Aston Villa duo Leon Bailey and Morgan Rogers both deservedly received high praise from Unai Emery after our 3-1 win over Bournemouth on Sunday.
Bailey’s fine season continued with a goal and assist this past weekend, with the 26-year-old taking his tallies for the campaign to 14 goals and 12 assists in 47 appearances across all competitions.
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It’s a significant step up from the Jamaican international compared to last season, both in terms of his durability and reliability as well as his decisiveness in the final third, and it’s clear that Emery’s influence has been huge in helping him develop and improve his game.
Bailey is playing with real confidence and there is an air of excitement and expectation whenever he picks up possession now, and he’s certainly grown into his role both as a player and an individual in terms of his leadership and ability to set the tone for others around him.
He earned praise from Emery when the Villa boss was asked about him after our latest win, as he reiterated that Bailey also deserved his recent contract extension.
“We appreciate him a lot here and he is doing a fantastic season with his goals and assists,” Emery said in his post-match press conference. “He is playing with the commitment we needed to increase as well with him. Defensively, being demanding as well. I am very happy with him and that’s why we extended his contract. He deserved it.”
As for Rogers, the 21-year-old is quickly proving to be a vital addition following his arrival in January, as the way in which he’s settled, adapted and become impactful within Emery’s structure and style has been so impressive.
Having bagged his second goal for the club to go with one assist in 13 outings, he has filled a big void given the injuries to others in the squad this season, and he continues to justify the pursuit from Emery and the club to land his signature just a few months ago.
While some are perhaps surprised by the speed with which he has understood the tactical principles and demands of him in his role both with and without the ball, Emery and his scouting staff evidently did extensive research to expect that this could very well have been the outcome. That said, perhaps even they are slightly surprised as to how quick the process has been.
“We analysed him, his adaptation was easier because his qualities in our squad and structure tactically is really through him easier,” he added. “He has the skills, he understands how we want to create our structure tactically offensively and defensively. He is showing his capacity, his adaptation is quick and he’s scoring goals like today. He played today imposing as well individually his duels a lot of times with the moment. He’s been fantastic.”
It’s been a superb season thus far, but Emery and his Villa squad know that the job is not yet complete. While we have a slight rest this week, all eyes will be focused on Chelsea when they visit us on Saturday night, as we look to take another big step towards Champions League qualification with a win.