OPINION
Aston Villa fans need no reminding of the impact midfielder John McGinn has made since signing for the club in the summer.
Of course, they do. The mainstay – who has 37 appearances in all competitions for Villa this season – has been an absolute rock in the middle of the park, blowing the fans away week after week with his impressive performances.
However, his recent performance for Scotland in their 3-0 defeat to Kazakhstan in their opening European qualifiers match is particularly concerning. There was no sign of the player that had been excelling in the Championship week after week. Instead, he was replaced by a player who did not seem to know how to pass the ball or where it should go.
The 24-year-old was a complete shadow of the player that we usually see, and that must mean that alarm bells will be ringing for boss Dean Smith. The last thing he needs is for one of his star players to rapidly decline when they are firmly in the mix for a play-off place this term.
What caused McGinn to have a horror show on Thursday remains to be seen. As we all know, Kazakhstan are hardly the toughest opponents to face, but the likes of McGinn made them look a lot better than they actually are.
Villa fans will no doubt be sweating about McGinn’s form now, and they will surely be praying that he begins to improve over the course of the international break. If he does not, then Villa will be in trouble. Alongside Jack Grealish, McGinn is one of the club’s best players, and to have him in bad form would be costly.
Either way, alarm bells will be ringing for Smith at the moment, as the last thing he expected from McGinn was to be at the centre of such a horror show.