Dean Smith: John McGinn's a marvel for Aston Villa
Dean Smith has hailed John McGinn as Villa’s ‘Bryan Robson’ after anointing the midfielder Villa’s player of the season so far.
The all-action Scot’s performances have been a huge positive in what has been an inconsistent campaign for the club to this point.
McGinn, who turned 27 this week, is a hugely popular figure at Bodymoor Heath and celebrated his birthday this week by taking what Smith described as ‘the greatest array of cakes I’ve ever seen’ to Bodymoor Heath.
But his on-field displays are earning even greater plaudits with the boss admitting McGinn’s ability to do it all makes him a ‘throwback’ to a bygone era.
He said: “John’s a proper box-to-box midfielder who has got all the capabilities of doing anything on the ball, in terms of switching the play, playing short stuff. He’s got a good awareness of what’s about him. He’s a throwback to a player like Bryan Robson – although maybe not as good in the air as Bryan Robson!
“He’s getting back to scoring goals too, which I like, because it’s a big part of his game that he brought for us. Technically he’s a very good player. Hitting long passes, hitting short passes, having an awareness of what’s around him.
“He uses his body well, that was what players from a different era used to do and he’s very good at that, which probably gets overlooked. But not at Aston Villa.
“He’s been our best player this season in my opinion. I think he’s coming to the fore again.”
Smith, meanwhile, is prepared to exercise caution over Leon Bailey and Bertrand Traore after both wingers returned to training this week. Both are available for tonight’s match at Arsenal but are likely to be on the bench.
