From cheering to jeering. Aston Villa forward Morgan Rogers has lacked his usual spark this season but gets his next chance to address his poor form against Fulham, live on Sky Sports, this Sunday.
The struggles of the 2024/25 Young Player of the Season in the opening seven fixtures have mirrored those of Villa as a whole.
An absence of ideas in the final third, careless mistakes and performances that have sparked justified criticism.
Villa tasted victory for the first time in the new campaign on Thursday against Bologna, an unconvincing 1-0 win at home in the Europa League, but Rogers’ problems persisted.
The forward completed just 42 per cent of his passes on the evening and lost the ball a total of 29 times. His own supporters ironically jeered at him towards the latter stages of the game as he retained possession with time ticking down.
Sunday 28th September 1:00pm
Kick off 2:00pm
The struggles are clear to see but Unai Emery is determined to play Rogers back into form, insisting the 23-year-old needs to “accept” fair criticism from the fanbase after yet another below-par performance.
Ahead of the meeting against Fulham at Villa Park, Sky Sports takes a look at what could be causing this dip in form for Rogers…
What has changed?
The numbers support the eye test. There has been a notable drop in chances created, dribbles completed, pass accuracy and his duels won in each outing.
The dip in confidence and form is impacting all facets of his game. But why?
An ankle injury picked up against Roma in pre-season could be at fault for the slow start but Rogers being on the ball in different positions and a lack of cohesion in the Villa set-up could offer a better explanation.
The average position of Rogers for Aston Villa in the 2024/25 and 2025/26 season
Previously, in a much larger sample size, Rogers picked the ball up from deeper positions and drove into space.
If he did drift out wide from his usual position off the striker, he would operate within the half spaces on the right with Jacob Ramsey or Marcus Rashford on the other flank.
This term, in the absence of Ramsey and Rashford following their exits, as well as Donyell Malen and new signing Evann Guessand being trialled on the right, Rogers has been tasked with finding room on the left.
New surroundings, less space to drive into from deeper positions and Villa favouring the left side for 38 per cent of their attacks.
The onus and limelight has fallen on the 23-year-old to solve Villa’s lack of attacking flair and the criticism as they continue to struggle has followed as a result.
Aston Villa’s attacks by flank in the 2025/26 season
“When there are goal droughts, we tend to see that there is this almost self-perpetuating cycle of low confidence and low performance,” performance psychologist Matt Shaw of InnerDrive told Sky Sports before the 1-1 draw with Sunderland.
“Players might have some fear of failure or will be trying too hard, overcomplicating it.” Rogers is doing exactly that through his desperation to make an impact.
The next problem he is facing is the cohesion and chemistry with those around him.
In seven games, Emery has deployed six different combinations within his previously solidified front four. The slow start has prompted change and Rogers is struggling to find his feet as his boss searches for his strongest attacking line-up.
Ollie Watkins, Malen, Guessand and Emiliano Buendia are all experiencing similar problems but Emery is depending on the talent of Rogers, knowing what he is capable of at his best, to reignite both himself and the team in the final third.
Aston Villa boss Emery has continued to select Rogers this season
Emery: Rogers has to accept this experience and grow
As a result of his dependence on Rogers, as well as his belief in his ability, Emery has not allowed him to shy away from the adversity. He wants him to grow from it.
The forward has started all six games in the Premier League, was given the nod against Bologna and featured off the bench during the defeat to Brentford in the Carabao Cup.
He joins Matty Cash and captain John McGinn as the only three players to feature in every game so far.
“Morgan is young and he needs to accept it. Today, 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,” Emery said after the Bologna win.
“He did not play well, 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.
“But today he was not being clinical offensively. He needs to take experience of not playing well, the crowd sometimes not being happy with him. He has to accept these experiences and grow up through it.”
Strong words from Emery but it is a testament to the faith and confidence he has in Rogers. Villa have taken steps in the right direction in recent games, Rogers now has to follow suit.
Rogers had a difficult night for Aston Villa against Bologna
‘Something to applaud in Rogers’ determination’
Sky Sports News’ Rob Jones:
“It was interesting speaking to a former Villa player of some repute in the build-up to Thursday’s game against Bologna about how the atmosphere could turn when things weren’t going well, a point that was delicately re-emphasised by Ezri Konsa in his interview after the game and it was Morgan Rogers that was the focus of the collective frustration.
“It was such a poor performance from Rogers, maybe made more stark because he has been so good for Villa since his arrival from Middlesbrough, but he gave the ball back to Bologna time after time.
“There is something to applaud that he kept trying to make things happen, continue to seek the killer ball but he might have been better served to play a couple of simpler passes to just get through the game.
“On one rare occasion where he did find a team-mate, there was a huge ironic cheer from the Holte End and there’s no way that Rogers would’ve been immune to hearing that.”
Watch Aston Villa vs Fulham live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League from 1pm on Sunday.
