Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer slam Ezri Konsa after Aston Villa ‘shambles’ v Manchester City
Aston Villa supporters didn’t head into their showdown with Manchester City full of confidence, but they would have hopes to see Unai Emery’s side pull off another shock win.
But thanks to some poor defensive play and plenty of magic from Phil Foden and Rodri, the Premier League champions waltzed to a comfortable 4-1 home win at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday (3 April).
While most plaudits have been handed to Foden for his excellent hattrick, Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer have been quick to slam Villa defender Ezri Konsa for his role in the Villans’ “shambolic” free-kick wall that failed to deny the City star.
Speaking on Match of the Day (3 April) Lineker said: “For all of Foden’s brilliance though, Aston Villa’s wall was let’s say shambolic.”
Shearer agreed directing his criticism mainly at Nicolo Zaniolo, saying: “Nicolo Zaniolo what are you doing? Konsa’s not great either. You are put in a wall for a reason and it’s not to do this.”
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Konsa was nowhere near Villa’s worst player at the Etihad, but the versatile defender simply had to stand his ground to try and block Foden’s free-kick, especially after Zaniolo quickly turned his back to leave a massive gap.
The 26-year-old won zero per cent of his attempted tackles in his 90 minutes of action and only managed to register a single interception as he was also dribbled past once as he struggled to contain Pep Guardiola’s attack, according to Fotmob.
When compared to other Premier League fullbacks this season, Konsa places in the 48th percentile for tackles won per 90 minutes with an average of only 0.88 every 90 minutes, according to Fbref.
Konsa’s biggest issue isn’t the fact he doesn’t win challenges, it’s that he doesn’t tend to contest possession. The England international sits in the bottom 10 per cent of his positional peers for dribbles challenged per match, with an average of 0.8.
When he does enter a tackle, the Villa star wins 90.5 per cent of his challenges, a figure which places him in the top one per cent of top-flight fullbacks and he only loses an average of 0.08 tackles every 90 minutes.
Manchester City’s great attacking threat meant that Konsa wasn’t able to get forward and attack at the Etihad on Wednesday. Despite completing 97 per cent of his 30 attempted passes, the right-back failed to create a single goalscoring chance.
Konsa’s only attempted cross failed to find a teammate in claret and blue and that has been a regular issue when the Englishman has been deployed in a wider role as he is yet to register a single league assist this term.
That poor record isn’t a result of poor finishing from Villa’s strikers either as Konsa places in the 38th percentile for expected assisted goals per game, with an average of 0.02 xAG a game which is far too low for a team chasing the Champions League.
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Villa are going to have to make do with Konsa at right back for the next few weeks as Matty Cash continues to make his way back from injury, but they will need Konsa to cut out these “shambolic” mistakes if they want to get back to winning ways.
While most of the blame should lie at Zaniolo’s feet, the defender needs to be more consistent. He wasn’t terrible and it was a tough evening for all involved, so he deserves to be cut a bit more slack.
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