Morgan Rogers on Villa belief they can turnaround PSG's 3-1 lead
14/04/2025
uefa25 champions league
Aston Villa 1-3 PSG Champions League quarter final second leg
14/04/2025
uefa25 champions league
Aston Villa 1-3 PSG Champions League quarter final second leg
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00:00Good afternoon everyone. We'll work our way through as many as possible. If you raise your hand we'll come to you. We'll accept questions in both English and French, but the manager will only answer in English. We'll work our way round as many as possible. We'll start with you, man.
00:21Hello, Unai. Does the score from the first leg make a difference to your tactical plans, at least to start tomorrow or not?
00:35Good afternoon. It depends. Of course, it depends how we are playing and facing them tomorrow.
00:44The first leg made one difference in our expectation as well was to accept everything that happened.
01:01Always, if we were, if we were, with real possibilities to play one match, getting, being our expectation close to get good result for the second leg.
01:22Of course, 2-1, 3-1, it's changing something. A lot? Not. Why? Because we have to win with 2-1 and we have to win with 3-1.
01:39Now, we have to win with one more goal in our expectation.
01:46The atmosphere is going to be fantastic, you know. But players at this level, at your level and PSG's level, play in front of big, loud crowds every week.
01:58So, is the home advantage, is it still a big factor now at this stage of the competition?
02:05They have to win. They have experience playing with the opponent's supporters in the away matches they are playing in France and in Europe and we have as well.
02:26But, if we are connecting with our supporters, if we are transmitting energy, positive energy, if we are playing more or less, getting tactically and individually good things on the field,
02:51the supporters, the supporters, they are going to add us their energy, they are going to help us a lot and they are going to transmit us the energy and always for our players playing at home with the energy they can receive from the supporters is something adding positively.
03:15More for us, more for us, more for us, more for us than the players because they have experiences and they can as well manage in different moments as well, trying to focus the match and not really involving how the supporters are pushing them.
03:34But, for us, it is important. For us, it is important. For our players, for our energy, for our wishes, for our capacity to show our supporters as well, our individual and collectively performance.
03:49This is really important, how much they can transmit the supporters helping us. Thank you.
04:01Good afternoon, Unai. Just wonder how do you balance going for those goals, as you mentioned, to win the game as well as defensively, though, keeping PSG at bay, especially with the attacking players they showed in the first leg?
04:15We competed there like we planned. And the result we achieved was not really the best result, but we were in good balance at the end of the match for the second leg now.
04:33And now the objective is to win. Is it enough to win? Of course, with one goal is not enough. But if we are winning, we can be close.
04:45And our objective is to try to play with one strong plan in our tactical way tomorrow. And then try to be consistent. Try to be consistent and try to understand how is going the match in 90 minutes.
05:05And of course, when we were winning in Bruges, we were, as well, with the advantage we had, we were ready to play start time and penalty shoot.
05:17Now, again, our plan is as well, if we are getting start time, fantastic. And if we are getting penalty shoot, it could be maybe fantastic as well.
05:25I just wanted to ask you about Oli as well after a fantastic goal on the weekend. You mentioned a few weeks ago he was looking after a little knee injury as well.
05:35I just wonder, is that now healed? And how is he feeling ahead of Samaro and how important could he be?
05:44He showed us he was feeling fantastic in Southampton and scoring all and he played 30 minutes, performing very well.
05:54And this is the priority we have with the players. Try to be focused 100% and try to be using their skills and qualities, helping the team 90 minutes, 60 minutes, 45 minutes, 30 minutes or even five minutes.
06:12And this is the mentality we will need tomorrow to play the match. Everybody ready and everybody trying to get the best. Thank you.
06:21Unai, you said a couple of weeks ago that sometimes you don't pick or decide on the final team until a few hours before the game.
06:30I just wondered, have you a clear idea of the team you're going to select tomorrow yet or are you still deciding?
06:40We are going to try this afternoon and it's very important how they are because my first objective is to try to identify how they are the players.
