Aston Villa fans would have been frustrated to see neither Ezri Konsa nor Ollie Watkins start for England in their round of Euro 2024 round of 16 clash with Slovakia.
England continued their poor performances in this summer’s tournament in Germany as they trailed to a Slovakia side 45th in the FIFA World Rankings for most of the game.
Despite suggestions in the media that he could be set to start at left-back, Ezri Konsa watched on from the bench alongside Ollie Watkins who yet again saw Harry Kane start ahead of him.
It looked for all the world as though England were going to exit the tournament with a whimper before a moment of brilliance from Jude Bellingham saw the Three Lions level in the 95th-minute.
That took the game to extra-time, where Kane scored a header assisted from Ivan Toney – who had been brought on instead of Watkins – to seal a place in the quarter-finals.
England were incredibly fortunate to progress given their performance and former Aston Villa player Ahmed Elmohamady said what every Villan was thinking during the game.
Ahmed Elmohamady calls for Aston Villa duo during England v Slovakia
After England went behind to an Ivan Schranz strike on 25 minutes, the nation watched on in horror as their star players again failed to perform.
What no one observing could understand was Gareth Southgate‘s refusal to make any changes, with his only substitution before the 84th-minute an enforced one which saw Kieran Trippier go off injured.
This was despite a minimal improvement in the second-half performance and left Elmohamady as confused as everyone else.
The former Villa right-back posted on ‘X’ just 30 minutes into the game: ‘Bring on Watkins and Konsa quickly’.
Southgate didn’t, of course, as Watkins remained an unused substitute after 120 minutes and Konsa did not come on until half-time of extra-time.
Ezri Konsa should start for England against Switzerland
Whilst tournament football is all about results, England fans will be left deeply concerned by the fact the country have arguably failed to have a positive performance so far.
One of the few causes for optimism have been the performances of Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi in his first taste of a major tournament.
However, after being left short by a Kieran Trippier pass, Guehi was left with no choice but to foul a Slovakia forward and receive a caution that will see him miss Saturday’s quarter-final with Switzerland.
Whilst this is disappointing, it does open the door for Konsa to start his first game of the tournament after he impressed in a solid extra-time display at left-back.
Konsa appears to be favoured over Liverpool’s Joe Gomez and Brighton’s Lewis Dunk by Southgate and looks set to be thrown into the biggest game of his career against the Swiss.
Villa fans will be confident the cool-headed Konsa can cope with the pressure of the situation and should look forward to seeing one of their stars in action.
For Watkins, it will unfortunately be a place on the bench again and Toney’s display may have seen him now slip down to third in the centre-forward pecking order.
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