While not setting the division alight, newly promoted Aston Villa have looked generally
solid, achieving results against other lower half of the table sides like Everton and Norwich.
Crucial to this has been the form of John McGinn, surely Villa’s outstanding player
so far this term; it’s no surprise to see the Scottish midfielder linked with moves
away from the club, but what exactly does McGinn do for Dean Smith’s side?
Aston Villa have used either a 4-3-3 or a 4-1-4-1 this season and McGinn has played
on the right hand side of the midfield three, which is the basic central set-up regardless
of how high the wingers sit – generally, Marvellous Nakamba screens behind either an
attacking two of McGinn and Jack Grealish, or a slightly more solid paring of McGinn
or Grealish and Douglas Luiz; Grealish has also played wide left, the position that first
brought him to prominence before his reinvention as an attacking central midfielder.
Nakamba does the hard work and, indeed, he can look like Villa’s only defensively-minded
midfielder at times, responsible for trying to break up attacks and protect the back four.
Villa’s full backs, Matt Targett and Frederic Guilbert, like to push high and wide, and
this allows the attacking wide players to tuck inside, while striker Wesley stays central
to attack the opposition centre-backs and look for scoring opportunities, while also
creating space for onrushing midfielders and wide attackers roaming infield.
Villa like to get the ball forwards quickly and into the wide spaces, where they look
to carry it and try to win fouls. Villa are 14th for touches in the box, 13th for 1 vs
1s and dribbling, and second for fouls won (only Manchester United have been fouled more,
and not by much).
Villa are not a hugely direct side, though – certainly not a Burnley or Newcastle United
– they just don’t play many passes. They play the third fewest passes per 90, although
they have the seventh least percentage of possession in the league, but they only rank
seventh for percentage of passes played long.
But Villa are good at maximising the potential of this approach, generating the sixth most
shots and the second highest proportion of shots on target in the Premier League.
And how does John McGinn fit into this style? Well, he sort of embodies it. McGinn’s statistics
make for unusual reading.
Among those who have played central midfield in the Premier League this season, McGinn
is equal fourth for dribbles per 90 with 5.68 – he’s tied with Watford’s Roberto Pereyra,
and he, and second place Steven Alzate, have both played in wide roles this season too
where dribbling is more likely to occur.
But of the 96 central midfielders who have played enough minutes to register a passes
per 90 metric with Wyscout, McGinn is 92nd for that stat – he plays 24.96 passes per
90 – the top three for passes per 90, Jorginho, Kovacic, and Winks average 71.9 between them,
nearly three times as many passes per 90 as McGinn. While part of this is stylistic to
Villa as a whole, it’s unusual for a central, attack minded midfielder to be so little involved
in build-up with volume passing.
Where McGinn does stand out in terms of passing is the type – he’s 11th in the Premier
League for central midfielders by proportion of long passes:
If those same players are ranked by proportion of long passes, but you show other metrics,
you can see that McGinn is something of a unicorn. His xG is significantly higher, his
shots and dribbles massively so except by comparison with Milner for shots, and only
Henderson gets near him for touches in the box. In short, he passes like a deep-lying
creator or a defensive midfielder in a direct, low pass volume team, but in every other regard,
he’s an attacking midfielder (who doesn’t pass the ball).
McGinn tends to receive the ball from the central defenders or ‘keeper, and then he
either looks to sweep the ball out wide, hence the long passing numbers, or turn and carry
it forwards. His usual midfield partner, Jack Grealish, is a little more inclined to try
a progressive pass, but he too will carry it, and his dribbling numbers are only a little
short of McGinn’s.
Where McGinn does pass short, it’s often lateral, either to an advancing full back
or to another midfielder stepping up into the line. And then he sets off, looking to
get towards the box to assist in the attack. He’s able to time his runs well, as with
his goal against Arsenal, especially attacking the channel between the opposition centre
back and full back in the right half space.
He can also play useful passes through from this sort of area to send players in on goal,
or run wide while the inside forwards tuck in and provide crosses. This is how he’s
racked up three goals and two assists, joint top with Grealish, Wesley, and El Ghazi for
goal involvement at Villa.
McGinn is certainly an unusual player, especially for the central midfield role. His attributes
work well for how Villa look to play, while his lack of passing reflects his team’s
overall style. He’s extremely effective for Dean Smith’s team – whether that can
manifest for a side who can’t cater to his skill set or want more of a passer remains
to be seen. For now, though, John McGinn is Aston Villa’s key man and the player who
most embodies what they are trying to achieve.