06:49We played on Saturday and we tried yesterday morning but today we are going to try in the afternoon and in the evening and we have to test every players.
07:00Of course I have my idea in my mind but I don't have my idea in my mind for the starting eleven. I have my idea, a plan.
07:07I plan overall, 90 minutes or rest a time of penalty shoot with the match tomorrow.
07:14And when we are preparing each game, we are preparing with every players.
07:19Every player they have to know tomorrow their task on the field and they have to understand as well
07:25how we have to manage emotionally as well the match. Tactically, emotionally, the starting eleven, the playing the bench.
07:34Everybody ready in case they are on the field to do their task and our plan we have going to set for tomorrow.
07:44Uno, how much more difficult is it because PSG had a clear weekend going into this game? Do you have an issue with that? How much difficult does that make it?
07:55We have the habit to play a lot of matches in a row and in three matches per week. As well they have these habits and they are ready to play. They are rested but for me it's not very relevant.
08:10Good morning. Demain, quels ingrédients votre équipe devra mettre en place pour renverser la situation face au Paris Saint-Germain?
08:29Et lors de votre retour au Parc des Bruns, quelle différence vous avez senti entre votre PSG et celui de Luis Enrique? Merci.
08:40We have to set out our game plan as better as possible and we have to try to understand how we have to understand as well their idea, how we can get duels, individual duels on the field.
09:03And then it's the players, they are the protagonist completely the protagonist to do their best work and to get the best performances.
09:15After the first leg was playing away, it was the first leg, of course the result is for them.
09:23They are the players, they show us the best way they have for this competition and as well playing against us.
09:35But we show us as well our capacity to compete, getting close to being as well with adding with our possibilities to beat them.
09:49And tomorrow, tactically, we are going to try to get our best, with our experiences as well, our best, our best individual collective tactical idea to face them.
10:05And we have to believe, we have to believe, we have to believe in showing our wishes to get it and respecting them, like we respect them and respecting them in the same way we did there.
10:19But of course, trying to use Villa Park, like our home, like our fortress, we are a lot of time feeling it and to share with our supporters the really motivated match to play tomorrow.
10:41Unai, given the high stakes tomorrow, would you regard this as the greatest comeback that you've ever pulled off if you do go through?
10:53And do you have anything in your previous experience where you've overcome a big first leg lead?
11:01I have experiences coming back result positively and negatively in two ways.
11:25But now it's something different. We want to write here the history with Aston Villa last year and this year in Champions League, hopefully for a long time in Europe.
11:40Because my experiences before was different, sometimes losing away and winning at home, sometimes losing at home and winning away, in different ways.
11:53And as well, sometimes winning, more winning than losing, but I have as well some negative experiences.
12:01But I'm not going to remind the players those experiences because my idea and my every word with the players inside sending the message is how we are doing this way.
12:17And how we are getting experiences together here with Aston Villa, with the players we are, with the experiences we are adding in our back last year, this year.
12:30And as well, with the combination we have with the players mentally and as well in the area tactically to play, being so-so demanding in our process to get opportunities and believing to be tomorrow.
12:55Unai, in your first two years here, Watkins was always the clear first choice, number nine.
13:05This year it's been a bit different, first competing with John Duran and now with Rashford sometimes.
13:11How well do you think he has adapted to those new circumstances?
13:16We are increasing the level, and increasing the level is firstly because we are playing more matches than two years when we arrived here.
13:28We are playing now 55-57 matches last year and this year.
13:32And as well, they are adding a lot of players that are going with the national team.
13:37When I arrived here, they were going less than now. One of them is Watkins.
13:43And of course, when you are playing the highest level, usually it's because you are competing with good teammates in the squad.
13:56And this is the process we have. And the players, they have to understand, when we are increasing our level, it's being more competitive way for them as well.
14:06And we have to use two players competing in the highest level to get our objective.
14:13And this is the process we are increasing in two years. And the experience we are adding collectively and individually is being positive.
14:22And for example, it is very, very important how this year, for example, starting the season playing Oli Watkins was not completely fit.
