Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has praised Morgan Rogers, but reiterated that he is still pushing him to improve in a key area of his game.
The 22-year-old joined us from Middlesbrough in January, and wasted little time in establishing himself as a pivotal figure in Unai Emery’s side.
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Rogers has scored six goals and provided four assists in 31 appearances for us thus far, but beyond the statistics, his overall influence and ability to be a key piece in our system and structure has been a joy to watch.
That in turn has also resulted in a new contract this week after making his debut at senior level for England, and so the trajectory of his career has been remarkable over the past 10 months and promises to continue to get better.
However, importantly, Emery has reiterated that the Villa ace still has improvements to make to develop his game further, and he has singled out a challenge in particular for him in producing a more consistent decisive touch in the final third.
While Rogers has been excellent for the most part, he has been guilty of missing some big chances and not having always provided an end product to his excellent play, and so that’s the task for him moving forward, as per the Villa boss.
“He is here with us 10 months ago, joining us in January and his progression has been fantastic, his process is increasing, helping us getting a new level,” Emery said, as per BirminghamLive. “He can get it. Even there is still work to do to increase more. The national team call for him is fantastic.
“He is feeling good in training sessions and playing matches. We are pushing him and trying to work more getting more of him because I think he can add us more goals, more assists.
“He is always playing doing fantastic work, but I think he can help us be more clinical in the attacking third. This is my concern with him every day.
“The extension of the contract, he deserved it. The club wants to keep the better players and younger players to increase and grow up with us, getting the level we want. One of them is obviously Morgan Rogers.”
There is undoubtedly a bright future ahead for the Villa star, and alongside other top talents in the current squad with a long career ahead of them, it’s hoped that we’re building the core of a squad that is capable of enjoying sustained success in the coming years.
It’s been a dream 10 months so far for Rogers, but having set such a high standard already, he knows that he must continue to produce and get better to reach his full potential, and while working under Emery and his coaching staff, he has the perfect foundation and platform to do that at Villa.