Aston Villa are blessed but also cursed to own several quality players who are picked to represent their nations on the big stage.
While it’s great to see many Aston Villa stars excelling at international level, Unai Emery will always face an anxious wait to see if they return to Bodymoor Heath fully fit.
Currently, Villa have nine players on international duty, including Youri Tielemans, Lucas Digne, Leon Bailey, Pau Torres, Ollie Watkins, Jhon Duran, Kosta Nedeljkovic, Joe Gauci and Ian Maatsen.
There are a couple of notable admissions, though, namely Ezri Konsa and John McGinn, who should both return from their respective injuries after the break.
Morgan Rogers is another who can perhaps feel hard done by after not being selected to represent England at senior level.
Aston Villa star Morgan Rogers left out of Lee Carsley’s England squad
When Lee Carsley drafted up his England squad for Nations League clashes against Greece and Finland, he chose to leave out Villa midfielder Rogers.
He was instead called up to the Three Lions under-21 side. Previously, the decision to select Rogers for England’s under-21s angered Emery, who felt he should have been selected for the senior side.
The 22-year-old has enjoyed a brilliant start to the season and has put in some fine performances. However, Rogers has been told to improve his end product to be considered for an England call-up.
That said, when Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo dropped out of the squad through injury, the Aston Villa star would have perhaps felt he had a chance of selection.
Sadly, Carsley threw a spanner in the works when he replaced Mainoo with Liverpool’s Curtis Jones, a player who has only started once for the Reds this season.
Curtis Jones fortunate to receive England call-up
Rogers is regarded as one of the Premier League’s most promising talents and the Villa No.27 has been labelled ‘unplayable’ by Jamie Redknapp previously.
When he utilises his outstanding ball-carrying skills, he’s nearly impossible to stop and adding a lethal end product to his game could make him irresistible.
Still, the decision to select Jones over him is very debatable, considering he’s also yet to make a senior appearance for England and has played most of his minutes from the bench.
The choice to take the 23-year-old is made even more baffling when Tottenham midfielder James Maddison, Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze and West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen were all omitted.
Of course, Jones isn’t the sole reason the above trio were left out however, you’d like to think that Maddison, Eze and Rogers all offer more than the Liverpool man, particularly going forward.