14:36We needed John Duran and he helped us to get a lot of points in that moment, West Ham and Leicester.
14:46And then sometimes as well, John Duran was playing in the starting eleven and he was being sussed and he was helping us 30 minutes.
14:56And now with Rashford, more or less, it's something similar. We can identify the same way.
15:05But we need both players. And the next step, if I can have time to get is to play together.
15:14They did play in the last four left side. But now we are choosing more both players playing as a striker.
15:23But we can't play as well with two strikers like them. But this is the next step I want to do.
15:30I want to try to practice, to test, but we are not now with enough time to do it.
15:39Last question.
15:41Yes, hello. In both League One and Champions League, set pieces are usually identified as a weak point for Paris Saint-Germain. Do you see it as well as a weak point for Paris Saint-Germain, set pieces?
15:52But they are being successful or not? Not so much defensively. I meant defensively, of course.
15:59Maybe we are speaking about it. Tomorrow they are going to perform fantastic. We have to play and to compete in everything. In everything.
16:07And they have been successful defensively in set pieces. How? Because they are not considering a lot of corners, a lot of fault.
16:19They are avoiding the opponent's capacity to thread them through set pieces because they are not considering a lot.
16:26And this is the first defence. They are doing fantastic, really fantastic it.
16:30Thanks everybody. Thank you so much.
16:33Thank you for coming everyone. We will do a quick ten minutes with Morgan.
16:43Will you just operate a hands up policy before asking questions, just to make it easier for everyone.
16:49What we will do is, we will start with Mike. Where is Mike? Right in the front.
16:54Can't be anyone with you there. Right? Far away.
16:58Hello Morgan. There are a lot of Villa fans who I think still can't quite believe they are here in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Can you?
17:07Yes and no, obviously. It has been a surreal upcoming for the club and kind of accelerated where we wanted to get to.
17:14Probably quicker than anyone anticipated. But at the same time, we know we are good enough.
17:20We believe in our group. We believe in the manager and the coaching staff.
17:24And we are here for a reason. We deserve to be here. We have taken on any battle and opportunity that we have had in front of us this season.
17:31Especially in this competition. And we have won the games that we needed to be where we are.
17:35So, yes, you can maybe look and think, yes, our name and club probably don't deserve to be here.
17:42But that is not how we look at it at all. We look at the players in the group we have got.
17:45And we think, yes, we fully deserve to be here. We are fully competing. And we want to keep going and keep pushing.
17:52It is exciting. You have a lot of work to do, obviously, and focus on all the professional things you do.
17:57Can you allow yourself a moment to go, to share that excitement, to say, wow, look at this?
18:04Probably not at this moment in time, no. I think we've got a job at hand. We've got a task to do.
18:10So, maybe look back at it or it's for other people to do from the outside. But within, we're just focused on the games.
18:17And playing them for what they are and competing and trying to win the games, ultimately.
18:22I think if you get too ahead of yourself or you try and think about the occasion and stuff, that's probably where your best performances don't come out.
18:29So, no, we're fully focused and we know we've got a job at hand. So, there's nothing to worry about at this moment in time.
18:35In this Villa team, there's a few French players like Lucadine, Bouba Camara and Axel Dissazi.
18:53Did you speak with them about this PSG team? And what did they tell you about that?
18:58Because they played against PSG or Lucadine even played for PSG. So, did they tell you anything about this team?
19:04I don't think they need to tell me how good they were. I think I could see that for myself in the rounds before, how good they were and when analysing them.
19:13But in terms of the atmosphere and stuff, yeah, they've obviously had experience beforehand and they all tried to help us and give us kind of how it was going to be and how it was going to play out.
19:23Yeah, it lived up to that. It's an exciting time to play in a new stadium, to play at one of the biggest teams in the world.
19:30But, yeah, having people that have probably experienced it before definitely helps, not just them three, but also other people that have played in the competition before at later stages.
19:38It helps having that experience and just that know-how of how to get things done and how to play a game away from home in a difficult environment.
