Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa has received his first call-up to the senior England squad for the upcoming international break.
The announcement was made on Monday as England boss Gareth Southgate was forced into a reshuffle due to injuries, with Lewis Dunk’s withdrawal leading to the inclusion of Konsa in his place.
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The 26-year-old has been an almost ever-present for Villa so far this season, having been rested by Unai Emery in just one game in 19 outings across all competitions.
That in turn underlines his importance to the Villa boss, and it’s also a reflection of just how impressive he has been for some time now, as he has been consistently excellent in our backline, whether it be in his more natural role as a centre-half, or when switching across to right-back.
Konsa’s pace, timing, reading of the game, tactical awareness and defensive qualities coupled with his composure and technical ability to distribute accurately as we play out from the back have all allowed him to thrive and flourish under Emery over the past 12 months.
Further, he has excelled so far this season in showing more maturity and leadership following the blow of losing Tyrone Mings to a likely season-ending injury, and his partnership with Pau Torres in the heart of our defence has been pivotal to our success thus far.
With all that in mind, on top of the fact that his form has been brilliant dating back to the last couple of seasons, it does feel as though this England call-up is well overdue, but it’s great to see him finally receive that recognition and he’ll hopefully get the opportunity to establish himself in the squad moving forward now.
Having recently penned a new contract with Villa, it’s just another big step in his career as we add another international player to our ranks within the current squad, and that’s important for both Konsa and the club, as it shows we’re capable of helping potential future transfer targets to make that breakthrough for their country too.
On the flip side of that, we’ll lose a key player over the break to international duty, thus reducing the time he has with Emery and the coaching staff to prepare for our upcoming games. However, we can’t begrudge that too much and we’ll hopefully have plenty of time with those returning to ensure we’re ready to face Tottenham on November 26 and put in our best performance.
Congratulations to @EzriKonsa, who has received his first senior England call-up! 🏴 pic.twitter.com/e0xuQRsh7T
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) November 13, 2023
