“Alot of people laughed when he came down from Scotland but People don’t understand”- Micah Richards shares what many don’t realise about John McGinn as he hails Villa captain for silencing doubters
Micah Richards has shared what so many do not realise about John McGinn after the midfielder scored the winning goal for Aston Villa in their win over Arsenal at the weekend.
Richards was speaking on The Rest Is Football after the Scotland international found the back of the net as Unai Emery’s side staked a further claim that they will be in the title race in the Premier League this season.
John McGinn is one of a number of players who appear to be transformed under Emery. Of course, there is absolutely no question that the 29-year-old has been an unbelievable signing for the Villans, having arrived ahead of their final year in the Championship.
But his form did dip at one stage. And McGinn was not initially a regular in the side when Emery came in just last year. Now however, he is one of the most in-form players in the Premier League.
Micah Richards has clearly been an admirer of McGinn for some time having been at Villa Park together for a little while. And he is still not entirely convinced that he is getting the full credit that he deserves.
“What did I tell you? A couple of years ago, I told you watch out for super Johnny McGinn. What a player! What a player he is,” he told The Rest Is Football.
“I was at Aston Villa and we had Grealish. And Grealish was the main man. He was the one who made things tick. He was the flair player. He was the golden boy. But McGinn did all the hard work but had a great left-foot. Super strong. But people don’t understand how strong he is. When he bursts through, and you try and get the ball off him, he gets his big a— in there. And he’s got a great stance where he just says get off me. Great acceleration, the right passing.
“And a lot of people laughed when he came down from Scotland. Or can he mix it in the Premier League? After the first training session, I was like, wow, he could shoot, he could tackle. He was good in possession. And it makes it even better when he’s a super nice guy. So when he’s showing this form – he had a little bit of a dip last season or the end of the season before where you’re thinking, ‘come on, we need more from you, you’re supposed to be one that’s going to lead this team’ – but then he’s got this form back. He’s just oozing with confidence and he’s just putting in performance after performance after performance. And I just knew he would come to this.”
McGinn has been so consistent. He has barely missed a game over the last four seasons in particular. And remarkably, this is already his best season in front of goal in the Premier League.
He has now scored four times in the top-flight, while he has also got a couple of goals in Europe. And with that, Villa are in contention to enjoy what could be an unbelievable season.
Certainly, few would have expected this when McGinn made the £2 million move from Hibs in 2018.
