Robin Koch

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Robin Koch
Personal information
Full name Robin Koch[1]
Date of birth (1996-07-17) 17 July 1996 (age 25)
Place of birth Kaiserslautern, Germany
Height 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre-back, defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Leeds United
Number 5
Youth career
2001–2003 1. FC Kaiserslautern
2003–2009 SV Dörbach
2009–2014 Eintracht Trier
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2015 Eintracht Trier II 6 (0)
2014–2015 Eintracht Trier 23 (2)
2015–2016 1. FC Kaiserslautern II 27 (1)
2016–2017 1. FC Kaiserslautern 27 (0)
2017–2020 SC Freiburg 82 (4)
2020– Leeds United 17 (0)
National team‡
2018–2019 Germany U21 5 (0)
2019– Germany 8 (0)
Honours
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Runner-up 2019
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:36, 8 May 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:38, 2 June 2021 (UTC)

Robin Koch (German pronunciation: [ˈʁɔbɪn ˈkɔx];[3][4] born 17 July 1996) is a German professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Leeds United and the Germany national team.[5]

Koch made his first-team debut for 1. FC Kaiserslautern after graduated from the club's youth system and also played in Bundesliga with SC Freiburg. He has previously played for Eintracht Trier II, Eintracht Trier, 1. FC Kaiserslautern II, 1. FC Kaiserslautern and SC Freiburg. He also represented Germany at under-21 level before joining the first team in November 2019. In August 2020, he signed for Leeds United ahead of their Premier League return and in 2021, represented them at UEFA Euro 2020.

Club career[]

Early career[]

Having played youth football with 1. FC Kaiserslautern, SV Dörbach and Eintracht Trier,[6] Koch started his senior career at Eintracht Trier, where he made his debut on 22 September 2014 in a 0–0 draw with TuS Koblenz.[5] He scored his first senior goal on 22 November 2014 in a 4–2 victory over SpVgg Neckarelz; A low shot in the 25th minute to put Eintracht Trier 1–0 up.[5][7] He appeared in 23 league matches for Eintracht Trier across the 2014–15 season, scoring two goals,[5] whilst he also appeared 6 times for their reserve side.[8]

1. FC Kaiserslautern[]

In 2015, Koch moved to 1. FC Kaiserslautern, initially joining their reserve side.[9]

Koch signed his first professional contract with the club in September 2016, with the contract lasting until the summer of 2019.[10] His debut for Kaiserslautern came on 2 October 2016, starting in a 0–0 draw against Arminia Bielefeld.[11][12]

He made 27 2. Bundesliga appearances in total for his hometown club, whilst he appeared 27 times for the reserve side of 1. FC Kaiserslautern, scoring once.[5]

SC Freiburg[]

On 22 August 2017, Koch moved to Bundesliga side SC Freiburg. The transfer fee paid to Kaiserslautern was reported as €3.5 million.[13] He made his Bundesliga debut for Freiburg on 22 October 2017 against Hertha Berlin in a 1–1 draw.[5] He scored his first goal for the club on 13 January 2018 in a 1–1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt.[14]

Leeds United[]

On 29 August 2020, Koch joined Leeds United on a four-year deal,[15][16] for a transfer fee that was reported to be £13 million.[17] Koch made his Premier League debut for Leeds in the first match of the season against Liverpool on 12 September 2020, starting in the 3–4 defeat at Anfield to the reigning champions.[18][19] Koch was described as having a 'rough debut',[18] having given away the penalty resulting in Liverpool's first goal despite the fact that the ball deflected off his thigh, before failing to mark Virgil van Dijk for Liverpool's second.[19] Koch was substituted in the ninth minute of a 3–1 defeat to Chelsea on 5 December after a recurrence of a knee injury suffered in the opening game of the season, and subsequently underwent knee surgery.[20][21] He made his return to the first team as a late substitute against Fulham on 19 March 2021.[22]

International career[]

Youth[]

Having first been called up to Germany's under-21 squad in October 2018,[23] he was part of the Germany U21's squad who finished runner up at the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship after losing the final to Spain in June 2019.[24]

Senior[]

Koch was first called up to the Germany national football team in October 2019,[25] and he made his debut on 9 October 2019 in a friendly against Argentina in which he started the game and played the whole match.[26] His competitive debut for Germany came in his next appearance for the senior national team on 16 November 2019, starting in the 4–0 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier victory against Belarus.[27] He was called up to the Germany squad on 26 August 2020 for the UEFA Nations League fixtures against Spain and Switzerland.[28] On 19 May 2021, he was selected to the squad for the UEFA Euro 2020.[29]

Style of play[]

Koch plays mainly as a centre-back, but can also play as a defensive midfielder or as a central midfielder.[30][31] He is described as a ball playing centre back and his style of play has been compared to that of Javi Martínez.[32]

Personal life[]

He is the son of former professional footballer Harry Koch.[13]

Career statistics[]

Club[]

