Unai Emery atypically goes on the front foot when it comes to Morgan Rogers and England Under-21 duty.
Publicly, the Aston Villa manager’s first airing of disapproval was towards the end of August, when Rogers missed out on a senior call-up and was instead selected for interim manager Ben Futcher’s under-21s squad. As Emery leaned forward, his voice inflected.
“I am very surprised the national team called him, but for the under-21s,” he said. “What does he gain by playing in the under-21s? He is ready in case they want to call him for the national team. I can understand, the first six months he was here (at Villa) was OK, but now he is confirming it, not to play in the under-21s. If they are calling him in the national team, the first team, OK, perfect. If not, why?”
Fortunately, Villa’s concerns heading into this international break have been alleviated to some extent, in light of Rogers’ belated call-up to the senior squad, following a host of injuries to attacking players. Rogers had been on standby but will feature in Lee Carsley’s squad for the Nations League, as opposed to playing two friendlies for the under-21s.
This month’s initial plan for the forward to remain with the under-21s was a continuing source of frustration for Emery. It was a sentiment shared among other senior figures at Villa, who are mindful of physically overloading young players who are not yet with their respective senior national setups. A senior call-up is naturally treated differently and vindicates the work the player in question and the coaching staff at Villa have done. In the case of Rogers, it is well deserved.
Under-21s international football has been a bruising experience for Villa. Rogers’s team-mate Jacob Ramsey’s injury struggles sit in Emery’s mind after both players started England Under-21s duty in summer 2023.
Initially, Ramsey sustained a broken metatarsal bone in his foot and was ruled out for 11 weeks. The now-23-year-old, however, suffered a recurrence a month later, derailing his form and fitness, and has since toiled in pursuit of a regular run of games. In a stop-start period, he has suffered further setbacks, missing 266 days of last season through four different injuries. The misfortune has continued for him in this one, picking up another hamstring issue in the weekend’s 2-0 defeat away to Liverpool.
Though Ramsey’s metatarsal injury came in the Under-21 European Championship finals rather than in qualifying fixtures or friendlies, it has likely contributed to Emery’s irritation.
As The Athletic has reported, Rogers spent this summer preparing for his first full Villa season. Signed from Middlesbrough of the Championship in the 2023-24 winter window, he had suffered a hamstring issue at the end of that campaign, requiring him to complete a rehabilitation programme over the summer and even link up with a club physio while on holiday. Physical burnout is at the forefront of Villa’s thinking and, at this stage, the 22-year-old still appears susceptible to injury.
If Emery’s public comments in August were designed to reduce the likelihood of Rogers being selected in the next England Under-21s squad, they fell on deaf ears. The following month, Rogers was overlooked by interim manager Carsley (whose regular job is leading the under-21s) for the first team and remained with Futcher. He played 30 minutes in a 2-1 win against Ukraine Under-21s before coming off after an hour in a 7-0 thrashing of Azerbaijan.
During that September international break, 22-year-old Jaden Philogene’s workload was also a bone of contention among Villa staff. Before his call-up, the winger had made his first two starts in successive games, playing 90 minutes in both the 1-0 Champions League victory against Bayern Munich and the goalless draw with Manchester United in the Premier League. Philogene had recently returned from a knock and it was hoped he would be able to use that two-week window to stay home and rest.
This did not materialise, with Futcher selecting him. Philogene played 84 minutes against Ukraine before being withdrawn for Samuel Iling-Junior, a player on loan from Villa to Italy’s Bologna. He missed the Azerbaijan game due to injury, which caused immediate worry for Villa, who thought he would miss their next few matches. Fortunately, scans came back positive and allayed fears: he would be unavailable for days, not weeks.
Overall, Rogers has played 20 games since the start of this season, averaging one every 4.3 days. His remarkable progress under Emery has reached a point where he is considered at Villa to be among a cluster of key players. They do not have an alternative in the No 10 position who can match his ball-carrying ability and physicality in central areas.
When making team selections, Villa have kept in mind the workload of Rogers, who The Athletic revealed last week is in talks to sign a new contract, which is now close to being finalised. He was omitted from the squad eventually knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Crystal Palace a couple of weeks ago, while in recent finely-balanced games, Emery has substituted him as fatigue set in.
A case in point was away to Tottenham Hotspur last weekend. The Manchester City academy graduate scored to put Villa ahead and was then replaced by Jhon Duran in the final quarter of an hour with the score 1-1. The match ended 4-1 to Spurs.
While his absence did not completely cause Villa’s implosion, ordinarily Emery would not consider taking a fully-fit Rogers off. Despite protesting the change at the time, Rogers struggled to walk in the hours afterwards, such was his tiredness and the strong tackling he had faced.
Three days later, with Villa a goal down, he was again replaced away to Club Bruges in the Champions League. Even though his performance was uncharacteristically flat, Emery would not have made that switch if Rogers did not have a heightened risk of injury. In short, Villa felt the need to be responsible with him and would have liked England to do the same, provided he was not, at the time, playing for the senior team. The fact he now is and, in all likelihood, will not play the amount of minutes he would do for the under-21s, is a boost for his club.
In October, Rogers was viewed to be approaching a state of tiredness, but given that Futcher’s side were playing two European Championship qualifiers, his selection was more understandable. This month, however, empathy had been harder to come by with Rogers initially on standby for the senior side’s Nations League matches with Greece and the Republic of Ireland and in the under-21s squad for friendlies against Spain and the Netherlands.
Though the two opponents pose stiffer challenges, the fact the matches were only friendlies had not been overlooked by Villa staff. The disagreement over Rogers between club and country was in contrast to Villa team-mate Youri Tielemans’ decision to pull out of Belgium’s squad for their Nations League matches in this break. Tielemans is managing a knee issue and it was decided between him, the Belgian FA and Villa that he would be better served to use the next fortnight to rest.
“You know my opinion on Morgan Rogers,” said Emery in a press conference last week, when asked about the situation. “He is not now a player to go with the under-21s, because he is 22 and they can get other players more efficient to be with the 21s. Like now, they are playing friendly matches, so it is not relevant for him to be with them, but I have to accept and respect (the call-up).
“His rest is important because he’s playing a lot. He’s the player in our squad usually running the most, around 11km (per match; almost seven miles). He’s sometimes tired and I decided to change him during the match on Wednesday (in Bruges) because the last time he was with his national team and then played with us, he was finishing tired. For us, he is an important player and I need to keep him on the field for 90 minutes.
“If he goes with the 21s, it is with a risk he is going to get injured — and that’s my worry. I’m trying to protect him, but we need him now more than the under-21s will.”
Rogers has been among Villa’s standout performers and a senior call-up is justified. But, as is often the case with young players, an increased workload can prove problematic.
In an ideal world, he returns to his club fit after this international break after making his England debut. Then his Villa team-mates can alleviate the attacking burden on his young shoulders.
(Top photo: Rogers with England Under-21s last month; Michael Steele via Getty Images)
