'The only reason': Pep Guardiola shares why Man City actually sold Morgan Rogers after 2-1 loss to Aston Villa
Today at 01:55 AM
Morgan Rogers haunted his former club Manchester City with a box-office display in Aston Villa’s 2-1 victory against the Premier League champions.
Morgan Rogers helped Unai Emery’s side draw first blood just 16 minutes into the contest, setting up Jhon Duran with a tap-in after an initial phenomenal through ball from Youri Tielemans.
The Aston Villa midfielder weaved his magic throughout the clash, ghosting past a series of Manchester City players time and again with his dancing feet and balletic balance.
Eventually, Rogers doubled Villa’s deal with a well-taken left-footed strike right into the bottom corner and perhaps made Pep Guardiola rue his sale to Middlesborough last year.
After spending loan spells at Lincoln City, AFC Bournemouth and Blackpool from Manchester City, his sale to Boro was sanctioned before the Englishman decided to sign for Aston Villa earlier this year. Since heading to Villa Park, the 22-year-old has been a revelation, as he showcased against City which led Pep Guardiola to be asked why the Sky Blues decided to let go of such a devastatingly gifted youngster.
Emile Smith Rowe lauded Morgan Rogers as one of the Premier League’s two most skilful players, which goes to show how talented he is.
Pep Guardiola says Morgan Rogers wasn’t ready for Man City first-team
Recently, even Thomas Frank sang Morgan Rogers’ praises after Brentford’s 3-3 draw against Aston Villa. While Matty Cash raved about Rogers as well by stating that he “can do everything.”
Guardiola explained that Rogers could not break into Manchester City’s senior side due to the presence of their established superstars at the peak of their powers at the time and with that being the case, they decided to sell him.
The Catalan said via HaytersTV: “Do you know what happened? There are some teams that won the treble, won the quadruple [four trophies in a season in 2019], sometimes its the right tempo, its the right time, can give the chance.”
“Everybody knows how good Morgan [Rogers] is and a lot of players who are loaned or sold by the club they were at that age where we have the players that we had to allow us to create the more successful eight years at our club.”
“In that moment, when they arrive, they are two or three years younger and in that moment, they are Kevin [De Bruyne] in their prime and David Silva and Bernardo [Silva] and Riyad [Mahrez] and Leroy [Sane] and Raheem [Sterling] and sometimes, it’s difficult and it’s the only reason why.”
Pep Guardiola admitted that a youngster like Rogers would be kept if he was in this flailing Manchester City side, however.
“In this situation right now, these type of players will be with us, that’s obvious but it in the right moment, that’s all what happened.”
“Happy for him because he’s a lovely guy and exploded, I think last season, this season, is a really, really top-class player and England have another exceptional player.”
Morgan Rogers stats for Aston Villa against Manchester City
Rogers certainly showed no signs of nervousness playing against his former side.
Instead, the highly-rated attacker seemed intent on proving a point against them, as his statistics indicate.
| ROGERS STATS VS MAN CITY | |
| GOALS | 1 |
| ASSISTS | 1 |
| CHANCES CREATED | 2 |
| SUCCESSFUL DRIBBLES | 5/7 |
| PASSES INTO THE FINAL THIRD | 4 |
| DUELS WON | 8 |
| MINUTES PLAYED | 89 |
As the numbers show, Rogers’ display was one that emphasised that he is an all-rounder.
It is on-brand for the England international to create and score goals while leaving defenders for dead with the help of his exquisite dribbling.
But winning eight duels during Saturday’s game indicate that Rogers has no qualms about doing the dirty work, which is the true mark of the modern-day number 10.
Pep Guardiola would certainly have been wishing the Aston Villa maverick was still donning a Manchester City shirt.
