John McGinn - signed (Captain)

[astonvilla82]

He looks like he wasn't wearing lead boots yesterday

[kippaxvilla2]

https://mobile.twitter.com/jmcginn7/status/1592281198235209729

[Risso]

Better from him on Sunday, more energy and his getting stuck in was effective. Still gives the ball away far too often though, and if he doesn't cut that out it'll limit him under Emery long term. If you don't lose it, you don't have to win it back.

[Drummond]

He thrives in a good set up, it's. It always him losing the ball, and often when he does its because he's surrounded by opposition players. He tries the Hollywood pass too often though and that's when it can go wrong.

He isn't the sort of player to win a match on his own, but can be a key piece in a system.

[paul_e]

He thrives in a good set up, it's. It always him losing the ball, and often when he does its because he's surrounded by opposition players. He tries the Hollywood pass too often though and that's when it can go wrong.

He isn't the sort of player to win a match on his own, but can be a key piece in a system.

The bold bit is a problem for me, in 2 ways.

Firstly he gets crowded out because of things he does. The use of his arse is fantastic at times but often it means he's not in a position to play a quick pass, which means players have time to get 'at' him. If we can work on that in training and get him making better choices on when to engage the arse it will give him a lot more time to look up.
Aside from that the number of times he gives the ball away when he misplaces a 10 yard pass needs to be addressed but this can be worked on in training and I'd hope will be something we see change fairly quickly.

I agree completely on the hollywood passes thing though, he just needs to be told to stop trying those, it isn't a strangth of his and I doubt it ever will be. It feels like this is something Gerrard pushed onto him because it's only become a big problem in the last year so I hope Emery and the coaches can take it back out of his game.

[Brend'Watkins]

He thrives in a good set up, it's. It always him losing the ball, and often when he does its because he's surrounded by opposition players. He tries the Hollywood pass too often though and that's when it can go wrong.

He isn't the sort of player to win a match on his own, but can be a key piece in a system.

The bold bit is a problem for me, in 2 ways.

Firstly he gets crowded out because of things he does. The use of his arse is fantastic at times but often it means he's not in a position to play a quick pass, which means players have time to get 'at' him. If we can work on that in training and get him making better choices on when to engage the arse it will give him a lot more time to look up.
Aside from that the number of times he gives the ball away when he misplaces a 10 yard pass needs to be addressed but this can be worked on in training and I'd hope will be something we see change fairly quickly.

I agree completely on the hollywood passes thing though, he just needs to be told to stop trying those, it isn't a strangth of his and I doubt it ever will be. It feels like this is something Gerrard pushed onto him because it's only become a big problem in the last year so I hope Emery and the coaches can take it back out of his game.

If they can't they'll be taking him out of the game. That might make him think more about trying the Hollywood pass all the time. His tenacity is welcome, his reckless tackling and giving the ball away isn't. 

[Risso]

He thrives in a good set up, it's. It always him losing the ball, and often when he does its because he's surrounded by opposition players. He tries the Hollywood pass too often though and that's when it can go wrong.

He isn't the sort of player to win a match on his own, but can be a key piece in a system.

The bold bit is a problem for me, in 2 ways.

Firstly he gets crowded out because of things he does. The use of his arse is fantastic at times but often it means he's not in a position to play a quick pass, which means players have time to get 'at' him. If we can work on that in training and get him making better choices on when to engage the arse it will give him a lot more time to look up.
Aside from that the number of times he gives the ball away when he misplaces a 10 yard pass needs to be addressed but this can be worked on in training and I'd hope will be something we see change fairly quickly.

I agree completely on the hollywood passes thing though, he just needs to be told to stop trying those, it isn't a strangth of his and I doubt it ever will be. It feels like this is something Gerrard pushed onto him because it's only become a big problem in the last year so I hope Emery and the coaches can take it back out of his game.

He used to do it under Smith as well, and was probably more successful as he had more time on the ball when Grealish was playing, as teams tended to double up on him. Buendia's miles better at it, so McGinn needs to not try it so often. Buendia tends to play 25 yard balls to feet to people in space, whereas McGinn usually tries curling, lofted passes which are far easier for defenders to cut out.

[astonvilla82]

Plus the fact he was charging into the penalty area to get us the penalty, which I haven't seen for a long time,at least with him he wouldn't be happy with his own form

[Hookeysmith]

He thrives in a good set up, it's. It always him losing the ball, and often when he does its because he's surrounded by opposition players. He tries the Hollywood pass too often though and that's when it can go wrong.

He isn't the sort of player to win a match on his own, but can be a key piece in a system.

The bold bit is a problem for me, in 2 ways.

Firstly he gets crowded out because of things he does. The use of his arse is fantastic at times but often it means he's not in a position to play a quick pass, which means players have time to get 'at' him. If we can work on that in training and get him making better choices on when to engage the arse it will give him a lot more time to look up.
Aside from that the number of times he gives the ball away when he misplaces a 10 yard pass needs to be addressed but this can be worked on in training and I'd hope will be something we see change fairly quickly.

I agree completely on the hollywood passes thing though, he just needs to be told to stop trying those, it isn't a strangth of his and I doubt it ever will be. It feels like this is something Gerrard pushed onto him because it's only become a big problem in the last year so I hope Emery and the coaches can take it back out of his game.

My biggest issue is that he seemingly always receives the ball facing the wrong way and that time to control it and rotate means that a player or 2 are on him - then the big arse technique comes into play but refs nowadays are allowing play on when he looks for a foul. Once they regain possession the rest of our team is caught going forward and there is space behind us.

[Drummond]

Great run and strike for Scotland tonight. I hope he's getting his mojo back.

[eamonn]

He always scores for Scotland, they seem to facilitate him better. But as is often pointed out, international games are generally of a lower standard than the Prem.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

He always scores for Scotland, they seem to facilitate him better. But as is often pointed out, international games are generally of a lower standard than the Prem.

He has now scored the same number of goals for Scotland as he has for us, in precisley 1/3 the number of games.

Villa. Played 156 Goals 15.
Scotland  Played 52 Goals 15.

[eamonn]

A symmetrical (spherical) meatball.

[Lizz]

He’s posted a photo of himself and the future Mrs McGinn on Instagram.

[pauliewalnuts]

He posted a photo in Instagram the other day in training, he's look a lot leaner. Which makes you wonder about the fitness regime under Gerrard.