Aston Villa have John McGinn worry as national media score ‘out of form’ ace 6/10 for Scotland
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has cause for concern with John McGinn after an “out of form” performance for Scotland against Poland.
The Villa captain started the 3-2 loss in the UEFA Nations League on Thursday [5 September] and failed to make an impact as his side fell to a 97th-minute stoppage-time winner courtesy of Nicola Zalewski.
Emery has enjoyed a productive start to the 2024/25 Premier League campaign with two wins from the opening three matches. Still, the Spaniard may face a tough choice regarding McGinn with a poor international outing.
Reacting to his performance, The Scotsman [5 September] handed him a modest 6/10 rating, writing: “Another fairly quiet game for the Aston Villa star. So often Scotland’s talisman, he only showed flashes of his quality tonight and seems to be a little out of form for the national side, by his high standards.”
Scottish outlet The Herald [5 September] awarded McGinn a more generous 7/10 rating, writing: “Did most of what we expect our talisman to do. An injury scare five minutes before half time. Evaded his marker plenty of times with a trademark drop of the shoulder and swivel of the hips.”
The Edinburgh Evening News [5 September] agreed with the 7/10 rating, writing: “Cap number 70 for the Hibs hero following a below-par string of performances at the Euros. Excellent pass through to set Christie in on goal. Went down with a knock to his knee but was able to continue. Tenacious in the tackle and won his team mates a couple of free-kicks.”
Aston Villa captain John McGinn earns mixed reviews for Scotland
The 29-year-old has been a regular fixture of this Aston Villa side and was instrumental last season for Emery on the way to achieving Champions League qualification for the first time since the 1982/83 campaign.
McGinn has been unable to replicate his performances at club level for the national team, he started all three of his country’s Euro 2024 matches as Scotland finished bottom of Group A with one point.
It was a disappointing European Championship campaign for Steve Clarke in a group where Scotland was expected to be competitive and, it seems that no lessons have been learned from either the manager or the players, against Poland.
McGinn lost possession seven times, committed two fouls, was dribbled past twice, won 25 per cent of his aerial duels on the night, and was unsuccessful with his one cross attempt [Sofascore].
However, he was successful with 85 per cent of his long balls, completed 90 per cent of his 29 passes attempted, with one key pass, and was more successful in his ground duels winning 57 per cent of those contested.
With one attempted dribble, albeit completed, he hardly constituted a 7/10 rating playing on the flanks and offered little attacking threat compared to his compatriot Ryan Christie on the opposite side.
Emery has also been using McGinn out wide for Villa, and despite losing Moussa Diaby to Al-Ittihad over the summer there are plenty of options at his disposal such as Jacob Ramsey, Morgan Rogers, and Leon Bailey.
Unless McGinn starts offering an attacking threat from the flanks his starting position in the Villa starting lineup will be under threat and he needs to catch the eye of his manager in the upcoming Scotland fixture against Portugal on Sunday [8 September] or he could be looking at an extended spell on the bench when the Premier League resumes.
In other Aston Villa news, Villains figure Chris Heck was lambasted over a disgusting Champions League announcement.
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