Unai Emery responds to Gary Neville's X-rated Arsenal rant as Austin MacPhee mentioned
Unai Emery has revealed how thoroughly Aston Villa prepare for set-pieces, with a team meeting and at least one session on the grass dedicated to them before a match.
Since the start of last season, Villa boast an excellent record from set-plays, with attacking moves designed by specialist coach Austin MacPhee. Signed in August 2021, the Scot works meticulously at Bodymoor Heath alongside his analyst Jose Rodriguez Calvo to improve Villa's success from set-pieces.
When Emery joined Villa, MacPhee was one of the only members of existing Villa's existing staff to be kept on and his influence has played an important role in the club's progress in the last two years.
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"It is very important," Emery said about set-pieces. "In my career, always a big part of my success came from set-pieces, offensively and defensively And of course now we have a very good set-piece coach in Austin [MacPhee]. More or less every team uses set-piece coaches now. Twenty years ago there weren't any special set-piece coaches but I always liked to work a lot on set-pieces. And I know one of the reasons I was successful in the past was down to set-pieces.
"In a lot of matches the difference between winning and losing can be down to set-pieces. Arsenal are fantastic at them - they are doing a fantastic job. I work a lot on set-pieces. When I arrived here it was the first time I'd ever worked with one. I had a coach of set-pieces for the first time, which was Austin. I shared my experience with him and we held lots of meetings about how we should prepare the set-pieces for the players.
"We work on the training pitch for a minimum of one day, sometimes two days, before a match on offensive and defensive set pieces. Before each match one meeting is set aside solely for set-pieces. I think it is very, very important."
Villa's opponents this evening Arsenal have scored more goals from set-pieces than any other side in the division, but earlier this week, former Manchester United right-back Gary Neville spoke his mind about their set-piece coach Nicolas Jover, who he has clearly grown a dislike for because of his presence in the dugout during matches.
"I called him the most annoying man in football... I'm cementing my position," Neville said on The Overlap. "I'm doubling down. It's offending me every week. I'm going to say this really calmly, I think he's overreaching his importance. If a goalkeeper makes a save, I don't see the goalkeeping coach on the edge of the touchline. If there's a good combination of passing in midfield, I don't see the coach that's next to Arteta going and getting the glory for it.
"The manager's at the front, he can't communicate from 100 yards away, or 50-60 yards away on the touchline to players that know exactly what they're doing because they're so methodical on it. He stands there... I think he's overreaching his importance, I genuinely believe that."
Fellow podcast host and former Arsenal star Ian Wright chimed in: “He is important.” To which Neville responded, "That's how I feel. I get he's important, he's doing a great job, but I do genuinely think he needs to sit back a little bit. I think the players will start to look at him and think, 'come on'."
Jamie Carragher then added his thoughts: "I think Neville’s made a great point, to be honest. I can't disagree with it, I thought it was a bit harsh. The Aston Villa one does the same."
Neville then pointed out that he's covering Villa's trip to Arsenal on Saturday evening - joking that Arteta and Emery might as well "sit the **** down".
Asked about the pundits' views and whether he thinks set-piece coaches celebrating goals is a problem, Emery said: "No, of course not. I’m celebrating it as well! We have very good assistant coaches at the same level as Austin. We are a team. We are always trying to share our emotions together.
"When we change a player he has to remember their tasks. The responsibility is mine. I’m supporting the coaches and one of them is Austin. I told him it was the first time I worked with a set-piece coach. Before I was always doing it. I have a lot of good moments at set-pieces. I’ve been analysing it deeply for 20 years. Now, he is helping me - and helping me a lot."
