Morgan Rogers struggled at the start of 2025-26, but now he’s one of the Premier League‘s form players and spearheading Aston Villa’s unlikely title challenge.
Villa Park’s Holte End was on its feet in appreciation and recognition of another immensely effective performance from Morgan Rogers.
Unai Emery’s men had claimed a hard-fought 2-1 win over Manchester United on Sunday, and at full-time no one still inside the ground was under any illusion as to why Aston Villa were able to win a game in which they were arguably second best.
On top form, Rogers is a gamebreaker, a joker, a wildcard, and this was the precise role he played once again as Villa made it 10 wins in a row in all competitions to keep themselves within just three points of Premier League leaders Arsenal.
It’s a situation bordering on extraordinary, and not just for a Villa side who began the season without a win in any of their first five league games – first six in all competitions when you add in their EFL Cup clash with Brentford (lost 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw).
Rogers’ own turnaround has been incredible as well. Villa’s difficult start to the season coincided with a troubled spell for the England international, whose performances were widely panned by supporters who’d come to expect far more.
He failed to register a single goal involvement in his first seven matches in all competitions in a barren beginning to 2025-26. While goals and assists aren’t the be-all and end-all, Rogers had tallied 27 (G14, A13) in 2024-25 and that reflected his ability to be impactful, decisive.
Fan frustration reached its zenith with Rogers during the Europa League clash with Bologna on 25 September, his seventh appearance of the campaign. In the 89th minute, after holding off an opponent in midfield, Rogers played a pass out to Evann Guessand on the right wing and sarcastic cheers rang out around Villa Park as the ball found its intended target.
It was unmistakable and certainly not a mere minority of Villa fans – if anything, it was a majority, and it was a clear message to the player regarding his performance.
But while supporters were clearly unimpressed, it was in some ways the kind of display that highlights the fine margins of professional football. After all, Rogers was influential that night and did plenty right generally, playing positively as he looked to get Villa on the front foot. The issue was how frequently his final pass let him down when the Villans were searching for a second goal in an eventual 1-0 win.
He ended the match having completed just 10 of a possible 24 passes for a success rate of 41.7%; that’s his lowest pass success rate in any game (10+ passes) for Villa, and the second lowest of his club career when only considering matches he started.
His manager didn’t shy away from the fact Rogers was underwhelming, but he also acknowledged there were still aspects of his performance that were positive, presumably referencing the positivity he provided in midfield.
“He did not play well,” Emery said after that game. “He was not clinical in the attacking third to do the last assists but I wanted to keep him [on] because, firstly, he is always doing his tasks, always working for the team. He needs to take the experience of not playing well, the crowd sometimes not being happy with him. He has to accept these experiences and grow up through it.
“Morgan is young and he needs to accept [fan frustration]. I kept him on the field for 90 minutes because I wanted his reaction to it, how he was accepting everything and he did it.”
Part of Emery’s thought process was likely influenced by knowing how good Rogers can be, therefore hoping he could simply regain confidence by playing. And to the Basque coach’s credit, he’s retained faith in the midfielder throughout this season; now, he’s reaping the rewards.
Rogers is one of English football’s form players currently, having recorded 11 goal involvements in his last 15 appearances in all competitions.
Nine of those goal contributions in that time have been in the Premier League (11 appearances), with only Erling Haaland (14) and Bruno Fernandes (10) managing more.
But what’s been most notable about many of Rogers’ most decisive moments has been the quality of them.
His first league goal of the season, against Spurs, was a gorgeous hit from about 25 yards; there was the brilliant free-kick at Leeds, then another screamer away to West Ham. And both of his strikes versus United on Monday were eye-catching, his first especially.
Rogers’ seven Premier League goals this season have come from just 2.86 expected goals; his overperformance in relation to xG (+4.14) is comfortably the greatest in the top flight, both highlighting the quality of his finishes and the unlikely nature of them. After all, no one has scored more goals from outside the box than him (3) this term.
Many of these goals point to high confidence levels. Take his first against Man Utd, for instance; the distance and angle from which Rogers took his shot wasn’t necessarily the most conducive to success, but in letting fly, his belief was palpable. And considering he has the Midas touch at the moment, it didn’t feel that surprising to see him pick out the top, far corner.
But to come through such a lean spell earlier in the season and find the form he’s now in is no mean feat.
“I’m quite proud of how I’ve stuck at it, kept going, kept believing, kept trying to do the right things,” he told Sky Sports at the end of November, and since then he’s managed back-to-back braces in the Premier League.
Pinpointing what’s brought about this change isn’t that simple, though. There are several valid things to point out, such as his pre-season being disrupted by injury, playing quite often from the left having actually played more from the right overall last season, and he’s also played wider this term.
But it also shouldn’t be forgotten that, at 23, Rogers is still fairly young and hardly an experienced campaigner at this level, making his Premier League debut less than two years ago. Maybe it’s not fair to expect absolute consistency and adaptability from him just yet.
Linked to that, it’s unlikely a coincidence that his slow start to the season ran parallel to the team’s collective struggles, which he was keen to also point out to Sky Sports last month.
“Players tend to go with how the team is going,” he said. “It’s not an individual sport, it’s a team sport, and the vibe, the feeling is much better, the confidence is starting to come back and belief, and that comes with performances and results, so it all works in kind of like a washing machine; if everyone’s working together, we’re better as a team. I’m feeling more comfortable, feeling more confident, but that’s the same with the team I think.”
Villa are flying now and so is Rogers, their respective resurgences conveniently going hand in hand. He’s already established himself as one of the apparent favourites of new England boss Thomas Tuchel, and such a run of form will only help improve his standing.
Rogers has shown he’s capable of taking games by the scruff of the neck and changing them almost singlehandedly, which is a nice quality for a national team manager to be able to call upon at a World Cup.
Of course, many of his positional rivals – if not all – also have such capabilities, but few are delivering the goods quite as consistently as Rogers is at the moment.
Whether he can keep this up – starting by outshining one such rival, Cole Palmer, this weekend – isn’t totally clear currently, but Rogers has successfully played his way into confidence. Now that belief is seemingly his greatest asset and it has him looking virtually unstoppable.
Rogers didn’t let the jeers cower him – he grew through them, and now the applause at Villa Park strikes a very different tone.
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