Aston Villa ace Morgan Rogers has provided some key insight as we look to attack this final stretch of the season across all competitions.
Villa booked our place in the fifth round of the FA Cup with a convincing win over Tottenham on Sunday evening, while we’ve advanced to the last 16 in the Champions League and albeit off the pace currently, we are still in a good position to make up ground on our rivals in the Premier League to secure European football for next season.
READ MORE: Five key talking points as Villa see off Tottenham to advance in FA Cup
A number of Villa players have conceded this season that the schedule has been difficult to adapt to as we’ve had the strain of competing in Europe’s premier competition and have struggled after those games to maintain our energy levels, and that is something we’ll have to continue to manage in the coming weeks.
We perhaps benefitted significantly from having a full week off ahead of facing Spurs to rest, recover and prepare, and that was reflected in our performance as we made a brilliant start, and but for some wasteful finishing, we could, and should, have made it a much more comfortable night.
Villa played with high energy, intensity and tempo for large periods and that is ultimately when we’re at our best, but naturally that’s hard to sustain over the course of a gruelling season, particularly when we’re in the hunt across multiple fronts. When things slow down, Villa look more vulnerable at times, but that’s a key part of game-management too.
However, Rogers gave an important indication of the mentality shift led by Emery this past week, as we will hopefully see us play with that level of intent and energy through the remainder of the campaign if we can, as it was clearly a point of emphasis against Tottenham to play with more aggression and impose ourselves on the game more effectively to control it.
“This week, the manager hit a reset button in terms of new players in,” he told VillaTV. “It’s from now until the end of the season, that last big push.
“That started with today, and that start. I thought we were outstanding, especially that first half. We took it to them, with the intensity, the aggression, everything about the way we were was really good.
“(We) Probably could have done with another goal, but in terms of that energy, it was really good, and it really set us on the right foot. It got the crowd involved as well, and that’s the most important thing when we’re here. I thought we started really well.”
Although we saw a fair few exits over the January transfer window too, the additions of Axel Disasi, Andres Garcia, Donyell Malen, Marcos Asensio and Marcus Rashford has strengthened the group, and aside from giving everyone a lift by adding that level of quality, they give Emery more options and the ability to rotate.
That was a point emphasised by Rogers who will no doubt relish playing and training alongside the likes of Asensio and Rashford as he continues to strive to improve, and he can certainly take a lot from them given their experience and knowledge of the game.
It’s one thing having a strong squad on paper though and translating that into consistently good results on the pitch, and as we target silverware this season and further progress and success in the league and Champions League, it’s hoped we’ve set the tone and standard with our performance this past weekend to hopefully now put a strong run together and get back to playing at the level we’ve seen under Emery previously.
“It helps with the quality of signings we brought in this week,” Rogers added. “They’ve given everyone a massive lift, just with the calibre and quality they possess, and the levels we’re trying to reach, that’s massive for us and where we want to go.
“The squad now is looking really strong, and hopefully now we can get a few of the injured players back. For me, it’s a massive buzz. This week has just been that bit different. We were looking forward to this game and we wanted to put in a performance, and we did.”
