Aston Villa fans were disappointed by one player’s performance following the goalless draw against Juventus in the Champions League.
Unai Emery’s men recorded their fourth clean sheet in five Champions League on Wednesday night while a moment of controversy denied Aston Villa all three points.
Morgan Rogers thought he’d scored a stoppage-time winner, but after he put the ball in the back of the net, VAR ruled Villa’s goal out as Diego Carlos was adjudged to have fouled Michele Di Gregorio.
Emery dubbed the decision ‘soft’, and so did Ollie Watkins, who blasted the officiating in Europe, claiming it is different from the Premier League.
Villa were made to settle for a point, which bumped them up to 10th in the table, while the fans were left annoyed by the performance of one player.
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Morgan Rogers lost possession 19 times for Aston Villa vs Juventus
Rogers was thrust into a role on the left wing against Juve while captain John McGinn occupied his teammates’ attacking midfield position.
The 22-year-old has enjoyed a mostly excellent start to the season, though Rogers levels have dropped off recently, and that was the case on Wednesday night.
Emery said Rogers must improve his final ball last week, and once more, quality in the final third was non-existent against Juve, losing possession a whopping 19 times.
He also completed zero crosses, just one key pass and one successful dribble, with Villa fans outlining their frustrations.
One supporter said: “Rogers was a passenger = crying out for Maatsen LW.”
“Granted Rogers had another awful game but Bailey was a threat,” another replied.
“Bailey was really lively today, Kamara back to being undroppable. Probably the worst I’ve seen Morgan Rogers play though,” a third commented.
“Not sure what’s going on with Rogers right now,” another said.
“Rogers can’t past wind. Get him dropped. Been off it for too long,” a sixth pointed out.
“Forcing Rogers in this team is making us less effective,” a seventh uttered.
Unai Emery should drop Rogers vs Chelsea
It appears all of the football is catching up to Rogers. Since the start of the season, it’s been a relentless schedule for the youngster, who has played 20 games in all competitions for club and country.
On Wednesday night, the England international looked like a shadow of his former self, failing to play with the same aggression, tenacity and power associated with his driving runs.
Instead, he was pretty ineffective every time he received the ball and aside from scoring the late disallowed goal, Rogers didn’t impact the game.
Considering Rogers has been dubbed ‘unplayable’ for most of the campaign, it’s evident the levels he can reach but he fell dramatically short against Juve and could now be dropped for the trip to Chelsea.
In the case he is, Emery could manage that headache by finally unleashing Jhon Duran alongside Watkins, with the 20-year-old deserving of a start.
