John McGinn makes pundit who called him ‘biggest disappointment’ look stupid with Aston Villa masterclass v Chelsea
John McGinn was back to his vintage best as Aston Villa delivered a defensive masterclass in their 2-0 win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
The Villa captain delivered the decisive blow early in the second half, striking a 25-year curler beyond the clutches of Blues goalkeeper Kepa – his first Premier League goal for the club in over 12 months.
The performance helped Unai Emery’s side climb up to 9th in the Premier League and just two points off Brighton in sixth position.
The turnaround of the Scottish international since the despairing days under Steven Gerrard has been stark, and he has proven many of his doubters wrong, including talkSPORT pundit Tony Cascarino (26 December).
After Gerrard’s sacking at Villa Park, Cascarino was quick to criticise the 28-year-old midfielder for his poor performances over the past couple of years.
“The biggest disappointment of all the players I think I’ve seen over the last year or two is John McGinn,” he stated.
“John McGinn is a really good player, okay. but he’s fallen so short. I mean, the captaincy thing, it shouldn’t be an issue really, it shouldn’t be, but why is McGinn playing to that level, he’s far better than what we’ve seen.”
McGinn has evidently taken such criticism on board and turned it into fuel to become a far-improved player in his new wide-midfield position under Emery.
During his 90-minute masterclass on Saturday evening (1 April), McGinn was involved in a ridiculous 18 duels, winning eight of them. [SofaScore]
Chelsea’s attack must have been sick of the sight of McGinn, as he closed them down, hassling them on the ball, and nipped in with niggly fouls to break up their play.
The Villa skipper recorded three tackles, completed four out of four dribbles and hit the woodwork once, as well as getting his name on the scoresheet in his man-of-the-match display in the capital.
During his early days in a claret and blue shirt, back when the club was languishing in the Championship, McGinn was nicknamed the “Duracell Bunny”.
After a dodgy run of form under Gerrard, it seems like McGinn has rekindled this nickname to great success.
In other Aston Villa news, a first-team player is expected to return after the international break with a protective brace after what happened in 2023.