Considered underrated by many Aston Villa supporters beyond our fanbase, there is no doubt that we fully appreciate and are aware of just how good Ezri Konsa is.
Fresh from signing his new contract last week, the 25-year-old put in another brilliant shift in our 1-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday, and as is often the case, his form tends to elude the headlines.
READ MORE: Crucial boost for key Villa man as he now eyes important run
With Ollie Watkins scoring the winning goal and Emiliano Martinez producing a string of highlight-reel saves, it’s easy for Konsa’s performance to get lost amid the delight of back-to-back wins at Stamford Bridge, but many will be aware of how important a role our influential centre-half plays.
An ever-present so far this season, Konsa continues to grow into his leadership position as he organises the backline in the absence of long-term defensive partner Tyrone Mings, as he has had to step up and into a bigger role to effectively lead the way in executing Unai Emery’s preferred high line.
Aside from his defensive qualities in terms of making crucial interventions and tackles with few managing to find a way around him, Konsa’s positional and tactical awareness continues to develop and his reading of the game coupled with his recovery speed have made one of the best centre-halves in the Premier League.
Again, few outside of Villa will perhaps agree with that, but just as Mings is often scoffed at by those who don’t see how much of a presence he has been for us consistently over some time now, they evidently haven’t acknowledged Konsa’s form, and that’s fine.
The opinion outside of the club doesn’t really matter, and Konsa has continued to go about his job in an impressive manner, firmly establishing himself as an integral figure in Emery’s side given his composure and technical quality on the ball too as he’s able to help control possession and build out from the back.
There is a sense that Emery would prefer to play with three centre-halves in the Villa XI having experimented with that over pre-season, but much depends on the fitness of Diego Carlos moving forward.
If the Brazilian defender can stay healthy, that could shift Konsa across to right-back at times, and he’s shown he has the versatility to thrive in that role too.
Regardless of whether it’s Pau Torres, Diego Carlos or others though, he is a mainstay in the Villa defence and rightly so given his form. Particularly with the absence of Mings this season, Villa need Konsa to be that reliable and consistent presence to hold things together and set the standard, and he’s evidently relishing that role thus far given the way he has started the season.
Defeats away to Newcastle Utd, Liverpool and Legia Warsaw in which we’ve conceded 11 goals show that we’re missing Mings and still need to improve, but off the back of Sunday’s clean sheet at Chelsea, it’s hoped Konsa and the backline have now found that focus and resilience to make it a more frequent occurrence.