If you had told Morgan Rogers 18 months ago that he would play regularly in the Premier League and Champions League, who had just scored his first hat trick in Europe and had made his senior English debut, he may not have believed you.
But again, he would probably have done, that's how faith in himself. That does not mean that Rogers is too confident, but you do not achieve what he has at the age of 22 without faith in your own skills.
“I am not nearly in the neighborhood where I want to come and the orientation points that I hit, they are not the only ones I want to touch, the end of my career,” he told Sky Sports exclusively because he was revealed as a PUMA newest athlete.
“I know I have a long way to go. I see it as just the start and it's something to build on. For someone like me who wants to reach the top of the game, I know I have to stay it Doing work.
“With the right people around me, I do have, I don't see why I can't do it. It's about staying based, sober and continuing.”
One of the biggest moments of his career to date was his brilliant hat trick against Celtic in the Champions League. In fact, two goals were scored by one player in the competition within five minutes – only one of the records that he broke that evening at the end of January.
“It was a bit crazy,” Rogers thought he saw. “It is all that everyone talked to me against peace, in terms of continuing and keep trying to get it [the hat-trick].
“It plays in your mind as the game goes longer. I had missed a chance to put it early in the game, so I hoped that time wasn't done and luckily I got the chance to score.
“It probably took a few days before it completely sowing what I have achieved. I am really proud that I managed to do it and it is something that will live with me forever.
“That and making my debut for England are the two most important ones that stay with me. Whatever happens, regardless of what I achieve, those two moments are iconic moments for me.
“That immense feeling of pride, that immense joy for me and for everyone around me about how I have achieved it. It is something that can never be taken from me, whatever happens. They are beautiful moments.”
His senior debut in England came in a 3-0 win in Greece in November, handed over to him by the then interim manager Lee Carsley. The two had also collaborated at the U21 level.
“What a sweet guy he is,” said Rogers about Carsley. “Exactly as he is, the way he coaches, the way he also cares about you as a person, he always checks in with you. It also helps him to be from Birmingham, that connection is fun.
“To make my debut with such a person I really trust, really and really appreciates as a person is even more fun.”
Now Rogers has to impress the boss of New England Thomas Tuchel. “He is a top manager,” he said about the German. “He did it in large competitions throughout Europe, has won the Champions League, so we know the pedigree he has.
“And everyone has a clean slate – that's how you have to look at it. He looks at everyone for the first time with that lens like the manager of England, so it's time to impress, show what you're about and why you deserves to be there.
“I'm in the same boat because I want to be in the team. I don't want to be there to come up with the figures, I want to play games. It's about showing week in, week out what you are made of and that is What I try to do. “
And that comes with Aston Villa. A strong Champions League competition phase saw them end in the top eight and went straight to the round of 16 while they are in a more inconsistent Premier League, they are in eighth place.
Part of it can be attributed to European efforts – Aston Villa won only once in the competition after playing in the Champions League in midweek. They lost four and attracted three of the other seven games.
“The first time that juggling with the Champions League with the Premier League has been difficult,” said Rogers about the run.
“We found it difficult to go over and over again and it is something we have to get used to if we want to achieve what we want and get the club where we want to go. It will be difficult, but we have numbers in the team around us to help do this.
“It's about finding the right balance and getting that consistency, which we sometimes lack.
“But the exciting thing is that I don't think we've been to our best and that we are still there and that is where we want to be. We are not exactly there, but we are not a million miles away and a few good results, A few good weeks in our favor, but we know that we have to come more. “
Rogers offers both Tuchel and Unai Emery Variety in the future. He plays comfortably behind the rush hour or on the left, but the 22-year-old has no preference for both. “I couldn't tell you until the game really started. As long as I play, I am happy,” he says.
Emery signed Rogers from Middlesbrough last February and marked another milestone for almost a year to the day as an Aston Villa player. It has become a mutual affordable relationship that the attacker enjoys.
“He is so demanding,” he said about his club manager. “Every little thing he will be for and as he is, the detail in which he goes into, how much he likes of the game, how much he wants to win, it rubs us. That is what he wants us to do, we are one Product from him and as he is.
“Every day I learn whether I think that I am or not, whether it is psychological or how I think about the game. He has improved me in so many different areas, but especially about my way of thinking about continuing and I am doing I'm good at even if it doesn't work and just to continue.
“He is so positive. He may not always come on that way as he is, but he always wants the best for everyone and the team and ultimately, if you know that and you buy it, you get results.
“He is such a good manager and a perfect person for me to get that next push. The good thing about him is because I did well, he won't stop me. He will probably go even harder to me in terms of terms I try to get better, so I look forward to working with him for many years. “
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