Aston Villa: Ashley Young shares what John McGinn personally told him about Villa Park mood
Ashley Young admitted his delight at John McGinn’s return before Aston Villa kicked off their game against Manchester United on Sunday.
The Villa skipper has been missing since January, after sustaining a knee injury that had him initially ruled out until April.
The Scottish international returned for Aston Villa‘s midweek Europa League win over Lille, and Unai Emery thrust him back into the starting eleven at Old Trafford.
Villa lost 3-1 to Michael Carrick’s side, as Young‘s claim on McGinn seems rather wide of the mark, following the latter’s 61-minute showing.
- Read more: Lucas Digne terrible, Ross Barkley passes test – Aston Villa player ratings vs Manchester United
What did Ashley Young say about conversation with John McGinn?
The confidence may be vanishing from the Villa Park faithful after recent results, as Emery now faces a huge task of turning form around going into the last eight Premier League games of the season.
Though the Villans are doing well in the Europa League, a top-four finish is needed to ease financial worries, as players like McGinn really need to step up.
- McGinn has played 23 times in the league this season
- He has five league goal involvements
McGinn has only made 31 appearances in all competitions this season, which currently stands as his second-lowest appearance tally from his eight-year B6 stay.
While speaking on Sky Sports before the game against Man United, Young opened up on the return of McGinn, sharing words that he’s had with the Villa captain.
Young said: “It’s massive to have McGinn back. He’s so influential – a leader, a captain – and he’s the same off the pitch as he is on it. To have him back, Unai is delighted. Missing [Youri] Tielemans and [Boubacar] Kamara as well, so having someone like McGinn back out there, he’s got a bit of everything.
“To be honest, I don’t know if he wants to play on the right – he wants to be more centrally. I spoke to him this morning [Sunday], and he said it’s been a lot more positive this week compared to the past few weeks. So to have him back for the run-in is massive for the team.”
However, when looking at his display in detail, there is clearly a need for the 31-year-old to get back to his best version, sooner rather than later.
- Read more: Aston Villa: Premier League release statement on controversial Ross Barkley goal vs Man United
How did McGinn play vs Man United?
Emery was looking to manage McGinn’s minutes against the Red Devils, taking him off the pitch after 61 minutes, with Leon Bailey coming on as his replacement.
Maybe it’ll take time for him to get back to full sharpness, but McGinn deserved to be hooked against United, regardless of his fitness.
As highlighted by his 6.4 Sofascore match rating, the versatile midfielder was not very effective at winning the ball back for the Villans, making zero defensive contributions.
From his 25 touches, 16 of them were passes, of which he had a 69 per cent success rate of completing, not very inspiring.
The Villa skipper committed two fouls and truly looked out of his depth against some of Carrick’s men, who are high on confidence right now, unlike the Villans.
For more Villa analysis stories, visit Football Insider for fresh updates on Unai Emery’s team.