Every word Morgan Rogers said about ‘surreal’ Aston Villa rise, PSG belief and Watkins relationship
Morgan Rogers spoke to the media at Bodymoor Heath on Monday ahead of Aston Villa’s Champions League clash against Paris Saint-Germain this evening.
The 23-year-old opened the scoring in the 3-1 first leg defeat at the Parc des Princes last week. Here is every word Rogers said in the pre-match press conference…
Has this rise come quicker than expected?
“Obviously it’s been a surreal upcoming for the club and kind of accelerated where we wanted to get to. Probably quicker than anyone anticipated. But at the same time we know we’re good enough. We believe in our group, we believe in the manager and the coaching staff. We’re here for a reason.
“We deserve to be here. We’ve taken on any battle and opportunity that we’ve had in front of us this season, especially in this competition. We’ve won the games that we needed to be where we are. You can maybe look and think our name and club probably don’t deserve to be here. But that’s not how we look at it at all.
“We look at the players in the group we’ve got and we think we fully deserve to be here. We’re fully competing and we want to keep going and keep pushing. It’s exciting.”
Can you allow yourself to enjoy how far you’ve come?
“Probably not at this moment in time, no. We’ve got a job at hand, we’ve got a task to do. Maybe look back at it, it’s what the people do from the outside. But within we’re just focused on the games and playing them for what they are and competing and trying to win the games.
“I think if you get too ahead of yourself or you try and think about the occasion, that’s probably where your best performances don’t come out. We’re fully focused and we know we’ve got a job at hand so there’s nothing to worry about at this moment in time.”
What have the French players in the Villa squad told you about PSG?
“I don’t think they need to tell me how good they were. I could see that for myself in the rounds before how good they were when analysing them. In terms of the atmosphere and stuff, they’ve obviously had experience beforehand and they always tried to help us and give us how it was going to be and how it was going to play out.
“It’s an exciting time to play in a new stadium, to play in one of the biggest teams in the world. Having people who have probably experienced it before definitely helps, not just them three but also other people who have played in the competition before.
“At later stages it helps having that experience and that know-how of how to get things done and how to play a game away from home in a difficult environment. Not just them three but having players who have experienced it before definitely helps.”
Was there a moment in the last 12 months which has really helped your development?
“Not a particular moment. I’d say the end of last season. Getting those games under my belt and having to accelerate and to learn on the job about what the manager wants, what the team wants and what type of player I’m going to be in this league and at the club.
“I think that really helped me. I might not have been ready at all times in different environments and different games that I can think of off the top of my head that I struggled in.
“But being able to have that experience of them, whatever 15 games it was last season, definitely helped me for this season to just kick on and know what to expect and to know what I needed to improve on and learn from and take forward.
“So I’d say that key moment of having to learn on the job and kind of in the midst of it while competing to try and get top four last season. I think that was probably the best thing that happened to me and just having to sort it out and figure it out for myself.”
How much belief is there?
“There’s massive belief. Most people wrote us off before the tie. The first leg I think we gave a pretty good account of ourselves. Of course there are details and areas we want to improve and learn from but ultimately we know what they’re like now we’ve played them and we’re more comfortable in that sense of having already played them.
“We know there’s a task at hand. But we’re excited, under the lights at home, playing in the quarter-finals of this competition. There are not many places better to be. If anyone’s going to turn it around, it’s going to be us. We’re excited for the challenge.”
How important will the Villa fans be?
“Massive. In the position we’re in, the second leg being at home is massive for us. We can create our own atmosphere. We have done it this season in the big games, not just in the Champions League but in our big league games as well. They’re a massive push and boost for us.
“That energy, that feeling, that vibe is sometimes bigger than the actual game. That’s what drives you on … you can forget about all the tactics or the intricate stuff we’re going to work on, sometimes it’s just about that sheer energy and heart and determination within the stadium Sometimes that can be just enough to pull you through tough moments and get you to where you need to go. We need every bit of support and we’ll feed off that 100 per cent.”
How important is it to have an experienced manager like Emery at this stage of the competition?
“As I said, it’s similar to the players playing in the competition. Also having a manager that’s competed at this level. He knows both dressing rooms and the vibe and he knows what needs to be done.
“Having that at the top of us in terms of helping us and trying to get us through this tie is massive. He’s one of the main reasons we’re here in this scenario in the first place. It’s just how he is, how he works, how he operates. It’s going to be no different for this game in terms of how we’re going to set up, how we’re going to work, how we’re going to play and try and overcome it.
“It’s massive having someone that’s been through it all and can help, especially younger players but also the experienced ones, just to try and get us through it and win us the game.
How have Villa found consistency since the turn of the year?
“We had a meeting when all the new players came in and we knew that was the squad for the rest of the season. The manager just said listen, no matter what happened before, we are here. In each competition he told us where we were and who we were playing. He told us this was the most important bit of the season. We still had a chance to turn things around. We knew we had to go on the run, we knew we had to start winning games pretty quickly and catch up to certain teams that we wanted to.
“It was just a conversation in that sense that we knew we had the next few tough months coming ahead, the games were coming thick and fast and they’re going to be massive games with a lot on the line.
“I think the way the squad has come together, you could not have imagined how quickly it’s all gelled together and how players off the bench are making an impact as well as starting because it’s difficult.
“We’ve got a competitive squad that can compete on all fronts and you don’t know who’s going to play. We all come into training the day before the game and sometimes the day of the game and we don’t know who’s playing. It could be anyone, a flip of a coin at this moment in time, but that’s the ability of the squad that we probably haven’t had in the last year or so that we’ve finally got now.
“That’s why I think the performances are so strong, just because we’ve got so many options. People can stay a bit more fresh and we’re all competing but we all want to win and we all want to get to the same goal.
“That’s massive and I think the manager bringing us in together, getting us aligned on the same path and knowing that if you’re not starting, we’ve not got time to care about it, in the sense of we’ve got places we want to get to and we’ve got ambition. There’s no time for it.
“To be fair the boys have been excellent, even if they’ve been playing or not playing, they’ve been disappointed, been out a few games, they’ve come in and done what they need to do and done their jobs and that’s massive.”
How much have you learned from Ollie Watkins?
“Ollie’s been massive for me, just playing with him for large parts as us two up front. We have different games, we play differently but we’ve worked so well. I think our connection has just got better and better.
“I think that comes with off the pitch and getting to know people and getting closer and I think we have done that. It’s nice to play with players of that quality, of that calibre, especially what he did last season. He’s someone that I definitely looked up to and wanted to be around to play with.
“He improves my game in a sense because when he wants the ball at a certain time, when he makes certain runs I’ve got to play it and if I don’t he’s not going to be happy! He’s a striker, he wants the ball, he wants to score.
“He’s kind of upped my game and we’ve worked really well together. I think that comes with off the pitch and being closer and getting closer connections. You can talk to each other on a different level if things aren’t right. It’s not personal, it’s just about football and I think that’s massive. Not just with him, I’ve done that with a lot of other players.
“The more I’ve got to know them, the more I’ve started playing, the closer I’ve got with them on and off the pitch. You can just say things and nothing gets back after it’s all forgotten about. I think that makes a group closer and better and I think that’s why we play so well together and we enjoy playing with each other because ultimately we get on and that’s the most important.”
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