John McGinn

[RamboandBruno]

I remember the collective anxiety around Villa Park when he got that horrible injury in December 2019 against Southampton. By then it was becoming clear that our first season back was going to be a struggle. Mcginn along with Grealish had both played well for those first few months and the McGinn injury felt like it could be the nail in the coffin, he was that important to us. The rest is history with the forced covid break one of many things saving that season.
I love McGinn, but i do think he hasn’t quite been the same player since, equally that could be as much about him being played much deeper. There have been flashes when he’d grabbed games by the scruff of the neck, doing those barnstorming runs, Man Utd away in the cup and Southampton at home spring to mind.
I think he’s absolutely a top 10 player, i also think we need to see how he does this season within a proper structured and balanced midfield before judging whether he can be part of a top 6 midfield. Either way he’s already been a great servant and player for the club in an important time in our recent history.

[Lastfootstamper]

A player played in the wrong position for me - he's a cracking attacking midfielder as his goal vs Spurs 1st season back can testify! Alternatively, if you want to hate him cos he's a Jock then fine, but as a Mick (as the BBC seemed fine with some Public School Rupert saying the other day) then I suspect there's a bit of an agenda with having a go at a player who only cost us £3M from Hibs!

I think the fact he cost next to nothing will be a problem for absolutely nobody, or will the fact he's Scottish!

That goal you referred to is a good point - that's what he can do, we've seen that. We just haven't seen him do it for quite a long time now.

And we've never seen him do it in the Premier League more than three times a season. He played as one of the most attacking of the midfield three for most of last season, and still couldn't score.

Not for want of trying, though.
I’m pretty sure on 3 or 4 occasions the various keepers pulled of a good/great save, and a few other times he was slightly off target.
So, just like Ollie, a bit more accuracy/luck and SJM could have hit double figures, or pretty close.

 I think he’s certainly a top half Premier League player. Top 4 or 5? Probably not, but he could certainly do a grand job for any team hovering around 6-10

He had sixteen efforts on target all season. That's a world class conversion rate if he's scoring double figures from that.

[WarszaVillan]

I think he is a great player and would be greatly missed if he went. Just look at the last goal of the month, two great assists by SJM: one from the left for Watkins, another from the right for Buendia. Like some others he could do with not playing every game and having a more solid midfield base behind him.

[Clark W Griswold]

I think he’s absolutely a top 10 player, i also think we need to see how he does this season within a proper structured and balanced midfield before judging whether he can be part of a top 6 midfield. Either way he’s already been a great servant and player for the club in an important time in our recent history.

I think that’s about where he is as well. In terms of position, he’s box to box, but considering how little support he’s been getting in there it’s been difficult for him to not get bogged down meaning that he’s not really free to play that role as well as he could.

[Rigadon]

They aren't "pointless games". Scotland have, literally, qualified for one tournament in the past 24 years and it was because of their Nations League performance.

I don't watch much international football, actually, I don't watch any football apart from Villa and if England qualify for a major tournament.  So I'm pretty ignorant on the subject and would rather our players have a rest unless it's one of the above!

[UK Redsox]

They aren't "pointless games". Scotland have, literally, qualified for one tournament in the past 24 years and it was because of their Nations League performance.

These games might well turn out to be pointless because I don't think that UEFA have confirmed that this edition of the Nations League will be included in the qualification process for the next Euros.

[john e]

I think he is a great player and would be greatly missed if he went. Just look at the last goal of the month, two great assists by SJM: one from the left for Watkins, another from the right for Buendia. Like some others he could do with not playing every game and having a more solid midfield base behind him.

Yeah but what about that misplaced pass he made in the 23rd minute when he was trying to move the ball forward  and set up an attacking situation and went to the opposition, The bastard he’s shit,

He needs to go and let’s bring in someone that only passes sideways and never gives it away, we don’t need progressive players who go forward and sometimes give the ball away, We need a bunch load of defensive midfielders passing the fucker backwards

[cdbearsfan]

They aren't "pointless games". Scotland have, literally, qualified for one tournament in the past 24 years and it was because of their Nations League performance.

