Aston Villa duo Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa haven’t had much of a look in for England at Euro 2024 this summer.
Some Aston Villa fans might be frustrated by that, but in truth, they should count themselves lucky because England has been woeful.
Players like Phil Foden, Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka, who have had standout seasons at club level, are getting verbally battered left, right and centre for their performances.
Not because they aren’t good enough, but because of Gareth Southgate’s tactics and that was proven during the pretty fortunate 2-1 win over Slovakia.
England are now in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 where they will play Switzerland for a place in the last four, but Southgate now has a big call to make.
Marc Guehi will be suspended for that fixture, whilst John Stones seems to be carrying a knock and Kieran Trippier, who is playing at left-back, went off injured in the second half.
That opens the door for Konsa to start, at centre-back or left-back. He might not play left-back for Villa, but Southgate has used Konsa in that role during his time on the international stage.
Ashley Young made it clear that he would start the Villa man alongside Stones for England’s showdown against Switzerland because Lewis Dunk ‘didn’t get a look in’ against Slovakia, as he told talkSPORT.
Ezri Konsa to start for England against Switzerland?
“With Marc Guehi out now, if John Stones is not fit, then we have Lewis Dunk and we have Ezri Konsa,” said Young.
“I think John Stones will be fit for the next game and then I think I would bring in a Ezri Konsa to play with him (against Switzerland). Lewis Dunk didn’t get a look in when we changed to a five (against Slovakia).
“It’s difficult because, at the start of the tournament, we spoke about the defence and are we going to be strong enough in the defensive third – there are even more questions now. We didn’t want it to be like that. We didn’t want it to affect the team. But there are so many questions now from everyone thinking ‘what do we do?’ and ‘what are we going to do?’. I think Gareth is going to be thinking ‘do I change to a three?’ or ‘do I keep it as a four?’
It’s time for Ezri Konsa to shine
Villa fans have argued for years now that Konsa should have earned an England call much earlier than this season.
Ever since the 26-year-old moved to Villa Park in 2019, he has been one of the team’s consistent performers and a key reason why Unai Emery guided the team to the Champions League.
READ MORE: Unai Emery expected to snub ‘magical’ Aston Villa player in Champions League hammer blow
But this is now the time for Konsa to shine and showcase what he is all about because he is an outstanding defender.
Bukayo Saka’s comments prove that because Konsa is one of the best one-on-one defenders in the Premier League and very calm when under pressure.
Now it’s a case of transforming that form for Villa into the colours of England.
The post 'I would': Ashley Young makes feelings clear about Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa ahead of crucial Euro 2024 call appeared first on Aston Villa News.
