Aston Villa’s John McGinn turned in a great display in his side’s recent 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers.
John McGinn put in a spirited, dominant midfield display for Aston Villa in their recent win over Bolton Wanderers. Such was the standard of McGinn’s performance, the Aston Villa official Twitter account felt the need to share McGinn’s heat map with us all.
While we are still waiting to confirm the accuracy of this tweet, we can tell you that the young Scottish international completed 82% of his 24 passes from the middle of the park that day. More impressively, McGinn entered into five duels with the opposition and won all five for his Villa side.
Dean Smith has started McGinn in central midfield in Villa’s last three games. The new Villa boss appears to appreciate the terrier-like aggressiveness displayed by McGinn in the middle.
His tenacity is not something that should be taken for granted in the modern game. It’s a trait that appears to be getting harder to come by as the years go on. If McGinn can learn to control that aggression and dogged-like desire to win the ball at all costs then he could become a fantastic midfield dynamo for Smith’s Villa side. He has picked up five yellow cards in 14 league appearances this season so far.
Villa’s win against Bolton was Dean Smith’s second victory in his opening four games at the club. The former Brentford boss will be hoping his team can kick on from here and make a push for the playoffs again this season.
At the moment, Villa are in 14th, level on points with Smith’s previous club and Stoke City.
There’s no doubt that players like McGinn have the hunger to bring Villa up to the Premier League. The question is if there is enough raw talent and technical ability there for McGinn to feel like he belongs in the top flight. He would certainly love the opportunity to show us, though.
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