‘It was my adrenaline!’ - Aston Villa boss Unai Emery makes controversial ‘not happy’ Morgan Rogers claim
Unai Emery responded passionately to questions about Morgan Rogers after Aston Villa 2-1 Manchester United.
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery was unimpressed by Morgan Rogers’ first-half performance against Manchester United on Sunday afternoon, despite the attacking midfielder scoring a goal-of-the-season contender in front of the North Stand 45 minutes in.
Emery raised a few eyebrows in the Villa Park press room after his side roared to a tenth successive victory across all competitions and an eleventh win in the last 12 Premier League outings. Emery was thrilled with Rogers scoring two terrific goals to help Villa to their 2-1 victory, however he felt the England international wasn’t at his best aside from his brace.
Unai Emery makes controversial Morgan Rogers claim
An iconic tear off of his jacket and a throw into the air from Emery marked Rogers’ second goal, which turned out to be the winner after Matheus Cunha cancelled out Rogers’ opener. And it appears Emery celebrated in such a fashion due to his frustrations at some of Rogers’ earlier moments in the match.
“Yeah, it was my adrenaline! I needed to show my adrenaline in a different way! I did it,” Emery exclaimed. “I did it because in the first half, I was not happy with Morgan Rogers, how he was performing. He scored a fantastic goal, but we needed more.
“In the second half, he was doing [better], he started more aggressively and he scored the second goal because he was aggressive for the second action. And my adrenaline was for this decision,” the head coach continued.
Rogers flying; improvement on ‘numbers’ an inevitability
It was a difficult start to the season for Rogers, whose struggles were parallel to those of Villa overall. The Villans failed to score in any of their first four Premier League matches and Rogers, having set such a high bar last term, was booed during a tricky performance in the 1-0 Europa League win over Bologna in September.
Emery explained to BirminghamWorld after that particular game that he had ignored fans’ cries for Rogers to be substituted, as he wanted the attacking midfielder to be exposed to harsher environments to further his development. It appears that treatment has worked a treat as Rogers is now bang on form, with three braces in his last half-a-dozen league games.
“We need the numbers of the players,” Emery added. “Today and last week, Morgan Rogers is performing fantastic. He started as well the season not getting numbers, but playing well, always doing his task, always with the commitment he's showing, with the attitude he has playing each match.
”Today he did the same and he scored goals. Of course, he is the protagonist and I'm so, so happy because he's a real fighter. He's a good guy, a very good guy. His commitment with Aston Villa is massive and his attitude every day is really fantastic. And when he's getting numbers like today, of course, we are very proud of everybody, but especially today with him.”