Aston Villa had their club captain John McGinn in action on Tuesday night as he captained Scotland in their 0-0 draw against Ukraine.
This result ultimately secured promotion for Steve Clarke’s side to the top tier of the UEFA Nations League and a Euro 2024 play-off place if they don’t reach the finals automatically through the qualifying groups.
Despite the overall positive outcome for the Scots, McGinn’s performance in Krakow could be of some concern to Villa manager Steven Gerrard.
McGinn’s performance in numbers
Having played the full 90 minutes in a more advanced role than his regular central midfield position, the Villa star had 43 touches of the ball in total, the same as goalkeeper Craig Gordon.
The 27-year-old also misplaced eight of the 25 passes that he attempted and failed to complete any of his six crosses, ultimately losing possession 20 times in total (second-most of any Scotland player).
Things weren’t much better for him off the ball either, as McGinn lost five of his eight duels, was dribbled past once and failed to make a single tackle or interception for his side.
In The Scottish Sun’s player ratings, they gave the Villa captain a match rating of 6/10 and highlighted his “two poor free-kick deliveries”, adding that there was “no inspirational moment” from him throughout the match.
Worry for Gerrard
While this underwhelming performance from McGinn could be down to him being played out of position, the £56k-per-week midfielder’s slackness on the ball could be a concern for Gerrard as Villa look to put their inconsistent run of early Premier League results behind them once the campaign resumes.
If the 27-year-old puts in a similar sort of performance at the weekend against Leeds United to what he did last night, this could be a big worry for his club boss and negatively affect his team’s chances of securing a victory at Elland Road.
