PAISLEY PATTERN
McGinn in turmoil after Germany rout – and it’s a feeling he’s hated since his Saints days
WHETHER it has been with St Mirren, Aston Villa or Scotland, it doesn’t matter.
John McGinn doesn’t take kindly to losing football matches.
He is a jovial character in the dressing room. The life and soul of a squad.
His Bavarian dance as the Scottish team were welcomed to their Euro 2024 base camp in Garmisch- Partenkirchen is already one of the tournament’s iconic moments.
But out on the pitch? McGinn is a serious competitor.
That’s why he has achieved what he has in the game and is a top Premier League performer.
It’s also why he’s still hurting so much after what happened in Munich on Friday night.
For McGinn, it wasn’t just about losing to Germany on the opening night of the Euros. It was the manner of the defeat.
That feeling of letting himself – and an entire nation – down when it mattered most.
Even now he struggles to find the words to explain just how that 5-1 mauling in the Allianz Arena transpired.
He knows one thing. Just how sore a loss that is to take. Because he’s felt the same pain every time he suffered a result like that, even from his early days in Paisley.
As the midfielder, so often Steve Clarke’s talisman, tried to unravel their disastrous Euros start, he said: “It’s tough to speak about it but we have no choice.
“The objective on Friday night was to try to get at least a point.
“So it hurts. It still hurts now. It hurts the way it did when I lost a game like that at St Mirren. “Your pride is dented.
“We had a couple of setbacks at Villa last season as well. At Newcastle on the opening day and at Liverpool away.
“It happens in football . Sometimes you need to hold your hands up and you’ve been beaten by a better team.
“But amongst all that, there are things we have to improve on. The goals we conceded on Friday night weren’t great at all.
“Wednesday against the Swiss is another opportunity. We’ll analyse the Germany game but the next one will be different.
“The Swiss are a top team as well but we need to raise our game now massively.
“The balance of making sure we know what we did wrong on Friday and improving for another tough game on Wednesday is what we need to find now. “We’re all fully aware of that.” Inside the Allianz on Friday, it felt like Scotland suffered a serious bout of stage fright.
Their lack of pressing against the Germans was a sign that they froze. Clarke’s players looked like they had lead in their boots.
McGinn disagrees. He says Scotland were relaxed going into the biggest game of their lives.
But he concedes that the time and space they gifted Julian Nagelsmann’s side was an act of folly. He said: “I don’t think the occasion got to us. I felt we were calm going into the game.
“I can’t speak for the other boys but we prepared well, it had nothing to do with that.
“It’s about when you cross that white line. You have to make sure your opponents are in a game and we didn’t do that.
“Personally and collectively we have to look at that.
“We have enough experience of big games to know that’s not the way to play against Germany.
“We handled the occasion fine
The Swiss are a top team... we as players need to raise our game massively
JOHN McGINN ON WEDNESDAY’S CLASH
but conceding an early goal is what you try to avoid.
“Did we have our competitive edge back after the friendly games?
“Probably not enough. There needs to be more.
“We gave everything we could but did we allow them to be too comfortable in the game? Probably.
“So we need to up it on Wednesday, our levels have to go up.
“We need to analyse, criticise and look at what needs to improve. But we can talk all we like. It’s about getting back to what we know we can do on the pitch.
“If you allow yourself to dwell on this for too long, it can affect the other two games in the group.”
On any other night, McGinn might have enjoyed watching a Toni Kroos midfield masterclass for the Germans.
But not when he was up against him.
The veteran Real Madrid
playmaker – who will retire at the end of the tournament – ran the show for Nagelsmann’s men.
McGinn knows how good he is – and now hopes he puts in similar performances against Group A rivals Switzerland and Hungary.
McGinn said: “He’s a worldclass player and he was very good on Friday.
“That’s something we’ ll obviously look at but we can’t change it now. We stuck to our game plan but Ryan Porteous’ red card meant that was flung out the window.
“They have a team full of top players, not just Kroos.
“We got to see them up close and personal on Friday, they’re very good.
“They’re obviously a massive threat in the group.
“Hopefully they can play like they did against Hungary and Switzerland as well.”