Forget Mings: AVFC’s “Mr Consistent” with 35 duels lost has been costing Gerrard

Aston Villa have had a rather turbulent season in their latest Premier League campaign having sacked Dean Smith after a run of five consecutive defeats to then appoint Steven Gerrard in November.

Since the former Liverpool midfielder came in, the Villans have racked up five wins, two draws and six defeats, with only one of those wins coming in their past seven league games.

One player, in particular, that has not had the easiest of seasons in a Villa shirt is defender Ezri Konsa.

With 21 league appearances under his belt, the centre-back has only managed to earn himself a rather underwhelming overall performance rating of 6.44/10 from WhoScored, making him the lowest-rated player currently in Gerrard’s squad that has started more than two league games.

Looking at his defensive statistics, the 24-year-old, who has lost 35 duels this season, has only been able to achieve an average of one tackle per game, which is lower than the likes of Emi Buendia, Jacob Ramsey and Morgan Sanson.

The same can be said for his average of interceptions as well with just 0.6 made per game, the same number as Ashley Young and Axel Tuanzebe who have both played significantly fewer minutes than Konsa.

Even for clearances and blocks, the Englishman has not been able to match the same average as fellow centre-back Tyrone Mings, even though the 28-year-old is seen as a liability for Villa by 66% of voters in a poll ran by Football FanCast earlier this year.

Has Ezri Konsa been disappointing this season?

Having got himself sent off in the 3-3 draw against Leeds United earlier this month, it could be argued that Konsa has been a liability for the Villans at times this season, despite previously being labelled as “Mr Consistent.”

With Calum Chambers being brought in during the recent January transfer window and having the likes of Joe Gomez linked with a summer transfer move to the Midlands club, the defender will have to fix up his performances throughout the remainder of the campaign or else he could be at risk of being left out of the team for the foreseeable future if Gerrard doesn’t believe in him.

In other news: Big mistake: “Bullish” AVFC gem with an “abundance of talent” is proving Gerrard wrong – opinion