Quite a lot of things seem to be going wrong for Aston Villa this season.
Unai Emery has done a tremendous job, but this is without a doubt his biggest test yet because he is going through his most difficult period.
Aston Villa are winless in six games in all competitions, with the attackers not being ruthless enough in front of goal and the defence leaking goals for fun.
That was proven as Villa dropped points against Crystal Palace on Saturday, with Youri Tielemans’ penalty being saved by Dean Henderson at 1-1 and the opposition going on to score 60 seconds later.
Once again, Emery made changes to his XI, including a number of forced calls with the likes of Ezri Konsa and Amadou Onana out injured.
Throughout the season, in the Premier League and Champions League, Emery has chopped and changed, either tactical or forced through injuries.
But two players have started every single match for Aston Villa – Youri Tielemans and Morgan Rogers – and perhaps it’s time to change that now.
Should Morgan Rogers be starting for Aston Villa?
The uncomfortable questions need to be asked of Rogers, not the fact that he isn’t an attacking threat for Villa, but how he doesn’t provide the control with the ball or the bite the team need without it.
The team is struggling as a whole. Last season, Boubacar Kamara, Douglas Luiz, John McGinn and Tielemans were the midfield players.
For large parts this season, it has been Onana, Tielemans, McGinn and Rogers further forward. It’s pretty clear that last season’s midfield would provide more control and defensive strength.
It also needs to be added that, for the first half of last season, when Villa were flying, Rogers wasn’t here after joining in January.
If push came to shove, Villa need a Barkley in the middle of the park more than Rogers because the latter is losing the ball far too much.
WhoScored shows how Rogers loses the ball 2.4 times per game compared to 0.3 for Barkley in the Premier League.
Could Rogers play out wide?
Leon Bailey is struggling for form, yes, he performed better against Crystal Palace, but he has lost that spark this season.
There could always be the scenario of Emery playing Rogers out wide, Ollie Watkins through the middle as per and then stacking that midfield like last season.
Barkley plays the Luiz role of providing control. You have McGinn and Tielemans also starting, like they were last season.
And then you pick between Kamara and Onana – when they come back from their injuries – probably the former because he is better from a defensive aspect
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