Alan Pardew shares Morgan Rogers admission ahead of England v Albania
Morgan Rogers’ Aston Villa form this season has been rewarded with an England call-up and Thomas Tuchel could put him in the starting line-up on Friday.
The attacking player already has two England caps but will be hoping to up that number after having an impressive season with Aston Villa so far.
Tuchel’s England tenure starts on Friday (21 March) as they host Albania at Wembley Stadium and Rogers could be called up to the starting line-up.
Alan Pardew picks out Rogers
Given there was fatigue with Gareth Southgate by the end of his tenure with England, all eyes are on Tuchel on Friday to see what he changes as he kicks off his management.
Although the new boss won’t be expected to put on show a completely new team, facing Albania, England will be expected to win and start the new era on a high.
Rogers has made 28 Premier League appearances for Unai Emery this term as his side continues their push for another season of European football.
Meanwhile, the 22-year-old has been on top form in both the Champions League and the FA Cup and it’s no surprise that he has been rewarded with a call-up.
| Competition | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| Premier League | 28 | 7 | 4 |
| Champions League | 10 | 3 | 2 |
| FA Cup | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Speaking live on talkSPORT (21 March, 10:27am), Pardew admitted he is excited about what the youngster could bring as he said: “I think particularly tonight, I think it will be great if Rogers plays because I think he’s one of those few players we have in the Premier League who has the pace and technical ability to carve open that low block so I would love to see him play tonight.
“I think he deserves it after his performances at Villa.”
Rogers will continue to shine
Emery has worked wonders with Aston Villa since his arrival in the West Midlands and players like Rogers have certainly felt the full effect of that.
As Gabby Agbonlahor has already pointed out, the boss has shown his ability to transform both the team and the players which has resulted in an excellent season for Villa.
Given his form at club level this season, it was no surprise to see Rogers get a well deserved call-up, especially when other attacking minded players from the squad have been below par of late.
It will be interesting to see what Tuchel does in his first game but as Pardew says, there is no harm in bringing on the younger attacking blood to create energy on the pitch.
If the 22-year-old can show what he can do on the international stage while also maintaining his standards in the top-flight, this can be just the start of what’s to come for Rogers.