What Unai Emery said about Morgan Rogers after Aston Villa’s 3-2 win at West Ham United.

Unai Emery is thrilled with how Morgan Rogers has recovered after a difficult start to the season, though the Aston Villa boss never doubted his number 27 would return to form.

Rogers scored a clinical brace as Villa twice came from behind to beat West Ham United 3-2 at the London Stadium, the first a composed finish from a Youri Tielemans cross and the second a powerful 25-yard effort. The performance was reminiscent of 2024/25 and a sign that Rogers certainly wasn’t a ‘one season wonder’, as many feared he may be at one stage.

It wasn’t the most convincing display from Villa in east London, yet three goals were scored, two of which were from the man of the moment. Sometimes, if clinical enough, you don’t need many opportunities to succeed, and Rogers proved that by scoring twice to turn the game on its head.

Emery delighted with Rogers recovery

Villa’s redemption arc has been staggering. From going through their opening four Premier League games without a single goal to winning nine of their last 10 matches in the English top flight, the Villans have shocked everybody. Some are now even talking about them as potential title contenders.

Rogers’ return to form has followed a similar trajectory. Against Bologna at the end of September, the attacking midfielder was booed by his own supporters. Now, a few months on, Rogers has returned six goal involvements in his last seven matches across all competitions.

Emery, who admitted to BirminghamWorld after that Bologna clash that he was playing Rogers through his struggles on purpose to help him develop, is delighted with how the forward has got back up to speed since.

“The most important thing is how he is working, tactically and being versatile. He is now scoring goals and he is being brilliant,” Emery told BirminghamWorld after the win at West Ham.

“He always was playing doing his work and with a huge commitment in everything we are working. Then, the goals are coming. He is feeling better and better.

“Morgan is mature. He is a mature person. When you speak with him in conversation, he is mature. He is responsible. His mentality is after his qualities. He is showing that he is getting better progressively and we are adding more matches.

“We are playing in different competitions in Europe. He has more chances to show his capacity, playing matches. He used to only play one match a week, now it is a lot. His physical capacity is really huge. He is a great player with the mentality he has to explain everything he is doing and to show everything he is doing.”

Rogers message sent to Thomas Tuchel

Emery was asked about whether Rogers should be a mainstay with England with the World Cup coming up. As much as that isn’t directly the Villa boss’ business, he’s always going to vouch for his player to feature as much as possible for his national team.

“He is growing up so quickly and performing more and more better,” Emery added. “He has qualities and he is strong. His mentality is a huge mentality. He is a really fantastic guy.

“I need to push him sometimes and we need him. He feels the ambitions I want, but it is not pressure. Ambitions in the dressing room are also very important. He is fantastic as a person. He is funny and he is responsible, focusing on his task.

“I am so, so happy how we is responding. The idea I have is to use him through our structure. All the players need to feel confident and working in our demands. Morgan, being a protagonist today is very important. In the next match maybe it is another player. We must try to feel everybody being a protagonist.”