Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins came in for praise from Unai Emery after the 2-1 win at Tottenham
Morgan Rogers equalised for Aston Villa at Tottenham
Morgan Rogers equalised for Aston Villa at Tottenham
View Image
Unai Emery never doubted that Morgan Rogers would return to form, claiming the stunning opener he scored against Tottenham was the result of his consistent hard work.
The 23-year-old had struggled during the opening weeks of the campaign, and many Villa fans had called for Emery to drop him due to basic mistakes on the ball and below-par performances.
But now, after netting his first goal of the season for Villa - shortly after opening his account for England during the October internationals - Rogers appears to have turned a corner.
At 23 years and 85 days old, Rogers has become the sixth-youngest player to record 25 Premier League goal involvements for Aston Villa, and the youngest to do so since Christian Benteke in August 2013 (22 years, 257 days).
"Always he is doing his task, always," Emery said about Rogers. "He is a hard worker. Through it, it is coming, his performance.
"The team needs the work and then the capacity and skills. Today, Watkins played fantastic for 30 minutes. I watched him today thinking... wow.
"He didn’t score, but he was fantastic. Morgan has done the same progression. We can be brilliant or not brilliant, but we always have to work.
"Morgan is playing and scoring because he helps the team for 90 minutes. He has the capacity for 90 minutes. It is very important."
"We can set the game plan and try to be strong to keep it," Emery added. "Individually is the key, their qualities, enthusiasm and positivity.
"This is the most important after building a strong structure. Very good Emiliano and a very good goal from Morgan."
Speaking about the game generally, Emery said: "We competed and we were resilient. We kept the same game plan despite going behind. When they scored we felt disappointed. We had the same mentality.
"The key was how we competed and adapted tactically to what they demand of us. Also, how we could impose our capacity. The quality of the players is very important.
"The enthusiasm to follow the plan, playing together, there was positive energy being added after our poor start. That’s important."
Content Image
Content Image
Every day, the BirminghamLive football desk strive to deliver all manner of news, features and transfer-related stories as a part of our overall package of Aston Villa content.
Our dedicated reporter John Townley - who you can follow on X by clicking here - follows Villa home and away and offers you comprehensive coverage from matchdays, press conferences and everything that happens in between.
So much happens day to day and sometimes you can struggle to keep on top of the very latest updates as and when they occur - that's why we have produced a daily newsletter which you can sign up to, for free, and which means you'll have a round-up of the key stories land in your email inbox. Sign up to the Villa newsletter here.
You can also get all your favourite content from BirminghamLive's Villa team on WhatsApp. Click here to sign up for breaking updates about the biggest stories in and around the club.
If you prefer reading our Villa stories on your phone, consider downloading the BirminghamLive app, in which you can personalise the content you see by selecting Villa as one of your designated topics. You can get it from Apple here and for Android here.
Our weekly Aston Villa podcast, Claret And Blue, is also available to watch and listen on all major streaming services. You can subscribe to the YouTube channel here, while you can access the podcast on Spotify here and via Apple here.