Morgan Rogers is just growing in confidence in Aston Villa colours.
The 22-year-old is a regular starter for Unai Emery at Aston Villa and he hasn’t even been at the club for a year.
Back in January, the powers that be at the Midlands club made the surprise move of bringing in Rogers from Championship side Middlesbrough.
Fast forward to the present and Rogers has earned his maiden England call-up in what has been a rapid rise for the youngster.
Rogers’ quick turnaround has even surprised himself, but it’s all well deserved and now he will be hoping to make his England debut.
The attacking midfielder has two chances to do so – starting with England’s UEFA Nations League tie in Athens against Greece on Thursday evening, before a Wembley showdown against the Republic of Ireland on Sunday.
Whatever happens, Ally McCoist and Troy Deeney are in agreement about the Aston Villa man.
Ally McCoist and Troy Deeney hail Morgan Rogers’ ‘arrogance’ after maiden England call
Emery has had to deal with Premier League and Champions League matters this season, yet one thing has remained a constant and that’s Rogers starting all his key games.
Added to that, for most parts, he also plays 90 minutes, but Troy Deeney wanted to highlight a game where he was taken off.
Deeney shared that he loved Rogers’ ‘arrogance’ at not wanting to come off and believes he has now become Villa’s ‘main man’.
McCoist agreed with his fellow pundit and thinks his story of reaching the top is just ‘absolutely brilliant’, as he told talkSPORT (13/11/24 at 6:15 am).
“It’s a magic story,” said McCoist. “His rise, level of performance this season and he has been different class.”
Deeney agreed: “Yeah. Even though he is on the other side of the city, he’s been in a situation where when he was at Middlesbrough. I thought he was very good. But I didn’t know if he could make the step. Normally, you will make the gradual step up. He will go in somewhere a little lower. Then to a top-four club. But he has gone straight in, and dare I say it, he has taken it to be the main man himself. In terms of performances, give me the ball and don’t worry about it. Arrogance as well. They took him out a while ago. He went ‘me? You don’t take me off’. I thought at 22. Fair play to him. He has gone and done it.”
McCoist then added: “I think that’s fair. There is a bit of confidence, isn’t there? Arrogance. Don’t mind it. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.”
Rogers’ numbers for Aston Villa this season
This time last season, Rogers was trying to force his way into Michael Carrick’s Boro XI and now he will be looking to do the same with England.
Then, at the start of the season, Rogers was being told he will be a £100 million player, but he needs to keep his feet grounded because that talk can swing the other way in next to no time.
Now it’s about just learning from this first England experience and making sure he is still there when Thomas Tuchel officially starts his post in 2025.
At club level, he is on the perfect platform, with Rogers set to sign a new Villa contract, and as posted by WhoScored, you can see why from his performances.
| Tournament | Apps | Goals | Assists | KeyP | Drb | SpG | PS% | MotM | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions League | 4 | – | 1 | 2.3 | 4.3 | 2.3 | 76.2 | 1 | 7.32 |
| Premier League | 11 | 3 | 2 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 76.3 | – | 6.86 |
| Total / Average | 15 | 3 | 3 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 1.9 | 76.3 | 1 | 6.98 |
