top-flight football, albeit in Germany, who can head it, pass it and tackle – he won 34 of them last season and was victorious in 69.5 per cent of his defensive duels, Koch is a signing made possible by promotion and by the end of the White saga.
The comparisons between the two and a largely pointless debate about who is better will go on long into next season and beyond, but the one with no top tier experience or international caps who would have cost in excess of £25m-plus is not here and Koch is.
Premier League status made this signing possible and the division will provide the proving ground for his suitability.
We know how he got here and we know why. How it all ends for him and for Leeds will be even more fascinating.
https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/football/leeds-united/robin-kochs-leeds-united-story-arc-ben-white-comparisons-and-how-he-was-tracked-all-way-obsessive-whites-fans-2956772
