It was eight weeks prior that the Villa attacker stood on the Stadium of Light pitch, appearing bewildered while the Villa manager scolded him over failing to anticipate a through-ball. During that period, as Villa endured a six-game winless run, the question was if his performances were a symptom or the source of the team's more general malaise.
“When Rogers netted his second… Emery tore off his coat, threw his arms wide, and bellowed in delight.”
On Sunday, in contrast, the manager's outburst proved to be much more joyous. After the England international swept in his second strike to reinstate his side's advantage, the boss ripped off his jacket, spread his arms and roared. Villa continued to a 10th successive win , despite not winning any of their first six fixtures, now sit a mere three points behind pace-setters Arsenal.
Are They Genuine Title Contenders?
That’s a rather hard question to answer. History, the perceived status of this institution, suggests not. Moreover, they've rarely been wholly dominant in many games, while the wins have piled up.
According to Opta, twice all season has the side had an expected goals figure notably superior than the other team. For a side who have just won a ten-match winning streak, they seem strangely fragile – yet right now the margins are falling their way.
The Reliant Strategy
The current approach appears to be to trade blows with an opponent and wait for their talisman to bail them out with some clinical strikes. This was the case away to Leeds, it happened against West Ham, and again against the Red Devils.
His opener came from an exquisite effort, arced right inside the goal frame from the corner of the box. The follow-up goal acted as a slightly less clean iteration of goal number one capitalizing on an Ollie Watkins lay-off.
“Perhaps Rogers’ right foot is becoming like Arjen Robben’s left: just because you know he’s going to whip the ball into the top corner doesn’t mean you can stop him.”
Can It Last?
Reason suggests otherwise. During the latest victory, the opponents managed more efforts and more efforts on goal. The team has won each of their last eight by the narrowest of margins. They have allowed goals in nearly all of those games.
A reversion to average may well be the biggest rival they will encounter in the near future. The forward, in all likelihood, cannot keep on drilling the football into the net's top corner forever.
Reasons for Optimism
Maybe there exists an alternative path in which, instead of results trending towards performances, the level of play rises to match the results. Vital cogs could still rediscover their best form.
- The centre-forward could start scoring again.
- The winger could transform into the player he was at Borussia Dortmund.
- Tyrone Mings and Pau Torres will eventually regain fitness, strengthening a sometimes shaky defensive unit.
Maybe within that lies the seeds for a sustained push, however, it is improbable can persist in leaning entirely on a single individual.
Enjoying the Ride
Yet, nobody expected this. Few believed the team would occupy in the top three for the holidays. And without a doubt back in October, no one envisioned Rogers by the end of the year would be at the forefront of a championship pursuit and appearing as an essential Three Lions star.
The current run is to be savoured precisely because it appears so improbable. As Rogers stood in front of the North End after the match conducting the cheers, he seemed to be relishing every moment. Which he fully merits. Such periods are uncommon in the sport and should be relished.
