Jonty Banks

Sat 12 November 2022 9:10, UK

By John McGinn’s exacting standards, the start of his 2022/23 season has clearly not been his best campaign for Aston Villa.

The 28-year-old has found himself stuck in a horrid run of form since being made captain by Steven Gerrard in the summer – a sticky patch which has resulted in him being dropped for the club’s last four Premier League matches.

And if Thursday is anything to go by, McGinn is going to have to work even harder to rediscover his form and adapt his game to Unai Emery’s preferred 4-4-2 tactical setup.

During Villa’s 4-2 defeat to the Red Devils on Thursday night (10 November), McGinn was deployed on the left side of a midfield four, often looking isolated and absent from the side’s attacks.

Often, Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara looked to the powerful running of Jacob Ramsey on the right-hand side as a secure line of possession instead of McGinn, and even though the Scot was ever-willing to try and create chances for his side, he struggled to pick up the ball in many positions of significance.

Now it isn’t McGinn’s fault that he didn’t deliver the performance which so many of the Claret and Blue faithful hoped for. His role on the left side of the midfield four quite clearly isn’t his favoured position, as he often had to move sideways to cover the on-rushing Ludwig Augustinsson instead of pushing forwards to create on his own.

He was still at his ferocious best in defence, making four tackles (only bettered by Tyrell Malacia) throughout the match, but he didn’t register a single shot on goal and only played one cross from his wide role all night.

For Emery to unlock McGinn’s full potential, he need only look at how the midfielder is deployed for his national team – a position which has drawn him 14 goals and seven assists in just 51 appearances.

Under the management of Steve Clarke, McGinn is often used in a far more advanced position, almost playing alongside Lyndon Dykes and Che Adams and given the freedom to attack at will.

Clarke doesn’t mind the midfielder bombing up the pitch as he knows that McGinn’s engine can compensate for these extra hard yards, and this is what Emery should start to understand.

In both Steven Gerrard’s 4-3-3 and Emery’s 4-4-2 deployed on Wednesday night McGinn has been kept on a leash and told to cover the space that Villa’s full-backs invariably leave, which does not play to his strengths.

The midfielder needs to be given the freedom to press high and cover the hard yards, as his tackles and interceptions high up the pitch could play directly into the hand of the bang-in-form Leon Bailey.

Whether getting McGinn back to his best will mean Emery having to tinker with his formation, or drilling his tactical positioning, Aston Villa could do with the so-called ‘Duracell bunny’ getting back to his best.

In other news, Aston Villa reveal new crest for 2023/24 Premier League season