Most duels, most tackles, best passing: Arsenal defender dominates on his debut

Ezri Konsa stepped into Arsenal’s starting team yesterday and looked instantly comfortable in their defence.

When you buy Premier League experienced players, you pay a premium, and you miss out on major resale value.

That’s the cost. The benefit is that you get a player who should be able to arrive and contribute right away. Arsenal know that, and their approach in the last few years shows it.

Take the example of Ezri Konsa, for example. He only arrived at Arsenal a couple of weeks ago, and was making his first start yesterday. Yet even stepping into a defensive unit which was already very well established he looked assured and comfortable and immediately at home.

He ended the game with some great stats – the most duels won in the game, the most clearances, the most tackles and the highest pass accuracy percentage. That’s a textbook Konsa game – dominating one on ones and careful with the ball.

Mikel Arteta couldn’t have asked for more from a full debut – that’s what you get buying players with hundreds of Premier League games under their belt.

Chelsea still in developmental stage

That was in stark contrast to their opposition Chelsea. They weren’t bad, but their constantly shifting selection of players have to reset their familiarity every 12 months.

Even bringing in an experienced player like Maxence Lacroix doesn’t help when he’s got a new goalkeeper behind him, new defenders around him and a formation that’s just been implemented in the last couple of months.

Chelsea can still reach that level – but it’s going to take them some time.