Aston Villa's set-piece specialist coach Austin MacPhee has already made a "huge impact" at the club, according to journalist Ashley Preece.
How have Villa performed from set-pieces this season?
MacPhee was added to Dean Smith's coaching staff at the start of last month to focus specifically on making sure that Villa get the most out of dead-ball situations.
The appointment seems to be working wonders for the Midlands-based club as they have started to consistently trouble their opponents from set-pieces.
In their last home match, Leon Bailey's wicked delivery from a corner forced Everton defender Lucas Digne to flick the ball past his own goalkeeper. Then, in their latest league outing against Manchester United at Old Trafford, Kortney Hause got on the end of Douglas Luiz's cross to hand Villa a famous 1-0 victory.
What has Preece said about MacPhee?
Preece believes that MacPhee has already established himself as a key figure at the club in a short space of time.
When asked by GIVEMESPORT about the impression that the Scottish coach has made so far, Preece responded: “Huge impact. He’s been very animated on the touchline. I watch him closely in the warm-up as well. He’s taking players out of the warm-up, giving them pointers. He’s a fountain of information and he’s got his methods on board quite quickly, very quickly in fact, and Villa are a real threat from set-pieces. Man United didn’t conceded from a set-piece all season and then ‘bang’, coming late on. They’ve been fascinating to watch these set-pieces, they really have.”
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Could MacPhee's influence make a big difference to Villa's season?
It certainly could.
Fans may prefer to see goals scored via free-flowing attacking football involving intricate passing sequences, but there is no doubt that set-pieces are a crucial part of the game.
As we saw at Old Trafford, precisely executing pre-planned moves from corners can be the difference between walking away from a game with one point or all three.
It should also be noted that Villa lost their most creative player in the summer when Jack Grealish moved to Manchester City, so they now need to find alternative routes to putting the ball in the back of the net regularly.
Corners and free-kicks look to be a good option for them to put pressure on the opposition, and MacPhee clearly seems to know what he's doing from these situations. His tactics could be huge for the team as they look to kick on from last season's mid-table finish and push for a European spot this time around.