Morgan Rogers: Aston Villa forward on his Champions League hat-trick, why Unai Emery is perfect for him and English hopes | Football news
If you told Morgan Rogers 18 months ago that he would play regularly in the Premier League and Champions League, and he had just achieved his first hat-trick in Europe, as well as his debut for senior debut, he might not believe you.
But again, you would probably do it, such a belief is in yourself. This does not mean that Rogers is overly convinced, but you do not achieve what he has at the age of 22 without faith in his abilities.
“I am nowhere near where I want to come and the landmark I hit, they are not the only one I want to hit the end of my career,” he said exclusively Sky Sports As he was introduced as the latest Puma athlete.
“I know I have a long journey. I see it just as the beginning and that’s something to be built on. For someone like me who wants to get to the top of the game, I know I have to keep putting in business.
“With the right people around me, what I have, I don’t see why I can’t. It’s about staying grounded, shade and move on.”
One of the biggest moments of his career so far has been his great hat-trick against the Celtics in the Champions League. In fact, his two goals in five minutes were the fastest ever scored one player in the competition – just one of the records that broke that night at the end of January.
“It was kind of crazy,” Rogers thought. “It’s all that anyone talked to me at halftime, since we continue to continue trying to get it [the hat-trick].
“You play as long as possible play as long as possible. I missed the opportunity to do it early in the game, so I hoped that time was not over and fortunately I got the opportunity to score a goal to score.
“It probably took a few days to sink into what I had achieved. I’m really proud to be able to do it and that will live with me forever.
“This and debut for England are two main ones that will stick to me. No matter what is happening, no matter what I achieve, these two moments are iconic moments for me.
“That immense sense of pride, that huge joy for me and for all around me as I achieved it. This is something that can never be taken away by me no matter what happens. They are beautiful moments.”
His senior debut in England came in November in a 3-0 victory in Greece, handed over to him by then manager Interim Lee Carsley. The two worked together at the U21 level.
“What a nice guy is,” Rogers said of Carsley. “Just as it is, the way he trains, as he cares for you as a person, he always signs on you. It helps him to be from Birmingham, that relationship is beautiful.
“To debut with someone, whom I really believe, I really appreciate and really as a person, is even more beautiful.”
Now Rogers must make an impression on the head of the new English Thomas Tuchel. “He’s a top manager,” said German. “He did it in the big leagues across Europe, he won the Champions League so we know the patient he has.
“And everyone has a pure slate – so you have to watch. He first looks with this lens as an English manager, so it’s time to impress, show what you are concerned and why you deserve to be there.
“I’m in the same boat, because I want to be on the team. I don’t want to be there to make up for the numbers, I want to play games. It’s about showing a week of the week you’ve made and that’s what I’m trying to do.”
And that will come with the Aston villa. The powerful phase of the Champions League saw them ended up in the top eight and went straight in the 16th round, while in the inconsistent Premier League, they are in eighth place.
Part of this can be attributed to European efforts – Aston Villa only won once in the league after playing in the Champions League in the middle of the week. They lost four and pulled three of the other seven games.
“First, a juggling of the Premier League Champions League was difficult,” Rogers said of running.
“We have a hard time and this is something we have to get used to if we want to achieve what we want and get a club where we want to come. It will be difficult, but we have got the numbers in the team that will help us.
“It’s about finding the right balance and achieving that consistency, which we sometimes missed.
“But the exciting thing is that I don’t think we were at the best of order and we are still there and where we want to be. We are not right there, but we are not a million miles and a few good results, a few good weeks turning to our favor, but we know we have to come. “
Rogers also offers Tuchel and Unai Emery varieties forward. He is pleasantly playing behind the attacker or on the left, but the 22-year-old has neither none. “I couldn’t tell you until the game really started. As long as I play, I’m happy,” he says.
Emery signed a Rogers from Middlesbroug last February, which for almost a year marked the day as Aston Villa player – another landmark. It has become a mutually useful relationship that enjoys forward.
“He’s so demanding,” he said of his club manager. “Any little thing that will be on you and the way it is, the detail he enters, how much he loves the game, how much he wants to win, rub us. This is what he wants us to do, we are a product of him and as he is.
“Every day I learn if I think I am or not, whether it’s psychological or as I think about the game. I have improved me in so many different areas, but mostly about my thinking, to continue and do what I do good alone, even if That doesn’t work and just to move on.
“He’s so positive. He may not always come across the way he is, but he always wants the best for everyone and the team and in the end, if you know it and buy it in that, you will get results.
“He is such a good manager and the perfect person for me to get the next pressure. The good thing in it is because I did well, they will not stop me. He will probably go even harder in terms of in terms of trying to make me better, so I look forward to working with him for many years. “
