Knee injuries, pigs blood, Kalvin Phillips' responsibility and the Leeds United change to make for West Ham - Dominic Matteo

Robin Koch is a big loss for Leeds United while he recovers from surgery, because his position is one where we’re not blessed with many players.
KEY MAN - Kalvin Phillips can help Leeds United's new central defensive duo Liam Cooper and Diego Llorente as they form a partnership for Marcelo Bielsa's side. Pic: GettyKEY MAN - Kalvin Phillips can help Leeds United's new central defensive duo Liam Cooper and Diego Llorente as they form a partnership for Marcelo Bielsa's side. Pic: Getty
KEY MAN - Kalvin Phillips can help Leeds United's new central defensive duo Liam Cooper and Diego Llorente as they form a partnership for Marcelo Bielsa's side. Pic: Getty

Koch had his operation yesterday and has said he expects to be back in the spring.

I had some niggles with my knees during my career, nothing too serious but I did have a couple of little operations, more or less a tidy-up job.

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There was a point where they couldn’t get to the bottom of it and I went to see Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt , the renowned doctor at Bayern Munich.

I was actually having pigs’ blood to help me get through that period.

I saw a lot different people there, like Ronnie Irani, I think Michael Schumacher was having treatment there, Didi Hamann went to see him and, when I was at Leeds, players would go and see ‘the doctor’ as they called him.

He was a big character and was brilliant for me.

When you ‘get a knee’, it’s either a quick one – I had an operation where I was back within a week or 10 days or so – and then there’s the proper serious operation when you’re out for months.

If it is months, it’s less than ideal for Leeds.

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I know Luke Ayling can play there and Kalvin Phillips can drop in but we’re taking positives away from other positions then, so I expect Diego Llorente will play alongside Liam Cooper now and he’s going to have to step up, quickly.

He’s got a bit of experience but he had a tough start against Chelsea.

He did all right, didn’t do much wrong but Chelsea were ‘at it’ from the word go.

It’s not easy coming off the bench as a centre-half in a game like that. You normally only come on if you need to tie the game up in the last few minutes or if someone has got injured. I didn’t experience it too many times but, at Liverpool when it happened a few times, it was always difficult.

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When I was younger I found it easier; the older I got the longer it took me to get going.

The speed of that game, the pace Chelsea had, Timo Werner and players who can cause problems, that’s probably why it looked so difficult. When Koch went off we seemed to lose a bit of balance.

Llorente is going to have to improve on that performance and will need his team-mates to get round him; he’ll need Cooper to lead as well.

Kalvin Phillips is so key and he can help defensively, especially while a new central defensive partnership is gelling together.

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Phillips will have to help out until they have that understanding. I know myself, when you get that understanding it makes life a little bit easier, but that does take time.

Managing the players’ fitness is going to be important too.

Once they get past West Ham the games come thick and fast and ideally, if a player needs a break, someone else can come in, although I can’t see any of the key players getting rests.

West Ham, on Friday, is a massive game now.

They slipped up against Manchester United when they looked in control and Leeds themselves are looking to bounce back after that result at Chelsea.

After starting so well, it felt to me like it was a reality check to not get too above yourself.

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We’re so attacking and so open, we have to be so careful, get the right players back behind the ball and Chelsea did that better than us.

The spine of their team - Mendy, Thiago, Kante, Mount, Giroud - looked stronger than us.

We got a little bit outclassed and I hate saying that because of the bitter rivalry between the clubs, but it was another learning experience for them.

We hope to score first in every game and, even though we did at Chelsea and it didn’t end well, Friday is a very different game.

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West Ham have got a threat going forward but I definitely look at this one as a game we should be winning.

If Leeds want to achieve their goal this season, we’ve got to go and win games like this. We lost against Leicester and Palace and I see Leeds as a club that is as big as them if not bigger.

A good start will be important and Llorente has to start well if he plays. Cooper has to have his players ‘on it’.

Bielsa might put Dallas back to left-back just to shore things up a little bit because, although Alioski is a good player and so enthusiastic, defensively we have looked very open and, against West Ham, I would like us to be harder to break down.

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Everyone knows how Leeds will play and this will be a tricky night.

David Moyes has a bit of grit about him; he’ll want West Ham to get stuck into Leeds.

Having spoken to people who have worked with him, he’s very methodical and he’ll have a plan.

If Alioski does drop out and Dallas goes to left-back, then I’d like to see Rodrigo in the team because he has that bit of quality and we’ll need that because, even without fans, it’s so crucial to win your home games.

Dominic Matteo's column in association with Data Facilities

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