Sam Allardyce had hoped history would repeat itself but, so far at least, it is refusing to comply. In the spring of 2016 the interim Leeds manager was in charge at Sunderland and, against all odds, helped them avoid relegation courtesy partly of an inspired party trick. After signing Jan Kirchhoff from Bayern Munich, Allardyce immediately converted the Germany Under-21 centre-half into a central midfield anchor.
Kirchhoff not only excelled but played a key role in Sunderland’s survival, so it did not come as a huge surprise when, in the second game of his four-match contract at Leeds, Allardyce relocated Robin Koch from defence to midfield. Given Koch possesses eight Germany caps it initially seemed a case of deja vu but, unfortunately for Leeds, the centre-half seems only an ersatz midfield enforcer.
