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 trailed a Slovakian team ranked 45th in the FIFA World Rankings for the most of the match, continuing their dismal play at the event held in Germany this summer.
Ellie Watkins and Ezri Konsa watched from the bench as Harry Kane started ahead of them again, despite rumors in the media that he might be starting at left-back.
Before Jude Bellingham’s flash of genius tied the game in the 95th minute, it appeared as though England would be sending players home with a whimper from the tournament.
This sent the match into extra time, where Kane secured a trip to the quarterfinals with a header assisted by Ivan Toney, who had replaced Watkins.
Given their performance, England was really fortunate to advance. Former Villa player Ahmed Elmohamady expressed what all Villa fans were thinking throughout the match.
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
Even while results are the most important factor in tournament football, England supporters will be extremely anxious with the nation’s undoubtedly poor performance thus far.
The way Crystal Palace center back Marc Guehi has performed in his first taste of a major tournament has been one of the few reasons for hope.
Guehi, however, was forced to foul a Slovakian striker after being caught off guard by a pass from Kieran Trippier. As a result, he was given a caution and will miss Saturday’s quarterfinal matchup with Switzerland.
Although this is frustrating, it does allow Konsa to start his first tournament match at left back after he put on a strong extra-time performance.
Southgate seems to be favoring Konsa over Joe Gomez of Liverpool and Lewis Dunk of Brighton, and it appears that Konsa will face the Swiss in the greatest match of his career.
Supporters of Villa should be excited to watch one of their stars play because they know the composed Konsa can handle the strain.
Watkins will now have to settle for a bench spot once more, and Toney might possibly drop to third in the center-forward hierarchy as a result of his performance.
Read more news on https://sportupdates.co.uk/
Leave a Reply