These games might well turn out to be pointless because I don't think that UEFA have confirmed that this edition of the Nations League will be included in the qualification process for the next Euros.

At the minimum, they will be used to decide seeding for the European Championship Qualifiers. They will almost certainly be used to allocate playoff spots, too. All that has really to be decided is if the Nations League is the sole provider of playoff spots, like it was for Euro 2020, or if it provides two additional playoff spots, like it does for this World Cup.

In any case, you can still win a trophy, so I'd argue it isn't "pointless", regardless. I don't believe Villa winning the League Cup in 1961 was worthless because it wasn't it didn't provide European competition at that point. The Nations League is clearly not as big a deal as the Euros or World Cup, but it's still well worth winning, and it would be front page news in every newspaper if England won it.

[nigel]

A player played in the wrong position for me - he's a cracking attacking midfielder as his goal vs Spurs 1st season back can testify! Alternatively, if you want to hate him cos he's a Jock then fine, but as a Mick (as the BBC seemed fine with some Public School Rupert saying the other day) then I suspect there's a bit of an agenda with having a go at a player who only cost us £3M from Hibs!

I think the fact he cost next to nothing will be a problem for absolutely nobody, or will the fact he's Scottish!

That goal you referred to is a good point - that's what he can do, we've seen that. We just haven't seen him do it for quite a long time now.

And we've never seen him do it in the Premier League more than three times a season. He played as one of the most attacking of the midfield three for most of last season, and still couldn't score.

Not for want of trying, though.
I’m pretty sure on 3 or 4 occasions the various keepers pulled of a good/great save, and a few other times he was slightly off target.
So, just like Ollie, a bit more accuracy/luck and SJM could have hit double figures, or pretty close.

 I think he’s certainly a top half Premier League player. Top 4 or 5? Probably not, but he could certainly do a grand job for any team hovering around 6-10

He had sixteen efforts on target all season. That's a world class conversion rate if he's scoring double figures from that.

I also mentioned the ones that were slightly off target, too.
I don’t count the numbers,  but, the point I was making was that it’s not as if he wasn’t having a go, he was pretty unlucky on a fair few occasions

[Drummond]

I think McGinn is the sort of player who'd benefit from playing fewer games. I'm not saying he plays too many, but that he'd be better playing fewer.

I also think his style is precisely what a lot of managers want, though I'm not sure he'd be seen as a starter, but definitely a very well used substitute and Cup player.

And perhaps that's where we need to go with him too. Milner as an example is very similar, though more of an athlete, and that's an area that McGinn,by common consent, needs to work on.

[eamonn]

He's 27 now, how likely is he to change his meatball diet?

[Hookeysmith]

He's 27 now, how likely is he to change his meatball diet?

Or improve his ability.

He is high energy and i can see how he gets fans on side with his honest endeavour but its not enough and too many times his arse pivot then 40/50 yard Hollywood pass just gives up possession in the wrong places. He does it with such regularity that i feel he can be a liability at times.

[frank black]

I don’t have great trust in Stevie G, but I’d certainly trust him to judge our midfielders and get this right. So if he thinks he can get better and more, then replace McGinn.

[Exeter 77]

I know Scotland have played some really poor sides in the last three years but this is an interesting stat.
https://twitter.com/OptaJoe/status/1536758773976649729?t=lH2Hwegq4jBkp-xt0dvqxQ&s=19

[Ads]

I think its odd that there's been accusations, tongue in cheek or otherwise, thrown that people who don't rate McGinn don't know anything about football, but in the same breath dismiss his unique ability to give the ball away in such crucial areas as a nothing.

He does it so often and so repeatedly that it costs goals. Arsenal away stands out, but he did the same thing at Man City.

He needs to look after the ball better if we're going to improve as a side and dominate possession and territory further up the pitch.

His goal scoring record is poor too with 9 goals in 100 games. He was outscored by Cash and totally outshone by Ramsey, who is significantly better quality.

He's the weak link of a midfield of Kamara, Ramsey and McGinn. He needs to improve.