Aston Villa must get more from John McGinn after quiet ‘Magic’ on Monday
John McGinn was rated as quieter than “his own high standards” by Scottish media after the 2-0 win over Gibraltar, with Aston Villa hoping he can have a stronger summer at EURO 2024.
The Villa captain was given seven and 6/10 ratings in the print editions of the Scottish Daily Mail (4 June, page 71) and The Daily Record (4 June, page 51) respectively, following a mixed performance in his nation’s first warm-up game.
McGinn did provide a “magic” assist, according to the Daily Record, for striker Che Adams to make it 2-0 late in the second half at the Estadio Algarve in Faro, Portugal, and ended the match as Scotland’s captain after Andy Robertson was substituted.
Villa were led to fourth place in the Premier League and Champions League qualification by their skipper McGinn last season, but he’s seemingly yet to replicate his strong domestic form in Scottish colours so far this summer, with a “Quiet” start.
McGinn must bring Aston Villa form to international stage
SofaScore rated McGinn’s performance against Gibraltar higher than both the Scottish Daily Mail and Daily Record, giving the 29-year-old a 7.3 score which was significantly aided by his assist for Adams.
While all five of his attempted long balls found their targets, albeit could only do so with one of his crosses, completing a pass accuracy of 93 per cent overall.
McGinn also lost possession on 11 occasions against lowly Gibraltar, winning just one of seven ground duels (14 per cent) and being unsuccessful in both of his attempted dribbles.
Those numbers are a stark comparison to McGinn’s impervious record for Villa this season, where he completed 34 per cent of his crosses and laid on 1.3 key passes per 90.
The midfielder’s combative nature has also been firmly on show at Villa Park, where he wins 51 per cent of his ground duels at a rate of 5.2 per game, and 67 per cent of his dribbles, equating to one per match.
Defensively anonymous against Gibraltar playing as an attacking midfielder, McGinn’s 1.7 tackles and 4.6 ball recoveries per 90 for Villa suggest that in a group containing Hungary, Switzerland and hosts Germany first up, Scotland could use him as an all-round midfielder to act as the beating heart of their Euros campaign.
Villa will want him at his very best ahead of a huge season in B6.
In other Aston Villa news, Unai Emery is set to make a call over Jhon Duran’s future at Villa Park after new updates emerged at Chelsea.
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