Belgium handed Scotland a 4-0 drubbing last night and Aston Villa battler John McGinn only managed to get on the pitch with minutes to go.
He replaced Ryan Christie on the 86th minute mark when the game was already at 4-0. The Scotsman had no time to make any difference to the outcome of the match.
A terrible night for Scotland. (ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP/Getty Images)
McGinn really should have featured from the start though.
Scotland needed Aston Villa lynchpin McGinn to break up play
Kevin De Bruyne had a field day against the Scotland midfield. Nobody got near him all night, with his fine range of passing and shooting a joy to watch for the neutral.
McGinn wouldn’t have fully limited his powers, but he would have made an impact. When he’s on the park, the opposition doesn’t get room to breathe or move around.
McGinn has brilliant talent. (Photo by Erwin Spek/Soccrates/Getty Images)
Aston Villa’s energetic midfielder would have applied far more pressure to the Manchester City star than the likes of Ryan Christie were able to put on him.
Scotland needed someone to break up play in the middle. That man is normally McGinn, but he was absent till late on. It’s half the reason why the likes of De Bruyne were able to showcase their world class talent.
Not only that, but he’s riding high on confidence just now. He has started the season very well for Aston Villa and recently netted his first international goal. To drop such a good player in fine form was a bad move by Steve Clarke.
In brilliant form domestically. (Photo by Neville Williams/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images)
In the Premier League this season, He has averaged a match rating of 7.55, boasts a 76.5% pass completion rate and is fouled four times per game (WhoScored).
Would Scotland still have suffered defeat with McGinn on the park for the whole 90 minutes? Of course, but perhaps it wouldn’t have been so easy for the Belgians with the Villains battler in Scotland’s engine room.