19:47So, not just them three, but I think having players who have experienced it before definitely helps, yeah.
19:53Afternoon, Morgan. I remember chatting to you after your debut and your goal in England under-21s last year and then you said you wanted to score your first goal for Villa off the back of that.
20:04Amazing 12 months for you now in England international, hat-trick in the Champions League.
20:08Was there a particular moment you feel that was key in your development in the last 12 months where you feel like it really clicked?
20:15Not a particular moment. I'd say the end of last season. Getting them games under my belt by force with injuries and whatnot that happened
20:26and that having to accelerate and to learn on the job about what the manager wants, what the team wants
20:32and what type of player I'm going to be in this league and at the club.
20:37Yeah, I think that really helped me. I might not have been ready at all times in different environments
20:41and different games that I can think of at the top of my head that I struggled in,
20:44but being able to have that experience of them, whatever 15 games it was last season,
20:49definitely helped me for this season to just kick on and know what to expect and to know what I needed to improve on
20:54and learn from and kind of take forward. So I'd say that key moment of having to learn on the job
21:01and kind of in the midst of it while competing to try and get top four last season.
21:05I think that was probably the best thing that happened to me and just having to sort it out and figure it out for myself.
21:10You talked about you and the team feeling like you deserve to be at this level.
21:14Can you just talk to us about how much belief there is that you can overturn this deficit
21:18and what's the message been like in that changing room?
21:21Yeah, there's massive belief. Most people wrote us off before the tie.
21:28The first leg, I think we gave a pretty good account of ourselves. Of course, there's details and areas that we want to improve on
21:33and learn from for the second leg, but ultimately we know what they're like now. We've played them.
21:38We're kind of more comfortable in that sense of already playing them and there's something that there's a task at hand.
21:44We know what we need to do. But we're excited. Under the lights at home, playing in this competition in the quarterfinal,
21:51there's not many places better to be and if anyone's going to turn it around, it's going to be us and it's down to us.
21:56I think we're excited for that challenge. We're looking forward to it. We know it's going to be difficult.
22:00We're not saying we're going to do it by any stretch of the imagination, but we're definitely going to give it a go and go out to win 100%.
22:06Hi Morgan. The atmosphere for the home games previously in the Champions League has been incredible. How important will the fans be?
22:13Yeah, massive. Two-legged ties, that's the whole purpose of it. You get your advantage at home and especially in the position we're in,
22:22the second leg being at home, I think that's massive for us. I think we can create a real atmosphere.
22:27We've done it this season in the big games, not just Champions League, but in the big league games as well.
22:31They're a massive push and a massive boost for us and we're going to need them again tomorrow night.
22:35There's going to be no different. And yeah, that energy, that feeling, that vibe sometimes is bigger than the actual game
22:42in the sense of that's what drives you on. You can forget about all the tactics, all the intricate stuff that we're going to work on.
22:49Sometimes it's just about that sheer energy and heart and determination within the stadium that we connect to the fans,
22:56the fans connect with us. And sometimes that could just be enough to pull you through tough moments and to get you to where you need to go.
23:03So yeah, it's going to be massive. We need every bit of support and yeah, we'll feed off that 100%.
23:10Hi Morgan, you mentioned earlier that you have full confidence in the manager. How important is his experience for the group
23:23and how can he impact the group of players at Villa?
23:27Yeah, massive. As I said, similar with the players playing in the competition, also having a manager that's competed at this level
23:33and I'm sure has been difficult where he's probably been on the other side in terms of winning as well as losing.
23:39So he knows both dressing rooms and the vibe and he knows what needs to be done.
23:43So having that kind of at the top of us in terms of helping us and trying to get us through this tie is massive.
23:51And he's one of the main reasons we're here in this scenario in the first place, just how he is, how he works, how he operates.
23:57So it's going to be no different for this game in terms of how we're going to set up, how we're going to work, how we're going to play and try and overcome it.
24:04So yeah, it's massive having someone that's been through it all and can help, especially younger players,
24:09but also even the experienced ones, just to try and get us through it and to try and win us the game.
