Aston Villa’s three alternatives to Morgan Rogers as Unai Emery faces brutal decision
Unai Emery may decide to switch things up as he attempts to turn Aston Villa’s fortunes around.
The poor form of Morgan Rogers has epitomised the Villans so far, with the England international failing to reach the heights of recent years.
With speculation regarding the attacker’s future over the summer, Rogers has been accused of checking out at Villa, with his performances doing little to combat this narrative.
However, with Emery’s Villa future growing increasingly uncertain, the Spaniard will know he cannot afford to lose against Bologna in the Europa League as he wrestles with the idea of whether to stick or twist with his star man.
If Emery does twist, he will have a queue of players lining up to take Rogers’ position in the starting XI.
Harvey Elliott could start centrally against Bologna
Despite initially arriving on loan, Elliott is arguably the Villans’ marquee signing for this campaign.
Whilst offering the flexibility to play out wide or slightly further back as a number eight, Elliott is also more than capable of playing as a number ten.
Elliott was handed a start in this role in the Carabao Cup against Brentford as Villa were ultimately knocked out on penalties.
Despite this, Elliott was Villa’s best player on the night, and Emery may choose to trust the 22-year-old in this role against Bologna.
Emi Buendia could be handed final opportunity to impress
Whilst undoubtedly possessing talent, it has never quite worked out for Buendia since his move from Norwich back in 2021.
The Argentinian has slipped down the pecking order in recent years and was even shipped out on loan to Bayer Leverkusen in January before returning to B6 this summer.
Whilst Buendia was poor against Sunderland on Sunday, he was deployed out on the left flank.
With Rogers being out of form, Buendia could get the opportunity to start against Leverkusen in the number ten role and prove to Emery why he should be given more of a chance there moving forward.
Potential formation change
Instead of deploying a number 10 against Bologna, Emery may opt to change his system in an attempt to get a better tune out of his side.
A change in system is something some Villa supporters have been calling for during their terrible run of results, and Emery could oblige by switching to a 4-3-3 from a 4-2-3-1.
With Boubacar Kamara at the base of the midfield, Emery may deploy John McGinn and Elliott as two number eights against Bologna.
This would allow both to float into pockets of space, potentially solving their creativity issues.
Whilst this may seem risky, if Emery continues to bang his head against the same wall by persisting with Rogers, it could ultimately cost him his job.
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