As of match played 8 May 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Eintracht Trier 2014–15[6] Regionalliga Südwest 23 2 0 0 — 23 2
Eintracht Trier II 2014–15[8] Rheinlandliga 6 0 — — 6 0
1. FC Kaiserslautern 2015–16[6] 2. Bundesliga 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
2016–17[6] 2. Bundesliga 24 0 0 0 — 24 0
2017–18[6] 2. Bundesliga 3 0 1 0 — 4 0
Total 27 0 1 0 0 0 28 0
1. FC Kaiserslautern II 2015–16[6] Regionalliga Südwest 24 1 — — 24 1
2016–17[6] Regionalliga Südwest 3 0 — — 3 0
Total 27 1 0 0 0 0 27 1
SC Freiburg 2017–18[6] Bundesliga 26 2 2 0 — 28 2
2018–19[6] Bundesliga 24 1 1 0 — 25 1
2019–20[6] Bundesliga 32 1 2 1 — 34 2
Total 82 4 5 1 0 0 87 5
Leeds United 2020–21[33] Premier League 17 0 0 0 0 0 17 0
Career total 182 7 6 1 0 0 188 8

International[]

As of 2 June 2021[5]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Germany 2019 2 0
2020 5 0
2021 1 0
Total 8 0

Honours[]

Germany U21

References[]

  1. ^ "2020/21 Premier League squads confirmed". Premier League. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  2. ^ "Robin Koch". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  3. ^ Krech, Eva-Maria; Stock, Eberhard; Hirschfeld, Ursula; Anders, Lutz Christian (2009). Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch [German Pronunciation Dictionary] (in German). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 675, 878. ISBN 978-3-11-018202-6.
  4. ^ Dudenredaktion; Kleiner, Stefan; Knöbl, Ralf (2015) [First published 1962]. Das Aussprachewörterbuch [The Pronunciation Dictionary] (in German) (7th ed.). Berlin: Dudenverlag. p. 514. ISBN 978-3-411-04067-4.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Robin Koch". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Robin Koch". kicker (in German). Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  7. ^ "Robin Koch löst die Bremse". eintracht-trier.com (in German). SV Eintracht Trier 05. 24 November 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Robin Koch - Leeds United". FuPa (in German). Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  9. ^ "EINTRACHT-ECKE". Volksfreund (in German). 19 May 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  10. ^ "2. Bundesliga: 1. FC Kaiserslautern bindet Robin Koch". Sport1.de. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  11. ^ Sperk, Oliver (2 October 2016). "Robin Koch in der Startelf des 1. FC Kaiserslautern – Pfalz". Die Rheinpfalz (in German). Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  12. ^ Konzok, Horst; Sperk, Oliver (2 October 2016). "FCK scheitert wieder an sich selbst – FCK". Die Rheinpfalz (in German).
  13. ^ a b "Wende: Lauterns Koch doch nach Freiburg". kicker Online (in German). 22 August 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  14. ^ "Freiburgs Robin Koch: "Das war ein ganz besonderer Moment für mich"". bundesliga.com (in German). Bundesliga. 14 January 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  15. ^ "Leeds United seal deal for Robin Koch". leedsunited.com. 29 August 2020.
  16. ^ "Robin Koch joins Premier League side Leeds United". scfreiburg.com. 29 August 2020.
  17. ^ "Leeds beat Tottenham to clinch £13m Koch signing". Goal. 30 August 2020.
  18. ^ a b "Liverpool 4–3 Leeds United: 'Premier League return magnificently chaotic for Marcelo Bielsa's club'". BBC Sport. 12 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  19. ^ a b Hunter, Andy (12 September 2020). "Liverpool finally sink Leeds with Mo Salah hat-trick in thriller". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  20. ^ "Robin Koch: Leeds defender to have knee surgery after being injured at Chelsea". Sky Sports. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  21. ^ "Robin Koch: Leeds defender out for three months after knee surgery". BBC Sport. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  22. ^ "Fulham 1-2 Leeds". BBC. 19 March 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  23. ^ "Neu bei der U 21: Mittelstädt, Koch und Sabiri". dfb.de (in German). German Football Association. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  24. ^ a b "Spain 2 Germany 1". UEFA.Com. 28 August 2020.
  25. ^ "Löw nominiert auch Rudy und Koch nach". kicker (in German). 7 October 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  26. ^ "Germany v Argentina game report". ESPN. 9 October 2019.
  27. ^ Blahak, Mirko (16 November 2019). "Fußball: Ex-Trierer löst mit Nationalelf das EM-Ticket". Volksfreund (in German). Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  28. ^ "Niklas Süle and Florian Neuhaus called up to Germany squad to face Spain and Switzerland". Bundesliga. 26 August 2020.
  29. ^ "EM-Kader offiziell: Löw beruft Müller, Hummels und Volland". kicker.de (in German). 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  30. ^ "How Robin Koch compares to Ben White as Leeds United step up interest in defender". Leeds Live. 28 August 2020.
  31. ^ "Robin Koch: Meet Freiburg's Latest National Team Player". Fussballstadt. 28 August 2020.
  32. ^ "Robin Koch: Who is Germany's international defender starring for Freiburg?". Bundesliga. 28 August 2020.
  33. ^ "Games played by Robin Koch in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 August 2020.

External links[]

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