24:14Morgan, I think it's eight wins out of the last nine matches in all competitions.
24:19I saw an interview you did after the Brighton game where you said you'd basically drawn a line in the sand at some point.
24:27How did that come about? Was that a meeting of some kind where that line was drawn or was it more of an organic kind of thing?
24:36No, we had a meeting when all the new players came in in January and we kind of knew that was the squad for the rest of the season.
24:44And the manager just said, listen, whatever happens before, we're here in each competition.
24:49He told us where we were and who we were playing and stuff.
24:52And he just said, this is the next part of the season. This is the most important bit.
24:57We've not probably done as well or been as consistent as we would have liked, but we had a chance to turn it around.
25:03We were still firmly in competitions and we were still firmly in the mix in the Premier League.
25:08And we knew we had to go on a run. We knew we had to start winning games pretty quickly and kind of catch up to certain teams that we wanted to.
25:15And yeah, it was just kind of just a conversation in that sense, really, that we knew that we've got our next few tough months coming ahead.
25:23The games are coming thick and fast and they're going to be massive games with a lot on the line.
25:27But I think the way the squad has come together, I don't think you kind of could have imagined how quickly it's kind of all gelled together and how players off the bench are making this impact as well as starting.
25:37Because it's difficult and we've got a squad, a competitive squad that could compete on all fronts.
25:40And you kind of don't know who's going to play. We all come into training and the day before the game and the day of the game, we don't know who's playing.
25:46It could be, honestly, anyone to flip off a coin at this moment in time, but that's the ability of a squad that we probably haven't had in the last year or so that we've finally got now.
25:55And that's why I think the performances are so strong, just because we've got so many options.
26:00People can stay a bit more fresh and we're all competing, but we all want to win and we all want to get to the same goal.
26:06And that's massive. And I think the manager bringing us in together, kind of getting us aligned on the same path and knowing that if you're not starting,
26:13we've not got time to care about it in the sense of we've got places to get, we want to get to and we've got, we've got ambition.
26:19So there's no time for it. And to be fair, the boys have been excellent, even if they've been playing or not playing, been disappointed,
26:25been out a few games, they've come in and just and done what they need to do and done their jobs. And that's massive.
26:30Tom, last one, please. Hi, Morgan. You talk about your period of adaptation here.
26:37How much have you learned from Ollie Watkins, both on the pitch, off the pitch?
26:43And can you just talk a bit about how watching him or speaking to him helped your adaptation to playing at this level?
26:50Yeah, Ollie's been, Ollie's been massive for me. Just playing with him for obviously large parts as kind of us two up there up front.
26:58And yeah, we have different games. We played differently, but we've worked so well.
27:04And I think our connection has just got better and better.
27:08I think that comes with off the pitch and getting to know people and kind of getting closer.
27:13And I think we have done that. So, yeah, it's nice to play with players of that quality, of that calibre,
27:17especially what he did last season. He's someone that I definitely looked up to and wanted to be around, to play with.
27:24And kind of, he improves my game in a sense, because when he wants the ball at a certain time, when he makes certain runs,
27:30I've got to play it. And if I don't, he's not going to be happy. He's a striker. He wants the ball, he wants to score.
27:34So, yeah, he's kind of upped my game. And yeah, we've worked really well together.
27:38But I think that comes with off the pitch and comes with being closer and getting closer connections that on the pitch just becomes way easier.
27:46You can talk to each other on a different level. If things aren't right, it's not personal. It's just about football.
27:52And I think that's massive. And not just with him. I've done that with a lot of the players.
27:56The more I've got to know, the more I've started playing, the closer I've got with them on and off the pitch.
28:00And you can just say things and nothing gets back. And after, it's all forgotten about.
28:05So, yeah, I think that makes a group closer and better. And I think that's why we play so well together.
28:10We enjoy playing with each other, because ultimately we get on and that's the most important thing, really.
28:15Thanks, guys. Appreciate that.