'Exceptional': Darren Bent suggests one Aston Villa player is in the same category as Cole Palmer
Today at 03:15 PM
Aston Villa have gone into the October international break on the back of a superb start to the season.
The Villans sit fifth in the Premier League table with four wins and two wins out of seven, and are also in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
Villa will also fancy their chances of reaching the Champions League knockout stages, having recorded a historic win over Bayern Munich in the league stage.
Darren Bent has now named one of the Villans’ players in his team of the season so far, giving him a 10 out of 10 for his efforts.
Darren Bent gives 10/10 ratings to Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers and Chelsea’s Cole Palmer
The player in question is Morgan Rogers, who has been a revelation for Villa since making the move from Middlesbrough in February.
Rogers has been instrumental for the Villans this season, starting all of their games except for the Carabao Cup win over Wycombe.
Bent, speaking on talkSPORT, said the 22-year-old is one of two players he has rated 10 out of 10 for their efforts so far this season, alongside Chelsea’s Cole Palmer.
"I have two 10s,” he said (talkSPORT, 8/10/2024, 6:10pm). “One 10 – Cole Palmer. Six goals, five assists. He has been absolutely brilliant. And I have gone Morgan Rogers. Villa. He has been exceptional.”
“You can look at the stat sheet and there are players who have got more goals, but when you actually watched the games and the impact he has had on that Villa team, Morgan Rogers has to be in there for me."
Darren Bent's XI
- David Raya (Arsenal)
- Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
- Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
- Gabriel Magalhaes (Arsenal)
- Antonee Robinson (Fulham)
- Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool)
- Cole Palmer (Chelsea)
- Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa)
- Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
- Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
- Luis Diaz (Liverpool)
‘Like watching Jonah Lomu’
Rogers has been an absolute revelation for Villa, whose reported £15million outlay for him is one of the bargains of the year.
“The way he was brushing people away, it was like watching Jonah Lomu,” Jamie Redknapp said on Sky Sports about Rogers’ display against Arsenal.
Rogers is far from the finished product too, so it’ll be exciting to see how he continues to develop under Emery.
For instance, his decision-making and end product could do with some work, but having some things to work on is expected at 22 years of age.
