Aston Villa are proving too reliant on Morgan Rogers – the numbers say it all
Morgan Rogers is seriously out of form for Aston Villa at the moment.
Coinciding with the general atmosphere around Villa, Rogers has dipped in recent weeks, though more than anything, it has proven just how reliant Unai Emery’s side are on the young attacking midfielder.
The Villans are winless in four matches across all competitions, while their 2-0 derby loss to Wolves last week was followed up by a poor 4-1 defeat against Chelsea at Villa Park.
Aston Villa sit fourth at the moment, but are in danger of slipping out of a Champions League place due to the proximity of both Chelsea and Liverpool behind.
If Emery’s side are to get back to form, they are going to need to find a way to get star man Rogers firing once again.
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Morgan Rogers stats show serious Villa over-reliance
Expected goals has been a common topic brought up in the discourse surrounding Aston Villa this season, with the run of screamer after screamer in the build-up to Christmas eventually coming to an end since the turn of the year.
Rogers himself has scored eight Premier League goals, beating his xG of 5.28, while he is overachieving compared to his expected assists of 3.13, with five in total.
Of course, this is a testament to Rogers’ ability from distance and in chances that statistically carry a low chance of ending in a goal.
Though what the expected stats do show is that Villa simply do not create enough high quality chances for someone who as seen, has a wand of a right foot when given the chance to let fly.
To outline the reliance on Rogers, he has registered 1,413 touches – 144 of which have come in the opposition box.
For context, league leaders Arsenal have registered 999 touches in the box, while Rogers has had 144 of Villa’s total number of 772, almost 20 per cent of this figure.
When Morgan Rogers is nullified, so are Aston Villa
The simple fact of the matter is that teams have worked out how to play against Morgan Rogers by crowding the space around him.
This would not be an issue if the quality around him were up to his own standards, with the likes of Emi Buendia and Leon Bailey looking extremely below par as of late, while Jadon Sancho is still not hitting huge goalscoring heights despite his uptick in form.
Rogers being crowded out of a game should theoretically aid those around him, but this is far from the case.
Rogers uses his physical attributes when carrying the ball rather than having supreme ability in tight spaces – severely limiting him in matches where he is not given the ample time and space to rattle in the screamers supporters have seen him score time and time again.
Villa are in serious danger of dropping out of Champions League contention, while a continued poor run of form would see them carry little to no momentum into the latter stages of the Europa League.
Emery simply must find a way to accommodate the mercurial talents of Rogers and get his star man firing. If not, Villa’s season is at serious risk of fizzling out.
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