A look at the exciting young pair.
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00:00Charlie, looking at Aston Villa and that sort of display in the FA Cup against Spurs sort
00:07of highlighted the key partnerships they have across the pitch. Jacob Ramsey, Morgan Rodgers
00:13have really made a huge impact this season. They've been given a lot of freedom by Unai
00:18Emery this term and it's clearly worked. Obviously, the early goals in the Champions League as
00:24well was quite interesting against Celtic. They've clearly been given a licence to
00:29roam, a licence to go out and express themselves and this partnership is really looking good.
00:34What sort of Unai Emery's thoughts and Villa fans' thoughts on how good they've been
00:39this season?
00:40It's definitely a partnership that's flourishing, Ramsey and Rodgers. I'd be interested to
00:44see what the introductions of Rashford and Asensio will do to that. But the form that
00:48they're in at the moment, could there even be a way into starting 11 for the new signings?
00:51I'm not too sure, to be honest. Just the confidence that Ramsey's got. He's had so many injury
00:56problems over the last few years, recurring injury problems, but he seems to be back up
01:00to speed touch wood and he's playing so, so well alongside Rodgers. We might even be able
01:05to see them both in an England set up together at some stage. They just have that connection
01:09that some players just seem to get effortlessly. One-twos in behind defences, knowing where
01:14each other are going to be. They've got the same kind of pace and physicality to turn
01:18away from defenders and create moves in an instance. So, so exciting for Villa fans and
01:23the kind of players that get fans off of their seats. And that's what you need at every kind
01:27of football club. Rodgers in particular, though, so, so impressive. The fact he's starting
01:31week in and week out, having signed only 12 or 13 months ago from Middlesbrough for eight
01:37million plus seven million add-ons, that looks like an absolute bargain now. So yeah, those
01:41two in particular really flourishing in their partnership.
01:44Yeah. And the new signings, they're obviously going to try and make it a bit of a partnership
01:49going as well. Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio. I mean, they looked fantastic in their FA Cup
01:55debuts for Villa against Spurs. I mean, what does that sort of do for Villa's confidence
02:01now in this run in? They've obviously had a few inconsistent results at times. Players
02:06of that quality, players of that ilk, who've got so much experience at the top level, they're
02:11looking to just get Villa over the line. And that top four race is incredibly tough to
02:16break into at the moment, but they need to make sure that they're all they're about.
02:20And these signings could have a huge impact on that.
02:24Absolutely. The inconsistency, as you mentioned, I think a lot of that is down to tired legs
02:29at times. Emery likes to have the same system, same structure wherever possible. Before he
02:34didn't have the depth to swap out players and keep that structure necessarily. We saw
02:37when John Duran came in alongside Watkins up top, didn't quite work. But Rashford and
02:41Asensio, they bring that kind of fresh energy. The flair they showed against Tottenham, little
02:46turns here and there, nutmegs, one-twos outside the boot passes. It's the kind of flair that
02:51you want to see off the bench. But into the starting 11, I think that can work as well.
02:55And it can fit into the same structure that Emery wants, direct on the turn, getting Villa
03:00quick and forward as quickly as possible on the transition.