John McGinn struggles on international duty as Aston Villa ace loses possession 11 times v Spain
Aston Villa star John McGinn struggled to impact proceedings for Scotland in their 2-0 defeat to Spain during Euro 2024 qualifying, as Steve Clarke’s side were afforded little of the ball.
The 28-year-old started the crucial qualifying clash in Seville on Thursday (12 October) as Steve Clarke’s side missed their first opportunity to confirm their place in next summer’s tournament after a second-half strike from Alvaro Morata and an own-goal from Ryan Porteous.
McGinn featured on the right of a midfield four and was his usual busy best off of the ball, but was occasionally wasteful in possession often surrendering possession to the home side which caused several problems for Scotland.
Clarke’s side only had 26 per cent of the ball throughout the match and in his 33 touches, McGinn managed to lose possession 11 times, while also being dispossessed by an opposition player twice, but the Villa ace did complete both of his two attempted dribbles in the match [Sofascore].
The Aston Villa man had to battle repeatedly in the middle of the park against an impressive Spanish midfield of Gavi, Rodri and Mikel Merino and was strong when tackling, winning his only challenge and coming out on top of five of his seven attempted ground duels.
From the right flank, he managed to break up play once as well registering a single interception as Scotland were made to work incredibly hard out of possession as Spain kept the ball well throughout the contest.
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McGinn also managed to win two fouls and really should have had a third after he was blatantly wiped out on the edge of the Spanish penalty area, only for the referee to wave play on despite the huge amount of contact on the Villa midfielder.
But on the ball, the 28-year-old was almost anonymous, making only 13 accurate passes in the match, with 25 per cent of his efforts missing their intended target, a far cry from the 21 accurate passes he managed in his last outing for Unai Emery’s side when they faced Wolves in the Premier League.
Over distance, McGinn fared better, completing three of his five attempted long balls while he did manage one key pass late in the contest, but most of his work came inside of his own half rather than in the advanced positions he’s begun to occupy at Aston Villa.
There is little shame in struggling against a team with as many options as Spain possesses in the middle of the park, but compared to the excellent performances Villa Park have seen from McGinn this year, his display in Seville was anonymous and may have given Emery some food for thought.
In other Aston Villa news, Douglas Luiz could be on track to break his own goal record after his impressive start to the season
