Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa has now laid the marker and made himself known after his first major tournament start for England.
Gareth Southgate’s side recorded a nervy penalty shootout victory over Switzerland on Saturday and they will now face the Netherlands in the semi-finals of Euro 2024.
Ezri Konsa put in a commanding display for England and was rightfully lauded for his performance, including from his Aston Villa teammates.
The Aston Villa man had only made one substitute appearance at the tournament, but Marc Guehi’s suspension had brought him into the XI.
Now, the fans and the media are discussing whether Guehi should replace Konsa for England’s semi-final clash against the Dutch.
There are hundreds of reasons why Villa will be playing Champions League football under Unai Emery next season and the performances of Konsa are one of them.
But it has taken those outside of the four walls of Villa Park some time to realise the utter brilliance of the ice-cool centre-back.
Gary Neville stated that Konsa was ‘fantastic’ against the Swiss, with Karen Carney agreeing and adding that he was ‘amazing’.
But the Manchester United legend then asked if Southgate would change things up and bring Guehi back into the fold.
Ex-Birmingham City striker Carney was the only one to back the Villa man by stating that the Crystal Palace star shouldn’t come back into the team.
Joleon Lescott thinks it would be ‘devastating’ if Guehi is left out and Neville added that it would be ‘harsh’, as they told ITV Sport.
Ezri Konsa v Marc Guehi
“Will Guehi come back in for Konsa,” asked Neville. Lescott added: “I anticipate him coming back in.”, but Karen Carney disagreed by saying: “I don’t think he should. Konsa was amazing.”
Neville agreed about the Villa man’s performance: “I thought Konsa was fantastic.”
But Lescott then stated: “But Marc has been amazing as well. I think to not put him back in, it would be devastating.” To which Neville responded: “Harsh, yeah.”
Ezri Konsa is good enough to start England’s semi-final clash against the Netherlands
A lot might depend on whether or not Southgate sticks with the same formation of playing three at the back because he changed it against the Swiss.
If he keeps the same formation, then Konsa’s chances of staying in the XI probably increase.
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But without being biased, Guehi has been brilliant all tournament, he hasn’t put a foot wrong, so it would be harsh for him to also miss out.
Either way, it further proves that Southgate was idiotic for not selecting or starting players outside of John Stones and Harry Maguire during these past few years because players like Konsa have been performing at this high level for a long time now.
