Ezri Konsa

[ChicagoLion]

Konsa isn’t the problem.

[cdbearsfan]

Yeah, he's about the last player we need to worry about.

[paul_e]

Reading through this I'm getting an idea of what it must feel like to be a LibDem, I think bronte is far too harsh and piles too much onto him but I also do think he's been less effective in the last year or so.

I still firmly believe he's one of the best one-on-one defenders in the country and his pace and positioning is really strong and he's very good as an outlet, he's happy in possession and confident enough to hold players off whilst he looks for space.

However he does get caught and play for the foul a little too often for my liking and he's poor under the high ball (which is where most of the mistakes come in). A lot of the other problems people have I think are just a personality thing, as someone said above he's got a very casual attitude and you can clearly see that in his play which becomes a problem for the people who say things like "the least they can do for all the money is put some effort in". I think Rogers (and previously Bailey) suffers from the same of it being a cheap complaint to make when they're not quite on it.

I'm glad Konsa has made his comments this week though, watching what happened for the goal and accepting the criticism from Emery shows there's still a good environment in the squad and that everyone is accepting responsibility for the poor start.

[Hookeysmith]

I love the man but i think Mings time has come - he has been slow on decision making, very loose on his ball playing and he is the major part for our slow play.
Each time it comes to him it is 2,3,4 touches before he finds the obvious 5 yard pass to Maatsen / Digne.

He offers no penetration at all and even less threat at set plays when we are attacking.

Time for change

[TheToffnar]

Whilst I agree in principle, we are a far better defensive unit when Mings is playing as evidenced by how shite our defensive record was last year when we had to go without him. For all out problems so far this season, we've looked sharper defensively as a whole.

It's a difficult one to juggle. Pau has probably the second best eye in squad for the open channel passes, long balls and is a decent carrier to boot, but he's too patchy defensively for me and looks too fragile on set pieces.

[Drummond]

      Konsa Mings Torres
Cash                         Maatsen
           Kamara Tielemans
Elliott/McGinn         Rogers/Sancho
              Watkins/Guessand

That gives us a solid backline, width with Maatsen, and a bit with Cash because he has licence to push on. Elliot or McGinn, Rogers or Sancho as inside left and right and Watkins/Malen/Guessand to do the business up front. Guessand and Malen can play across that front line, as can Rogers. And as Arsenal are doing, we should consider starters and finishers. It's how the game is.

[PaulWinch again]

Whilst I agree in principle, we are a far better defensive unit when Mings is playing as evidenced by how shite our defensive record was last year when we had to go without him. For all out problems so far this season, we've looked sharper defensively as a whole.

It's a difficult one to juggle. Pau has probably the second best eye in squad for the open channel passes, long balls and is a decent carrier to boot, but he's too patchy defensively for me and looks too fragile on set pieces.

Yeah but how much worse are we functioning as an attacking team? Now that isn’t just about Mings vs Torres, but it’s part of it. We just cannot get the ball effectively out of the defence, it’s either slow short passes or hopeful long balls. Torres makes a huge difference to that. We are defensively better, but we barely create anything.

[TheToffnar]

It's a fair point and again, I agree for the most part, but I think you nailed it when saying it's only part of the issue.

I don't think Pau alone creates enough attacking options to counteract the more direct style of play the league as a whole seems to have adopted this year. I think if we had Onana and Tielemans fit with Rogers firing at even half capacity, he'd probably prioritize Pau. But whilst we have a shaky midfield and a hesitancy to play with any width, Mings just nicks it as the better option.

[eamonn]

Konsa's media responses were excellent yesterday. Refused to take the bait from our esteemed press and quelled any further negative headlines about splits and rifts.

[kippaxvilla2]

Konsa's media responses were excellent yesterday. Refused to take the bait from our esteemed press and quelled any further negative headlines about splits and rifts.

What about spliffs?

[Ian.]

We're set up to play from the back, however Cash, Mings and Konsa are not the most effective at this, as good as they can be in defence. We really need Pau back in, but back in the team playing as he did before his injury.

[eamonn]

Konsa's media responses were excellent yesterday. Refused to take the bait from our esteemed press and quelled any further negative headlines about splits and rifts.

What about spliffs?

Huh...maybe that's why he's so chilled in interviews...