Morgan Rogers struggled for Aston Villa against Club Brugge (credit: Imago)

Emery fails in Morgan Rogers Aston Villa experiment after what happened v Club Brugge

Senior Correspondent AUTHORITY Senior sports journalist with experience at GRV Media and VAVEL; University of Derby graduate. FOCUS Exclusive content, statistical analysis, and deep-dive reporting across the Breaking Media network. THE INSIGHT Max utilises a network of club and industry contacts to deliver verified, exclusive reporting and data-driven insight. He provides the intelligence behind the stories to ensure fans get the full picture.

Published on:

07 Nov 2024, 7:15 am

Unai Emery failed in an experiment playing Morgan Rogers out wide after Aston Villa fell to defeat against Club Brugge on Wednesday.

The Villans suffered their first loss in the Champions League on 6 November in Belgium thanks to a Hans Vanaken penalty.

This came after Tyrone Mings picked up the ball from an Emi Martinez goal kick which was awarded as a handball by VAR.

This summed up the game for Villa who had a casual nature throughout the clash which may be partially down to the changes made by Emery.

Unai Emery fails in Morgan Rogers Aston Villa experiment v Club Brugge

The 22-year-old has arguably been Villa's best player so far this season, operating from a number 10 role, in and around Ollie Watkins.

Despite this, the Spaniard opted to start the England Under-21 international as a wide midfielder against Brugge, while John McGinn took up the role as a second striker.

It is safe to say that this didn't suit either party but Rogers arguably suffered most as he was nowhere near his best in this more foreign position.

This saw him register just 29 touches throughout the clash which allowed him to maintain a 79 per cent pass accuracy across his 19 attempts [FotMob].

What has made the ex-Manchester City youngster so good this campaign is his dribbling but with just one completed across three attempts, in a 33 per cent success rate which is uncharacteristically poor.

Rogers made just one pass into the final third while having both his attempted shots blocked, having to little to no impact going forward.

Being further wide also failed to help him get involved defensively as he didn't contribute a single tackle while only making one clearance and being dribbled past once.