Ezri Konsa - Aston Villa & England

[Flamingo Lane]

His anticipation and then daftness of touch so close to the goal line that drew the foul for the penalty was excellent.

[Drummond]

His anticipation and then daftness of touch so close to the goal line that drew the foul for the penalty was excellent.

Yep, it was pretty stupid.

[VILLA MOLE]

His anticipation and then daftness of touch so close to the goal line that drew the foul for the penalty was excellent.

Yep, it was pretty stupid.

His composure is silly at times

[chrisw1]

Konsa has quietly become an outstanding player.  He was slightly off it last season and I thought his position would be under serious threat this season as we keepy buying centre backs, but he has mostly be outstanding.

I'm a bit more circumspect about his England chances - as a right-sided centre-back he's mainly competing against Stones, Walker & Tomori.  But he must be forcing himself into the conversation.

[LeeB]

Is Tomori that good? He's playing at a lower level in Italy right now.

Oh sorry, I forgot, he was coached by Steve Holland at Chelsea.

[coreyfeldman]

Still only 26 as well, most of Englands centre halves are 30+ so I expect him to get opportunities.

Him and colwill would be my pick rn

[chrisw1]

Is Tomori that good? He's playing at a lower level in Italy right now.

Oh sorry, I forgot, he was coached by Steve Holland at Chelsea.

I think he's potentially excellent.  But also he and Guehi deserved their chance based on last season's form.  It would be pretty fickle of Southgate to bin them just after they've been brought into the squad. 

[Paul.S]

I think we all wondered if Konsa would step up when Mings got his injury. Well what a step up he’s made. He’s taken the responsibility as the leader in defence and his performances have been superb.
As for England, it’s a closed shop and I think we could all pick the squad Southgate will go for at the Euro’s. If he was at one of the usual clubs he’d be in now as you only have to have a couple of decent games at those clubs. Let’s see but I presume he’d only get looked at if there are injuries.

[Toronto Villa]

I wish he’d just declare for Portugal. Fucking England and Southgate don’t deserve him. One of the best talents of his position in the country the likes of Dunk, Colwill, Guehi get in instead. Let alone Maguire. I’m not being dismissive of the first three individually as they’ve all played for their clubs consistently and well, but Konsa has done it for as long if not longer at a very high level, and taken a big step up with Mings gone. He’s playing just superbly right now.

[pablo_picasso]

Im not going to lie, I genuinely thought that both Mings & Konsa were nowhere near good enough to play possession football under a manager like Emery.

How wrong I was.

Konsa has to be right up there with the best English defenders in the game at the moment.

And tbh, he has to be in the conversation for best performing centre backs in the whole of the Premier League.

[LeeB]

Not just as a defender either, he's playing the type of modern progressive football that will be required to win major tournaments.

[pablo_picasso]

Not just as a defender either, he's playing the type of modern progressive football that will be required to win major tournaments.

Absolutely.

The little flick from Watkins near the end of the game got a lot of praise, & rightfully so, as it was wonderful, but before that, the play in the corner from Konsa was absolutely world class.

The whole move from back to front was tbh...

[chrisw1]

I wish he’d just declare for Portugal. Fucking England and Southgate don’t deserve him. One of the best talents of his position in the country the likes of Dunk, Colwill, Guehi get in instead. Let alone Maguire. I’m not being dismissive of the first three individually as they’ve all played for their clubs consistently and well, but Konsa has done it for as long if not longer at a very high level, and taken a big step up with Mings gone. He’s pAslaying just superbly right now.

I'm not sure how many times we have to say this but Maguire isn't being picked ahead of him.  Maguire is being picked to play on the left which Konsa hasn't played for us since he joined.

As for Dunk, Colwill, Guehi & Tomori - they earned their call-ups with excellent performances last season when Konsa was going through a bit of a sticky patch.  And Dunk, Colwill & Guehi can all play on the left too.

There's no way Maguire should be in the squad, but I haven't got a problem with the others mentioned.

[Toronto Villa]

A good coach and manager would have shunted Maguire out of the squad ages ago because so much a liability it doesn’t matter if he plays on the left or right. Konsa has been playing at just as high a level as all of those players for just as long. And I would argue better than all of them this season when he’s been forced to do more including bringing on a new CB pattern with limited English and knowledge of the PL game.

[trinityoap]

Konsa might be playing the progressive type of football required to win tournaments but unfortunately Southgate isn't.