Jan Kirchhoff, remember the name.
Because you might not see his face again.
Sam Allardyce is an old school manager. He’s proper hard. He’s proper English.
Tasked with steering Sunderland clear of the relegation zone, he’s been trying to ship this perception that the Stadium of Light is just cosy a retirement home for overpaid, overrated players. So he’s recruited some ruthless German efficiency as his first port of call.
#SAFC are delighted to announce the signing of centre-back Jan Kirchhoff from @FCBayernEN! #WelcomeJan pic.twitter.com/W92Lwo3kkR
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) January 7, 2016
Then, at 1-1, Big Sam sows his tactical nous.
He tries to shore up the defence and boldly see out the draw by bringing on a defender for Danny Graham – an alleged striker.
SUB New @SunderlandAFC signing Jan Kirchhoff makes his #BPL debut as he replaces Danny Graham (58 mins)
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 16, 2016
A minute later, his side concede.
21 minutes later, Sunderland have leaked three goals in total, two of which Jan Kirchhoff was directly responsible for as they went on and lost 4-1.
Wikipedia will genuinely tell you the facts of the matter.
His first attempt to deny Christian Eriksen was, to quote Robbie Savage for the first and hopefully the last time ever, “pathetic”.
He couldn’t get out of the way of the Spurs midfielder’s effort quickly enough but it still deflected off him and went straight to the top corner. Despite the German’s worst efforts.
No stomach for the fight. The question on everyone’s lips was simple.
Then, the same boy concedes a penalty as Spurs left back Danny Rose nicks past him in the box.
Not even a half of football and the consensus is damning.
I wish Kirchhoff would fuck off pic.twitter.com/1KQ208x710
— Dean (@Dean97SAFC) January 16, 2016
https://twitter.com/Ashleigh__x/status/688365781223084033
If you really think about it though, it was only two goals he was directly responsible for in just over half an hour. That’s a lot of football in between. REALLY think about it…
Kirchhoff apart from his two fuck ups hasnt been awful, just needs to find his feet. Debuts are rarely easy, especially at #safc
— Nargoil (@Nargoil) January 16, 2016
Silver lining.
Well the good news is it can only be uphill from here for Kirchhoff. 😱
— DAVID JONES (@DavidJonesSky) January 16, 2016
Don’t blame Sam though.
Sam Allardyce has to take the blame for this loss..his change of tactics to three at the back disorganised his team
— Osunde andrew (@osundeandrew20) January 16, 2016
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