After an excellent first 18 months at Aston Villa, Morgan Rogers faces a crucial test next season in trying to maintain, and build on, his fundamental influence in the side.
The 22-year-old caught the eye of Unai Emery during his time at Middlesbrough, and he’s proven to be an inspired signing thus far given the way he’s adapted and flourished under the Basque coach’s guidance.
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After a highly encouraging opening five months at Villa following his arrival in January 2024, Rogers faced his first critical challenge of showing that it wasn’t just a fast start that he couldn’t back up, as he instead proved that he belongs at this level and can continue to improve and develop into a leading figure in this Villa team.
With 14 goals and 15 assists in 54 appearances across all competitions in his first full season as a Villa player, he answered that question emphatically, albeit a player of his age always has room for individual improvement and to become a more impactful figure as part of the team.
Perhaps the excessive workload took its toll on him at times, but his reliability and durability were fundamental factors in why he was so important for us, but his goals, creativity, intelligence, positional awareness, work ethic and desire all stood out as outstanding attributes that he possesses, and it’s hoped that there is still so much to come from him.
Naturally, opposition sides will have significantly more coverage of him to analyse in order to formulate a strategy to limit and nullify his quality in the final third, and particularly with Villa continuing to solidify our position in the top six in the Premier League and facing teams who perhaps adjust their gameplan and approach accordingly, Rogers and the rest of our attacking options will arguably find it increasingly difficult to break teams down.
That’s the test he faces moving forward to prove that he’s capable of reaching new levels and establishing himself as one of the best players in the league, and given what we’ve seen and heard from him on and off the pitch thus far, there is real confidence that he’ll once again step up and deliver given his quality and mentality.
It’s critical that we have a dynamic and effective attacking unit to help him do that, as if the likes of Jacob Ramsey, Donyell Malen and Ollie Watkins are firing too, it hopefully opens up space and time for Rogers to exploit and showcase his class, while his physical strength and pace to power past opponents and create openings for others will be fundamental to how we continue to play too.
His development has undoubtedly been one of the biggest positives in Emery’s reign thus far, as although the Villa boss has improved so many of the players that he inherited and has since signed, Rogers has been on a different level with the impact he’s made, and hopefully next season will be even more productive for Villa’s star man.
