Unai Emery hails 'imposing' Aston Villa star and deflects 'struggling' claim

Unai Emery has commended Aston Villa forward Morgan Rogers for his rapid adaptation to the Premier League following his £8 million winter transfer from Middlesbrough.

The former Manchester City man has enjoyed regular game time in an array of positions, with left midfield the most common role in the absence of Jacob Ramsey. Shadow striker has been another spot the 21-year-old has appeared in but the left flank he’s particularly shone on the left flank.

Rogers scored the first of Villa’s goals in the 3-1 win over AFC Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon. The finish was ice-cold from the West Bromwich Albion academy graduate as he took a divine Leon Bailey through ball into his path before cutting in and beating Cherries pair Adam Smith and Neto.

Emery was delighted with Rogers’ performance and believes there’s still more to come. “We analysed him and his adaptation was easier because his qualities in our squad and structure tactically are really through him easier,” Emery said when asked by Birmingham World about Rogers’ adjustment to the top flight.

“He has the skills, he understands how we want to create our structure tactically offensively and defensively. He is showing his capacity, his adaptation is quick and he’s scoring goals like today. He played today imposing as well individually his duels a lot of times with the moment. He’s been fantastic,” Emery said.

Emery deflects ‘struggling’ claim

Villa have had an incredibly grueling schedule of late, with a stunning seven matches in the last 21 days. Most teams - and most managers -would discuss the struggles of fatigue or use it as an excuse but Emery refuses to do so. Instead, the Spaniard believes the structure is the most important factor.

“Of course, the motivation is very important. They can be a little bit tired but the most important thing is to recover and try to get the full energy again in our mind and our body,” Emery told Birmingham World when asked how his team has dealt with so many minutes in quick succession.

“When we are playing more or less being comfortable on the pitch, even when we are feeling a little bit tired, we can keep the consistency that we did. We will now rest for two days. This week is only one match against Chelsea. It is very important and after the matches we have played, we need to rest,” Emery said.