Aston Villa have six matches left to secure their place in the Champions League after missing out on the competition for the 2025/26 campaign.
The Villans ended up in the Europa League this year and made their way through to the semi-final of the competition with a 4-0 win over Bologna on Thursday night.
Unai Emery is looking to end a 30-year wait for a trophy at Villa Park by winning the Europa League trophy for the fifth time in his managerial career.
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery reacts
The Spaniard needs all of his players to be at the peak of their powers to achieve success domestically and in Europe in the coming weeks, including Morgan Rogers.
Villa's England international has blown hot and cold at times this season and still has areas of his game that he needs to improve to become a complete player.
What Morgan Rogers needs to do to be world-class for Aston Villa
There is no doubt that the former Manchester City academy prospect is one of the most talented attacking midfielders in the division, because he has the quality to score brilliant goals.
Rogers has scored 25 goals and provided 21 assists in all competitions for Villa since the start of last season, which is a fantastic return, but the frustration is that he has the ability to produce even more than that.
Prior to landing a goal and an assist against Bologna on Thursday, the English playmaker went 12 games without a goal or an assist in all competitions for club and country.
|Last 10 PL games for Morgan Rogers|
|Opposition|Goals|Assists|
|---|
|Nottingham Forest|0|0|
|West Ham United|0|0|
|Manchester United|0|0|
|Chelsea|0|0|
|Wolves|0|0|
|Leeds United|0|0|
|Brighton|0|0|
|Bournemouth|1|0|
|Brentford|0|0|
|Newcastle United|0|1|
Rogers has only scored one goal and provided one assist in his last ten Premier League appearances for the Villans, with no goal contributions in his last seven outings.
The one thing that he needs to add to his game to be considered world-class, therefore, is consistency, because if he can add consistency then the Villa star could be unplayable week-in-week-out.
Morgan-Rogers-Aston-Villa
Rogers is not the only talented attacker in the Villans squad who struggles with that same issue, though, and Emery has another version of the English star who should be unleashed against Sunderland.
The Aston Villa star who is Morgan Rogers 2.0
The England international was not the only Aston Villa player who ended a long wait for a goal in the 4-0 win over Bologna in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Aston Villa winger Morgan Rogers
Emiliano Buendia scored the second goal of the game for the Villans against the Italian side, with a fantastic touch and finish from a throw-in, to end a run of 14 games without a goal.
The Argentina international did deliver three assists in those 14 matches, which shows that he was not completely ineffective, but a player with his quality should score more goals than he does, as is also the case with Rogers.
Buendia, who was signed from Norwich for £33m in 2021, was a monster in the win over Bologna, scoring a goal, winning four of his six duels, and creating one chance for his teammates.
emi-buendia-aston-villa
However, the 29-year-old winger has only scored eight goals and provided seven assists in 45 appearances in all competitions this season. Whilst that is a respectable return, Buendia has the technical quality to do even more.
During his time at Norwich, the Argentine wizard produced 28 assists and 23 goals in two Championship title-winning campaigns, but he has yet to replicate that kind of consistency in the final third at the top level.
20/21 Championship Emi Buendia
Appearances 39
Goals 15
Key passes 121
Big chances created 18
Assists 16
Successful dribbles 62
Buendia, like Rogers, has the potential to be a truly special player for the club if he can add more consistency to his play at the top end of the pitch, because he has all the technical ability to do so.
Both players shone against Bologna on Thursday, combining for two goals and an assist, and Emery should unleash both of them in the attacking midfield positions behind Ollie Watkins for the clash with Sunderland in the Premier League on Sunday.
Emiliano-Buendia
If the Spanish head coach can get Buendia and Rogers at the top of their respective games, Villa will have a great chance of ending this season with success domestically and in Europe.
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