Following his first call-up to the senior England national team, Ezri Konsa wasn’t rewarded with a single minute. The only outfield player in the squad that happened to.
Following a great start to the season for Aston Villa, Ezri Konsa was called up to the England set-up for the first time in his career.
Following the hiring of Unai Emery, the centre half has become one of the most important players in B6.
Alongside Pau Torres in the heart of the Villa defence, there has been plenty of praise levelled at the pair. With that being said it did take plenty of clamouring from the Villa faithful to see him get the call. The Villans got what they wanted and Konsa was added into the squad.
Upon his call-up, former captain, John Terry congratulated him saying: “Congratulations Ezri Konsa. So happy for you mate. You have been excellent and so consistent over the last three years and fully deserve this. Enjoy it, Ez… Just the start.”
Looking at the starting XI’s for games against Malta and North Macedonia, he didn’t feature in either. What left Villa fans baffled was that their star man didn’t even come off the bench once.
Why Ezri Konsa deserved to play for England
Why call up new players, play in dead rubber games against two teams that England should be beating and play the same team as always?
Emery has lost one of his key men over the international break and Konsa has travelled across Europe to watch two games from the bench.
What doesn’t make sense is that he has been one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League this season. No disrespect to the likes of Harry Maguire, Marc Guehi or Fikayo Tomori, but the Villa man deserved a go.
This season he has featured in every Premier League game, keeping three clean sheets in that time. According to Fbref, his pass completion is in the top 6% of all centre-backs and his progressive carries numbers are great.
Of the four centre-backs selected, Konsa has the best pass completion, tackles won, blocks and successful take-ons. They all have their benefits but with his ability on the ball, Konsa is one of the best. With the way England looks to play, he would fit in perfectly to the backline.
How did fans react?
There were plenty of unhappy reactions from Villa fans on social media who didn’t get why Konsa was the only player not to get minutes. On that point, pundit, Dan Bardell took to Twitter to voice his confusion.
With Kalvin Phillips, Marcus Rashford and Cole Palmer coming on with mere minutes left, it looked like Konsa was forgotten. And he was.
Given that both games were of little importance, with the first being a friendly, it is wild that the Villa man didn’t feature.
With him not coming off the bench, he will come back to Bodymoor Heath fresh and ready for a big run of fixtures. With Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester City in quick succession coming up, he will need to be on top form.
It is clear that Villa fans love the Englishman, especially after his form this season and even if Southgate can’t see it, the Villans will.
