Matt Maher: What has happened to Morgan Rogers? It's really no mystery

Now, following hot on its heels, is another: What has happened to Morgan Rogers?

Barely five weeks after becoming just the fifth Villa player to ever be crowned PFA young player of the year, the Halesowen-born star’s struggles in the current season hit a new low in Thursday’s Europa League win over Bologna.

Admittedly, the ironic cheers which greeted his successful completion of a pass in the 89th minute were hardly universal. Even in a crowd of 35,000, it doesn’t take many to make a noise. In this case, we are talking of probably just a few hundred fans.

They were audible enough, however, as were the cheers which greeted Rogers’ 81st minute substitution at Sunderland just a few days previously.

For the England international it will have been as painful to hear as much of his performance was to watch. 

Rogers completed just 10 out of 24 passes and won only four of 12 duels. Overriding the numbers, meanwhile, was the complete lack of verve and conviction. 

The 23-year-old’s entire night could be summed up in one passage in the first half when he picked up the ball and ran at a retreating Bologna defence. A year ago, six months ago, the final action would have been decisive. Now, with the crowd urging him to shoot, Rogers dallied, delayed and when he eventually did attempt a pass found his window of opportunity long closed. The ball went straight to the feet of a defender. 

For a player who for most of last season made the sport look easy (14 goals and 16 assists in all competitions), the difficulty he is now experiencing must feel bewildering.

His manager has no doubt about the cure. Despite having more than good reason for substituting Rogers during the second half, Unai Emery chose to keep his man out there for the purposes of character building.

"He needs to take experiences like today, not playing very well, some of the crowd not being happy with him, and grow up through it,” said the boss after the final whistle.

Several theories are currently being floated for Rogers’ loss of form, almost all of them nonsense.

The harsh reaction from some sections of the Villa Park crowd, for instance, can be explained in part by the idea the player has had his head turned.

Rogers was one of several Villa players who attracted attention from rival clubs this summer and the hypothesis, held by some supporters, is his struggles are down to disappointment at missing out on a move.

The amateur body language experts have been out in force, claiming the player’s frustrated demeanour on the pitch as proof he is fed-up at Villa.

No doubt the summer was distracting for all. But the window has now been closed almost a month and Villa have played four matches since then. Rogers, even if he was unhappy, knows poor performances for his club are not the way to achieve one his main personal goals for this season of reaching next summer’s World Cup.  

The likely truth is the difficulties he currently faces are down to a combination of factors, all of which can be generalised under the umbrella titled Life of a Professional Sportsperson, where careers rarely run smooth.

It is worth reflecting, just for a moment, on the remarkable rise Rogers has experienced in such a short space of time. Just two years ago, he was still adjusting to life in Middlesbrough having just moved from Manchester City. When Villa then opted to pay an initial £8million to sign him in January 2024, it was a move met with derision in some quarters. How quickly those critics were quietened.  

After climbing so quickly, from young Championship player to one of the best in the Premier League, some kind of slowdown was probably to be expected. Rogers might have made the game look simple but the game usually finds a way of catching up. 

So too do opponents. Never again will he enjoy the benefit of going under the radar. Already this season, Rogers has admitted feeling more of a “marked man”.

Then, there is the matter of pressure. Some Villa supporters might point to some puzzlement at the contrast between Rogers’ man-of-the-match display for England in Serbia earlier this month and his most recent outings for the club.

The fact is, for all he is clearly a big part of Thomas Tuchel’s plans, he still plays a far more integral role for Villa than he does for the Three Lions. With Emery still finding the best formula for the club’s new-look attack and recent arrivals still finding their feet, the burden for goalscoring falls that much heavier on Rogers and Ollie Watkins. 

Perhaps, on reflection, it shouldn’t be so much of a surprise both are currently failing to hit previous heights. Villa’s problems this season are more of the collective than the individual.

Rogers played 110 matches across the past two seasons but Emery recently laughed off the suggestion he might be in need of a rest.

Judging by Thursday night, the manager’s policy will be to keep him in the firing line in the belief the quality he showed through so much of last season will eventually come back to the fore. Form is temporary, class is permanent, as the old saying goes.

For Rogers it is undoubtedly a test, yet no different to that experienced by hundreds of others before him. If there is some consolation, or even motivation, it is the best almost always emerge stronger for it.