After a protracted pursuit in January, Villa eventually secured the signing of the 22-year-old from Middlesbrough, and particularly with injuries hurting us, he went on to play a pivotal role for us in the second half of the campaign.
Beyond his three goals and assist in 16 appearances, it was the speed with which he integrated and adapted to Emery’s structure and style of play that was most impressive, and he continued that good form in pre-season.
The expectation is that Rogers will have a crucial role to play to begin the new campaign too with Jacob Ramsey and Emiliano Buendia still working their way back to full fitness, while Moussa Diaby was sold to create more space and opportunity for him.
Emery was full of praise for Rogers when asked about him at his pre-match press conference on Friday, but he was equally as keen to set him his next challenge, as the mark to go from a good to great player, comes with an ability to be consistently decisive over a lengthy period of time.
“He was performing very well last year. His adaptation was fantastic and he helped us a lot to be in the Champions League this year,” he told the media, as per VillaTV. “Starting tomorrow, the challenge for him is to keep improving. The most difficult thing is not when you are getting the level he is, it’s keeping it for a long time. The level he achieved last year with us, now the challenge is to keep it.
“He’s a very, very good example for his teammates, for the spirit we want, being intelligent in the recruitment and trying to do a plan with the players progressing like him.
“The young players like him need to be passionate but very demanding. Their mentality is very important and he has a very great mentality.”
It’s both encouraging and promising to hear Emery praise Rogers for his mentality and approach, as those characteristics will be fundamental to how far he goes in a Villa shirt on an individual basis, and subsequently how much better he makes us as a team.
It’s been vital for the Villa boss to bring in players who are not only talented but have the right professionalism and hunger to improve, and Rogers sounds as though he ticks a lot of the key boxes.
Time will tell if he’s able to pick up from where he left off last season and continue to establish himself as an integral player for Emery, but the signs are positive, and he’ll have more quality around him this season to hopefully give him more freedom and space to showcase his potential.
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