Aston Villa podcaster Andy Bates has been sharing his praise for Villa defender Ezri Konsa.
This comes after Bates recently made an appearance on Villa-themed podcast Gather ‘Round The Lamp where he spoke about a range of topics concerning the club.
On the topic of Konsa, Bates had this to say on the player.
He said: “I just watch Konsa and I think he’s got the makings of being a really top centre-half for the next 10 or 15 years.
“He’s very, very mature, he’s very calm, and he has a defensive mindset; he’s not necessarily always looking for a forward pass or to set up an attack or anything like that, he’s just interested in keeping the ball out of the net.”
Villa signed the 23-year-old back in the 2019 summer transfer window from Championship club Brentford for a fee of £11.97 million.
Since making the move to Villa Park, Konsa, who is currently valued at £10.8 million, has made 40 appearances for Dean Smith’s side, in which he has scored four goals and provided two assists for his teammates.
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TIF Thoughts on Andy Bates’ comments on Konsa…
Even though Konsa has managed to score a handful of goals for the team since he joined Villa, most recently in their 2-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion, it seems as though Konsa’s defensive work in Dean Smith’s side is what has impressed Bates the most about the Englishman.
However, comparing his stats from last year to this season so far, the only defensive attribute Konsa seems to have improved on is the number of clearances he has made so far with 2.6 clearances per game last year compared to 5.3 this season (per WhoScored).
Taking this into account, Konsa has the rest of the season to improve on these defensive statistics but he already seems to have convinced Bates that he can become a crucial figure for Villa for the foreseeable future.