Here's What Ezri Konsa Will Bring to Arsenal | w/ Ollie Hopkins
Arsenal look have completed the signing of Ezri Konsa from Aston Villa — but can his replace William Saliba at the heart of Mikel Arteta's defence? In this video, we break down Ezri Konsa's playing style, strengths, areas of concern and tactical role, looking at why the 28-year-old could be the perfect addition to Arsenal’s squad. From his ball-winning ability to his league-leading passing accuracy Ezri Konsa is a Premier League proven duel monster - but can he fill the void left by William Saliba? Check out the Opta Analyst website: https://theanalyst.com/ 📬 Sign up for the Opta Analyst Newsletter here for free: https://theanalyst.com/sign-up Follow Opta Analyst: Twitter: https://x.com/OptaAnalyst Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theoptaanalyst Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/optaanalyst/ Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@optaanalyst QUESTION - Have a question about a player or data? Drop it in the comments! ezrikonsa arsenal arsenalfc
Transcript
Arsenal have completed the signing of Ezri Konsa from Aston Villa, but where does he fit? What does that mean for Saliba's injury? And what can Konsa bring that maybe Arsenal are lacking? We're joined by Opta analyst Ollie Hopkins to discuss the transfer further. Ollie, the new season's upon us. How you feeling? >> Excited. Happy to be back. It's been a a long sort of 4 weeks post World Cup. It's It's kind of felt like we're in a bit of a yeah, bit of no man's land. So, it's nice to kind of get um yeah, the Premier League back and on our on our screens. >> Arsenal transfer business is Arteta's way of showing he's here to play, he's here to win, showing his ambition. But, what does the sign of Konsa mean for Arsenal? >> Yeah, I think this signing is uh probably a a show that Arteta is doubling down on trying to win right now. Um we're seeing a lot of Arsenal's main title rivals in transition. They've got new managers, new players, both. Um and I think, you know, Arsenal's squad is probably the most settled. Um Arteta's the longest manager by by quite a long way in the Premier League now, and he's really just um I think picking his window now to to basically win as much as he can. I think Konsa is not particularly glamorous signing, um but I think it's a really solid one. I think the signing of of Konsa shows that Saliba's injury is is perhaps worse than than maybe some fans felt when that was announced post post World Cup. Um you know, back injuries can be long long lingering and can affect players. I think acting so swiftly to to get Konsa, I think shows that they are concerned with Saliba's long-term health. And also, Konsa, you know, we we know um can play right back as well. And And And Timber is currently um suffering from a a groin injury. Over the last three seasons, he's played um just over a fifth of minutes at right back. So, he can do both. Um and I think this this sort of shows that yeah, Arsenal want to strengthen and want to kind of maintain that defensive quality when they're going to be without Saliba and and Timber probably for the first few weeks in Timber's case and and longer for for Saliba. >> I mean, we all know what Konsa can do. We've seen him in the Premier League for for Aston Villa. We've seen him at the World Cup for England. But just going into his data a little bit more because his passing, his ground jewels are are particularly impressive. >> Yeah, that's a that's a great point. I think many people would be surprised to to see Konsa rank so highly in in certain metrics. Um, you mentioned like passing first and foremost there. I mean, he had the highest pass accuracy of any player in the entire league last season. Konsa plays a lot of easier passes um and that's maybe why he is completing lots of them. So, he isn't trying to play kind of um crossfield raking balls or trying to break the lines with kind of balls into midfield. They are more safer sideways to his center back partner or or out to the right back. Um, and that's probably why he's been beating lots of them. Um, not not say he he can't do that. Um, I think he's a more similar profile to someone like Saliba in that regard. He was just very technically sound, very composed, and can keep the ball for for his team even under pressure, but isn't going to try and break lines um and go for like really um really hard passes. If we look at his ground jewels, Konsa had the best ground jewel win rate of any player in the league last season. Um, he won 72% of of his of his ground jewels, which is higher than Van Dijk, Gabriel, Sven Botman. So, he's in you know, the the the proper elite territory when it comes to winning his battles on on the ground. >> He's been dribbled past just seven times in his entire Premier League career. And that's uh at a per 90 rate. It's not 0.17, which is the best of any defender, of any midfielder. Um, and only Haaland been dribbled past um less regularly, but obviously he's playing as a forward less important for him to kind of, affect change at that end of the pitch. So, I mean, that shows that he's great one-on-one, um and great at, yeah, kind of stopping his opponents from going past him. So, that's something that Arteta will absolutely love, and he'll fit right into Arsenal's defense in in that regard, because Gabriel, Saliba, Timber are brilliant duelers, um and and, you know, I think with the the increase in sort of man-for-man marking and man-for-man pressing, winning a one-on-one battle is is base- is so so important. Um and so, he'll fit great in in that respect. >> I think one of Arsenal's biggest strengths now is is the versatility across that back line. If Kiwior and Gabriel are the starting pair, how does Kiwior compare to Saliba? What are some of the things that maybe he can't do? >> Look, I think you would probably say that Kiwior is a slight step down from Saliba in terms of his his all-round play. I think where Kiwior and Saliba are maybe more similar is is in the air. Gabriel was always been the kind of dominant aerial force of the two in that center half partnership. I think he would definitely still play the slightly more technical, more silky role next to Gabriel, who's more physical. But, in terms of how he kind of compares to Saliba, I think they they did they do profile quite similarly. So, I think, as a like-for-like replacement, they're not exactly like-for-like, um but he he has a lot of the same qualities that Saliba does possess, and they should him and Gabriel should blend well together. >> With that depth and that versatility, does Kiwior come in as a starter or is he kind of there to plug gaps? >> I think he can start most games. Um I think he, you know, see obviously like Christian Mosquera has done brilliantly, um deputizing for Gabriel, Saliba, even at right back. He's done really really well. I think he is a real um star for the future, but he's still young. Kiwior comes in 28. He's in his prime, ready to go. Um he he basically played all the time for for Villa and I think he brings that immediate experience and I guess just like quality and now straight away. And so I think Arteta won't have have too many issues with him starting straight away. So so yeah, I mean I do see Konsa being Gabriel's partner sooner rather than than later at the heart of that defense.