John McGinn has stated on Instagram that it has been a ‘tough couple of months’ as he returned to form for Aston Villa on Sunday during their 2-1 win at Brighton.
For the second game running, Unai Emery started the Villa captain and that weekend display was McGinn’s best of the season – it was his bursting run that saw Lewis Dunk foul the Scotsman in the penalty area, which was converted by Danny Ings for the equalising goal.
Ever since the now-sacked Steven Gerrard handed McGinn the captain’s armband in the summer, his form has fallen off a cliff.
He had his struggles last season, but when the call was made for him to replace Tyrone Mings as the leader of the pack, then his performances took a turn for the worst.
Rather than dropping him to the bench on occasions, Gerrard continued to play the 28-year-old, only to his own detriment.
Nonetheless, this was the message McGinn posted to Villa fans, as ex-goalkeeper Orjan Nyland told him in the comments section of his IG post: ‘Well done mate. Keep it up’.
MCGINN TO STAY ON AS CAPTAIN?
Emi Martinez is the vice-captain and there are some who felt that the Copa America winner should have been handed the key role back in the summer.
Given that Emery worked with the goalkeeper at Arsenal, perhaps he will hand him the armband for the long-term future.
A call does have to be made because it seems as though it would help McGinn’s form if he isn’t the skipper anymore and that pressure is off his shoulders.
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