The international break has concluded for 2024 and now Aston Villa can get back to the serious stuff.
Unai Emery has a lot on his plate because the team isn’t performing to the standards that they have been previously used to.
Aston Villa have lost four games in a row and that’s the first time that has happened for Emery himself during his managerial career.
Emery will have mixed emotions regarding what he has witnessed over the international break because some performances will make him smile, others won’t and then there are the injury issues.
John McGinn scored two crucial goals for Scotland in the UEFA Nations League, Jhon Duran struggled again for Colombia, Lucas Digne is on fire and then certain players are now out of action.
Amadou Onana is certainly sidelined after getting injured on Belgium duty, with hope that Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres and Ian Maatsen will be available for the visit of Crystal Palace at the weekend.
Nonetheless, the performance that caught Darren Bent’s eye was that of McGinn after his heroics for his country and his importance to Aston Villa.
Darren Bent says John McGinn is ‘huge’ to Aston Villa’s success after Scotland goals
It seems an age ago now that McGinn was named captain by Steven Gerrard and the all-action midfielder proceeded to struggle.
His form, alongside many others, went out of the window, but because he was wearing the armband, then he was front and centre of it all.
But as soon as Emery walked through the door, not only did Villa’s fortunes change, but so did McGinn’s.
And, as Bent touched upon, he has been and continues to be extremely crucial to Aston Villa’s success, as he told talkSPORT.
“Huge, absolutely huge (to Aston Villa’s success),” said Bent. “He is their energy. He is their captain at Aston Villa. One thing about him is that he always gives 100%.
“Whether he is playing well or not, there are certain players out there that when they aren’t playing well, then they don’t offer anything else. He still has endeavour. Works hard. He is one of those players for Scotland as well, they have real quality in their squad and he is so important to what they do so well.
“So, fair play to him. He has come back. His form was a little patchy you would have to say for Aston Villa maybe under Steven Gerrard when he was made captain from Tyrone Mings, but since Unai Emery has come in, his performances have gone from strength to strength and for Scotland he has been fantastic. They need him and rely on him.”
McGinn’s goal tally for Aston Villa and Scotland
McGinn is closing in on Scotland’s all-time leading goalscorer after recently surpassing Ally McCoist.
The 30-year-old has 20 goals to his name for his country – ten behind Denis Law and Kenny Dalglish – and you can’t see him stopping anytime soon.
But, in Villa colours, he has netted 27 goals in 249 matches compared to 20 in 73 for the Scots, with Bent trying to work out why and how it’s ‘quite bizarre’.
“He’s better than that (goals tally for Villa),” added Bent. “I don’t know (why he doesn’t score more for his club). It’s quite bizarre. McTominay is another one.
“For John McGinn, the only thing I would say is that when you look at the quality he has at Aston Villa, then the goals are going to come from everywhere. From Ollie Watkins, Jhon Duran, Bailey and they have got Jacob Ramsey.
“Maybe he can’t get himself, not so much into the positions. But he has a lot of quality around him. At Scotland, he is one of their main men. They are looking to him now. Whereas for Villa, they might not look at him and go ‘we need a goal from you’ because there are others.”
