Why Ezri Konsa is the answer to England manager Gareth Southgate’s biggest problem at Euro 2024

Ezri Konsa is the man Gareth Southgate must turn to after Harry Maguire was ruled out of EURO 2024 with a calf injury.

The Manchester United centre-back would have partnered John Stones for England’s opener against Serbia on June 16 and throughout the tournament no doubt. But while Maguire has failed to recover in time, it is Marc Guehi who has been tipped to play alongside Stones in the center of defence.

The 23-year-old joined Crystal Palace from Chelsea in July 2021 and made his England debut in March 2022 against Switzerland. He earned his 10th cap alongside Lewis Dunk in England’s 3-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina at St James’ Park on Monday.

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Konsa played at right-back against Bosnia in his third England cap and impressed as he played in three different positions throughout the 90 minutes. He also played on the left and in midfield.

Since making his debut against Brazil in March, Konsa has flourished. There are few tasks more difficult as a full-back than going into a game against Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo, but Konsa blocked the right-hand side after Kyle Walker went off injured during the friendly at Wembley.

He then put in another superb performance against Belgium at right-back, before showing more of his versatility on Monday night in the Euro2024 warm-up match at St James’ Park, Newcastle.

“We didn’t intend to move him as much,” Southgate said after the 3-0 win earlier this week. “We took Lewis (Dunk) out as a precaution and the best way was to put Ezri at center half, which I think is his strongest position anyway.

“This is his third cap, he’s done very well in all three. That adaptability is useful for us. He’s playing in a team that’s had an extremely good season and he’s been a big part of that. He looks very confident in the shirt England.”

No player in Europe’s top five leagues had a higher percentage of tackled value dribbles (85.2 per cent) than Konsa last season, who in the Premier League was five per cent better than the next best, Moussa Niakhate from Nottingham Forest.

Konsa also had the best tackle success rate (77.84%) of any player who has played at least 20 tackles in Europe’s top seven leagues in the past year. It was 30 per cent higher than Brighton’s Dunk and 10 per cent higher than Palace’s Guehi.

The Aston Villa defender has had 40 more tackles than Dunk and more than 70 more than Guehi in the last term, while making almost 30 more tackles (54) than his two England team-mates.

Konsa also defeated Dunk and Guehi in aerial duels, winning over 68% of the aerial duels he contested. Another underrated element of Konsa’s game is his ability to draw fouls and relieve pressure, having been fouled 64 times, which was more than any other defender in the Premier League last season.

Konsa made 50 appearances in all competitions for Villa last term, playing a crucial role in Villa’s impressive campaign as the club finished in the top four to qualify for Champions League football and also reached the Europa Conference League semi-final. Villa boss Emery spoke about Konsa’s development earlier this year.

“When I arrived at Aston Villa and looked at all the players, Konsa was a good player, sometimes not good, now I can tell him he is better than he thinks,” Emery told Sky Sports. “I believe in him more than he believes in himself.

“Sometimes the problem is to be 100% focused and to be more focused than he was. He can be ambitious to improve, to develop, but through each training session practicing.

“Sometimes he was comfortable playing better, playing worse, but when we tried to explain to him the ability to step up, he took it incrementally. him, trying to get better. He’s a better player than he’s playing now, and he’s a better player than he thinks he is.

“He’s still young, but now he’s getting more experience, for example in Europe, playing in the top ten, playing in the top five. Also playing for his national team now.

“This step forward is perfect, but he has to have another challenge and I will try to push him to it. It is to lead the team, to talk more, to practice every day trying to improve through every training and then to play wanting more than before but thinking in general for the team and for the club to grow the club. That’s the mentality.”

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