Before Unai Emery arrived at Aston Villa, he had done his background checks on their set-piece coach Austin MacPhee.
In the week between agreeing to leave Villarreal for another crack at the Premier League and taking training for the first time, former Arsenal manager Emery assessed MacPhee’s work with Villa and Scotland, and his spells at Danish side Midtjylland and Northern Ireland too.
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It was not a standalone research project. The Spaniard wanted to know about every player he was inheriting from Steven Gerrard, as well as other staff members. Then, when Emery began work officially on November 1, he effectively put them all on trial — a clean slate for everyone.
After receiving positive feedback and seeing how thorough MacPhee was in his approach, it wasn’t long before the 43-year-old was handed greater responsibility.
His role under Gerrard had become slightly diminished. Set-piece training was not aligned in the way it is now.
Emery, however, recognises the importance of every facet of the game and while additional time is now set aside to work on new attacking routines and sharpen up in defence, the key change is the head coach’s authoritative voice. Rather than leaving MacPhee to talk through the plans, Emery gets heavily involved to reaffirm the expert’s message.
There’s greater buy-in from the players, too. Douglas Luiz and John McGinn spend extra time working on their deliveries while others do walk-through routines in preparation for using those moves in games.
Each player knows his role, from acting as a blocker to making a fake run, or being the main target when on the attack.
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MacPhee is also granted the freedom to instruct from the technical area on a matchday when Villa attack or defend set pieces. All of Emery’s other assistants remain on the bench as observers, leaving the head coach to set the tone.
His message to the players is that if they put in the work with MacPhee between games, they will be better equipped and stand a greater chance of scoring more often when matchday comes.
That the winning goal against Fulham on Tuesday came from a first-half corner highlighted as much.
It was a move straight off the training ground. McGinn’s job was to send a delivery to the near post for Tyrone Mings, Villa’s tallest and most aerial dominant player, to attack.
Perfect delivery. Perfect header. 😍@JMcGinn7 🤝 @TyroneMings
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) April 25, 2023
McGinn said: “To be fair to Austin, we have been working on the front area, trying to get the ball to Tyrone. I kicked the first two corners too long but managed to get that one right, so we’re happy.”
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Mings, laughing, said: “The manager has been telling me that if I don’t score then he’s going to drop me!”
Emery added, “I am pushing him, telling him, ‘You are a tall player and we have to use you. You have to believe in yourself. You have to do it!’.”
Villa also have plenty more ideas to turn to if plan A isn’t working. The set-piece taker uses hand signals to remind players of the plan and initiate whether to go long or short. Villa have become more creative at attacking corners and set pieces, as explained further in this article.
“We do a lot of set-piece work on a Thursday and Friday,” midfielder Jacob Ramsey says. “We’re showing that we’re good at them. The boss has got loads of experience. Him and Austin are working hard together, showing they both have different ideas.”
Villa are also shooting up the rankings. Of their 46 league goals this season, more than a quarter (26 per cent) have been from set pieces. They have scored in all 22 games under Emery and have set a record — currently at 20 — for scoring in consecutive Premier League games under a new manager.
It’s the defensive side of the game that is perhaps the most impressive, though.
Villa have won the last five home games in a row — all without allowing a goal. During their 10-game unbeaten run (eight wins, two draws), they’ve only conceded twice from open play.
In the fifth of those 10 matches, Villa went to Chelsea and defended like warriors during an onslaught at their goal. Rarely did they look like conceding, even when facing 13 corners at Stamford Bridge. It was the same against Newcastle in the 3-0 win 11 days ago. Villa prevented the side who win the Premier League’s most corners and have the highest expected goals at set pieces from scoring.
Efforts have also been made to reduce the number of corners conceded, with Emery recognising the importance of volume when analysing the numbers.
Statistics still show that 39 per cent of the goals scored against Villa are from set pieces (including penalties) but in recent months there’s been a huge improvement, largely in terms of organisation.
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Emiliano Martinez plays a big part in this, because he’s so dominant in his penalty area. No goalkeeper in the Premier League has recorded more catches (46) and that’s particularly useful because overall Villa have the shortest team in the division. In the closing stages of last night’s win, Martinez came out to collect a cross in commanding style to relieve the pressure.
Minutes later, the back line were high fiving each other to celebrate an offside that further ran down the clock. It isn’t just set pieces where Villa are now so strong, it’s across the board and they’re worthy of their fifth position in the table, even if the teams above and below them have games in hand.
Emery’s ability to squeeze “an extra five or 10 per cent” out of people around him at the club is the key to this charge to within touching distance of qualifying for Europe.
MacPhee was not so much underperforming under Gerrard, but was perhaps undervalued. Now he’s a vital part of the grand plan and nights like this one show his worth.
(Top photo: Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images)
