Morgan Rodgers’ impact at Aston Villa: Strength, skill and ideal fit for Unai Emery since January signing

Signing in the January window? How Morgan Rodgers hit the ground running at Aston Villa to push his top-four finish, with exclusive insight from Michael Appleton, the man who gave the 21-year-old attacker his Football League debut…

Ollie Watkins was the star of Aston Villa’s win over Bournemouth last time out, scoring the last two goals, but they couldn’t have done it without Morgan Rodgers. Villa could not have sustained this Champions League push without Rodgers.

Since arriving from Middlesbrough in January for an initial fee of £8m, the 21-year-old signing has impressed under Unai Emery, taking on more responsibility than expected. He has become a driving force in this Villa team.

His only goal for the equalizer against Bournemouth was distinctive, with that combination of power and finesse that makes him such a formidable opponent. The pass that proved to be the winning goal to Watkins also showed vision.

Rodgers’ success is a reminder of the talent that lurks in the Championship, however rare. A physically imposing figure but one who is among the top 10 dribblers per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season. This is a rare collection.

“I think that’s what makes him even more dangerous than others who are known for dribbling the ball,” explains Michael Appleton. “It’s one thing to be nippy with a modest frame and walk past people, but when you’re 6’2” and you can…

Appleton, who gave Rodgers his league debut at Lincoln City, added: “He’s grown into it a bit but he’s always had a decent size. The good thing about Morgan is that some of that Young athletes who possess these physical attributes do not know how to use them.

“Some of them are almost afraid of their own shadows at times, aren’t they? Morgan is the opposite. He actually likes contact. He likes people to be very tight with him and then he can use his physical frame to show them off.” Can use to roll in or out.”

Having worked through West Brom’s academy, Appleton has been aware of Rodgers since he was very young. He spoke to coaches Jimmy Sean and Mark Harrison, now Villa’s academy manager, received positive feedback and was loaned to Manchester City.

Eager to test himself at first-team level, what stood out even as a teenager was that, after leaving West Brom for a season in City’s development squad, Rodgers was mentally and physically ready to play. were ready “The kid was so confident,” Appleton says.

“We weren’t the biggest team and I remember there were a couple of games where we were thinking about the opposition and who to pick up, and he just said, ‘Put me on their biggest player,'” he said. I will work.’ What it really meant was that he had a lot of faith.”

Lincoln reached Wembley that season, losing to Blackpool in the League One play-off final. With Brennan Johnson also on the team, Rodgers used himself in a variety of positions. “Because I knew Morgan liked contact, I knew I could play him inside the 10.”

They reunited in January last year in Blackpool only to depart for the Appleton Days. Only a back problem prevented the deal from being completed in the summer. “I always joke with him that if we did this in August, he would hire me.”

Rodgers learned from the experience at the wrong end of the Championship, eventually signing permanently for Michael Carrick’s Middlesbrough. “Michael recognized that this was a player who could comfortably play at the top end of the Championship.”

That he was still on loan at Blackpool less than a year ago is a reminder of how quickly Rodgers has progressed – and how far he has come. It is now the top end of the Premier League. “It didn’t surprise me at all,” says Appleton.

Rogers is still learning, a process that helps with his mindset. Unai Emery says he is “demanding too much of himself” and the off-the-ball work is now much better. This is a player who can press well, eat up the ground, and is quickly maturing in his positional game.

“It was an area where we wanted more of that at Lincoln,” says Appleton. “Because he’s a guy who gets it and wants to improve, he’s done it.” An interesting detail is that he intercepts crosses more regularly than any other non-defender in the Premier League.

It helps that Emery and his team recognized there was a place for him at Villa. It wasn’t a punt, but a calculation that Rodgers had the skills to slide seamlessly into the side. What he is doing now is very similar to what he was doing at Middlesbrough.

PlayerRadar highlights this. Emery is clearly delighted. “He’s a player,” he said over the weekend. “He is intelligent. He understands football. When we analyzed and we signed him, it was because we analyzed his ability to adapt quickly to our structure.”

The decision to withdraw from the Championship has been confirmed. Rodgers wasn’t the most high-profile youngster to leave town over the summer, Cole Palmer was. But it is not a Chelsea player who is now likely to be in the Champions League next season.

“When you leave a club you’ve been at since you were a boy to go to an institution the size of Man City, sometimes you can get lost in the number of bodies in the building,” explains Appleton. “You have to take a step back to go forward again.”

Rogers is now just looking ahead. It’s tempting to say they’ll find themselves in the Champions League but they’re more along for the ride. He has been a key factor in maintaining Villa’s momentum this spring. Perhaps the best buy of the January window.

“One thing young players are asked about all the time is their temperament. He has the talent to do that but young players are tested when they try to get to the next level. has this temperament. Going higher and higher.”