Just how effective can Morgan Rogers be for Middlesbrough in the No.10 role?

In the past two league games Morgan Rogers has been placed in the attacking midfield role instead of the number 9 position. He has caught the eye of Boro's head coach Michael Carrick and fans.

Morgan Rogers was signed by Middlesbrough in the 2023 summer transfer window from the Premier leagues treble-winners, Manchester City, for an undisclosed fee on a 4 year deal. Morgan was signed of the back of a pretty underwhelming loan stint at Blackpool, where he only netted once and grabbed one assist in the championship, as the Tangerines were relegated. Despite his poor campaign, the recruitment team could see his ability before others, and now we are starting to see what the young man brings to the squad.

Initially, Carrick played him in the number 9 role throughout preseason and in the first two competitive games of the season. Its fair to say he struggled up top, but fans were crying out for him to be dropped in the number 10 role, which we first saw him in at the 3-0 loss to Coventry during the second half. His performance in the second half showed great promise and really allowed the youngster to showcase his ability.

Morgan is a tall, well built and fast player and we saw how explosive he is, only 3 minutes after being placed in his new role. In the image above, you can see how he picks the ball up from deep in Boro's half, something which we will see a lot more, with the coaching staff inevitably trying to emulate a certain Chuba Akpom from last season. Below is a frame from where his powerful run helped the team get too, and showcases the ability he has to help the attack progress upfield into scoring opportunities, with this effort unfortunately coming off the woodwork.

Morgan Rogers bullying his way into the oppositions box

As the game progressed we saw Morgan grow into his role more and more, with him coming very near to scoring a wonderful solo goal a few minutes after this passage of play. The score-line from this game could have been very different on another night, as Morgan also pressured and pounced on a loose ball in Coventry's box. He then put the ball on a plate for Sammy Silvera to score and equalize the game, but he blazed the strike over the top. After his encouraging performance, Carrick decided to start him in the No.10 role the following week against Huddersfield.

Morgan Rogers against Huddersfield

In his first start in this position we were able to see even more of what we can expect from the 21 year old. Throughout the game we saw Rogers drift from left to right in the final third as seen in the two images above, supporting his team mates and looking to create goals. This is something we saw Chuba Akpom do a lot last season for Boro as he explained in interviews how Carrick gave him the license to roam the final third in possession, proving to be a headache for defenders. However, something we didn't see much of was him arriving onto crosses, reason being that new signing Lukas Engel, replacement for Ryan Giles, was deployed more defensively to deal with Neil Warnock's man to man marking. Carrick explained in future games we will see Lukas be more offensive, a player in a position which Akpom scored the majority of his goals linking up with. Engel and Rogers is a partnership to keep an eye on for the near future.

We saw Rogers receive the ball by dropping off his man outside the box allowing him to linkup play. He showcased his ability to play intricate passes and break the lines in some of Boro's attacking phases.

As the team has more time together to develop and understand one another I am sure we will start to see the goals flow. Michael Carrick has explained already how important Rogers and his versatility will be this season, with him being able to play across the front three and is now thriving in the No.10 role. Despite Middlesbrough still being in the market for another player in this role, I fully believe he has all the makings to succeed in this position. Competition will only push him to improve as he has an exceptional attitude.

I am interested to see what other fans think !

Do you think Morgan Rogers is good enough to start in the No.10 role

• Yes
• No
• Hes not ready just yet