As Morgan Rogers walked along the pitch and into the dressing room, having exited the coach at the opposite end of Burnley’s Turf Moor, he was some way behind his team-mates.
He could have been forgiven for lagging behind — his inclusion in Aston Villa’s 2-2 draw at Burnley maintained his ever-presence in the Premier League this season.
The 23-year-old England international is the only Villa player to have achieved the feat, going over the 3,000-minute threshold. It is an indication of his durability and, more tellingly, Villa’s dependence on him.
Rogers’ nine league goals have been worth 14 points to Villa. Until early February, after scoring his eighth away at Bournemouth, no Premier League player’s goals had been more valuable to their side.
Rogers is Unai Emery’s chief creative hub and the one whose Villa’s attack centres on. Emery’s side have been guilty of being over-dependent and predictable in finding Rogers as their ball-carrying No 10. The idea of resting him, or limiting his minutes before the Europa League final against Freiburg in less than a fortnight, has hardly been explored.
Emery acknowledged Villa were “lucky to have” Rogers after the 1-1 draw against Bournemouth, with the rest of the Premier League surely echoing that sentiment.
If Rogers is off-colour, Villa feel it. As club sources remarked at the start of the season — like all those cited in this article, speaking anonymously to protect relationships — Villa’s decisive quality in the final third was likely to come from Rogers or Ollie Watkins.
That was echoed at Turf Moor, where lax defending meant Villa had to score three times to win the match. It was Rogers’ 107th club appearance across the previous two campaigns, the most of any Premier League player in that period. In terms of overall minutes across all competitions, only three players — Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde, Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool and Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni — have racked up more across Europe’s top five leagues.
The image below shows the minutes accumulated by outfield Premier League players from the start of 2024-25 until the beginning of April.
Rogers is willing to embrace the responsibility on his shoulders, even if they have literally been feeling the weight. He has been wearing heavy strapping on them, which, according to sources close to the player, is just a precaution.
Following Villa’s 1-1 draw away at Nottingham Forest last month, when Rogers registered his first assist since January, Emery sensed he was “getting tired”, owing to the season’s natural wear and tear and, as Villa sources have recognised, the heavy treatment he can receive from opposition players.
Villa are the most fouled team in the league, with Rogers the most fouled player. Paradoxically, they are the only side other than Tottenham Hotspur not to have won a penalty.
Regardless of Emery and his close aides’ observations about the heavy on-pitch punishment, Rogers has kept playing. Emery has used the third-most players of any top-flight coach, yet the one constant is Rogers.
This, combined with the high physical output expected from an Emery No 10 — tasked with leading transitions from deep and setting the press — has contributed to Rogers covering more distance than any other player in the league.
Morgan Rogers has covered more distance than any Premier League player this season (Martin Rickett/PA Images via Getty Images)
No team have won more games by a one-goal margin than Villa’s 12, so Rogers is rarely afforded an early substitution. His propensity to chug along is impressive — although he does not need to look far for inspiration.
John McGinn is arguably the Premier League’s model for intensity and relentless energy. When he is available, Villa are transformed. This season, they have won 59 per cent of fixtures when the Scotland international is in the starting lineup, compared to a steep drop of 25 per cent without him. McGinn, 31, has a few more miles on the clock than Rogers, as shown in Emery taking him off in 21 of his 27 Premier League appearances.
Although this is to preserve their captain, Villa are weaker without him. McGinn’s knee injury earlier this year coincided with Villa winning just three of their 10 games in his absence. His return marked a stark improvement for his side, as they won six of their next eight.
McGinn and Rogers are Villa’s marathon men, able to run harder and longer than most others. This was perfectly captured in the latter’s goal against Sunderland last month.
Closing down left-back Reinildo, McGinn robbed him of possession. Note where Rogers is.
McGinn offloaded, with Watkins finding Rogers. In 12 seconds, Rogers sprinted from deep inside his own half to score from inside Sunderland’s box.
McGinn characteristically tried to inject tempo in Villa’s first half against Burnley. They were passive in the opening stages, with Emiliano Martinez parrying Lesley Ugochukwu’s shot to Jaidon Anthony as Villa fell behind.
The away end sang about Istanbul, where that Europa League final awaits, while there were empty seats in the home sections across Turf Moor. Despite the ‘wave cam’ before kick off, few Burnley supporters shared that enthusiasm. The flat atmosphere could not have been more of a contrast to Villa’s Europa League semi-final second-leg triumph against Nottingham Forest on Thursday.
Having made only three changes, Emery was asking his core to rally themselves again three days later, with Rogers and McGinn doing a lot of the lifting.
Rogers, operating away from clustered central areas by maintaining width off the left, darted inside for Villa’s first chance, carved out by McGinn’s pass. He then dragged his shot wide. Having delivered the corner for Ross Barkley’s first-half equaliser, McGinn then had an opportunity of his own after the break, heading wide.
Villa’s draw was an extension of their league form in 2026 — they have taken 20 points from 17 games — while a sign, through Rogers and McGinn, of how players’ quality can be impacted by fatigue.
“Some (players) are tired, but they want to play,” said Emery.
The efforts put in on Thursday night seemed to take it out of Villa, leading to needless giveaways for both Burnley goals and heavy touches and passes in the final third.
Rogers and McGinn completed just 65 per cent and 69 per cent of their passes, below the side’s average of 86 per cent.
Villa are clinging onto Champions League qualification through the league. With two games left, plus the final, mammoth effort in Istanbul, Rogers and McGinn will be relied on to push Villa over the line.
