Ezri Konsa's Aston Villa form justifies long overdue England call-up

 

There was a period where it looked as though England had missed out on their chance to call up Ezri Konsa. The centre-back is eligible for Portugal and prior to the emergence of Antonio Silva at Benfica and Goncalo Inacio at Sporting CP, A Selecao could have used a centre-back of Konsa's calibre back when the rumours of a switch of allegiance began to swirl in 2021. 

 

Fast forward to the present day, however, and Konsa has been called up to the England squad. The 26-year-old received the call on Monday ahead of the Three Lions' final Euro 2024 qualifying group stage meetings with Malta and North Macedonia. In truth, the recognition is long overdue.  

 

Konsa has established himself as a first team regular at Villa Park following his 2019 arrival from Brentford and despite ample managerial change for the Villans in recent years, he has been a consistent force at the heart of the backline. With Unai Emery at the helm, Konsa's game has, like a number of his Villa teammates, gone to another level. 

 

What stands out most is Konsa's impressive reading of the game to help ease pressure on the Villa backline. While the dribbled past stat is one commonly associated to Virgil van Dijk, Konsa is another who is incredibly difficult to get the better of. This is noted in that throughout his Premier League career, he has been dribbled past a total of 25 times. This is all the more notable when you consider Konsa has made 140 appearances over that period. 

 

"I likened him to Paul McGrath," former Villa boss Dean Smith said on Monday and given the ease with which he makes defending, the comparison between the Villa icon and Konsa isn't a huge stretch. Off the ball Konsa is a composed individual who knows how to time his tackle to perfection. This is not noted not only in the aforementioned dribbled past metric, but also how few fouls Konsa has committed in his Premier League career. 

 

Some centre-backs are rash in the challenge and this routinely lands them in hot water with officials however the most fouls Konsa has committed in a single Premier League season is 19. The calmness to his defending is all the more important on the international stage, particularly in tournament football, where a mistimed tackle could result in a dismissal that, more often than not, would prove costly. 

 

 

In addition, the Villa star is well aware of his surroundings to help disrupt opposition possession plays and for a side that plays a high defensive line, this is key. Konsa has provoked more offsides (16) than any other player in England's top tier this term and this has ensured Villa rank third for fewest shots conceded per game (10.2) in the 2023/24 Premier League campaign. 

 

And it's not just off the ball where Konsa exhibits this calmness in defence. What has improved immeasurably during his time in the Premier League is Konsa's distribution. Indeed, in his debut campaign at this level, the Villa star returned a pass success rate of just 78% from an average of 30.9 passes per game. As he has matured, however, this quality has improved markedly, so much so that a 93.4% pass success rate is the seventh best in the Premier League this season. 

 

Villa don't see a huge share of the ball. A 53.6% possession average ranks eighth in the division as they look to instead play fast transitions from defence to attack to hit opponents on the counter. Only Wolves (14) have attempted more counter attacks than Villa (13) in the top-flight, while only Liverpool (4) have scored more counter-attacking goals than Emery's side (3). 

 

Fans won't see Konsa playing the raking long balls in the same manner as centre-back partner Pau Torres or midfielder Douglas Luiz to set Villa on the frontfoot, yet the vision to comfortably pick out either player means he should slot in seamlessly for an England side that does look to dominate possession. That said, competition for the centre-back spots for the Three Lions is rife. While John Stones misses out on the November internationals due to injury, a rejuvenated Harry Maguire is joined by Marc Guehi, Fikayo Tomori and Konsa as the recognised centre-backs in the squad. 

 

The Villa man though deserves his place in the side, even if it took injuries to Stones and club teammate Tyrone Mings to finally earn the call from Gareth Southgate. A measured performer both on and off the ball, Konsa's best traits are perfect for international football. That it has taken until now to make an England squad reflects poorly on Southgate rather than Konsa.

Ezri Konsa's Aston Villa form justifies long overdue England call-up