Former Aston Villa set-piece coach Austin Macphee has made the switch from Birmingham to West London to pursue a new opportunity at Chelsea.
Transfer News Blitz writer Dylan Grady takes a look at what the 46-year-old Scot can bring to Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea team this season.
Macphee’s background
Macphee started his coaching journey back in the early 2010s with clubs lower down the Scottish pyramid such as Cupar Hearts and Cowdenbeath before moving to St Mirren due to the success he’d already had in his coaching career.
Macphee was part of Danny Lennon’s backroom staff at St Mirren, just as he was at Cowdenbeath.
He was integral to St Mirren’s success in the 2012/13 season by winning their first trophy in 27 years, the Scottish League Cup.
Macphee’s quick success allowed him to become Michael O’Neill’s assistant for Northern Ireland, which saw them qualify with the help of Macphee for the 2016 European Championships.
O’Neill gave Macphee massive credit after securing qualification against Greece with a 3-1 home win, claiming Macphee’s “obsessive attention to detail” is what gave Northern Ireland the extra edge in games throughout their qualifying campaign.
He also gained experience with Heart of Midlothian, becoming their assistant manager in 2016.
Macphee’s creativity and work ethic became evident in Scotland, with three goals being scored from set-pieces in their win over Inverness.
The new Chelsea man also spent a brief period at Danish club Midtjylland, helping them to qualify for the group stage phase in the 2020/21 Champions League.
However, coming up against tough opposition in Liverpool, Atalanta and Ajax.
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Villa success
In August 2021, Macphee moved to England to become Aston Villa’s set-piece coach under Dean Smith.
Smith lost his job in November and was replaced by Steven Gerrard.
While many of Smith’s backroom staff left and were replaced, Gerrard and Villa kept Macphee in his position due to the qualities he has shown over the last few years.
Another managerial shift at Villa saw Unai Emery take charge in November 2022, just a year after having appointed Steven Gerrard.
In the 2023/24 campaign, Villa scored the most set-piece goals across Europe in all competitions, with 25 set-pieces converted.
This figure saw huge recognition from managers and pundits, and Macphee’s excellence was finally being shown on the big stage.
Villa finished fourth in the Premier League that year, which saw them gain Champions League qualification for the upcoming season.
In the 2025/26 Premier League season, Villa finished fourth again, qualifying for the Champions League twice in three seasons.
During that campaign, Villa scored the joint-most number of set-piece goals in Europe, 29, with Arsenal.
European glory
One piece of work from Macphee and Villa which will be seen as a historic goal is their first goal in the Europa League final against Freiburg, which put the Villans 1-0 up.
Lucas Digne played a short corner from the left-hand side to Morgan Rogers, which was then calmly lofted over to Youri Tielemans, who converted it into the bottom corner.
While many may believe this was just a simple routine by Macphee, due to the movement of Rogers, Matty Cash and Emi Buendia coming short, it dragged four of Freiburg’s players away from the penalty area and Tielemans, which gave the Belgian space to dispatch the volley coolly.
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Chelsea endeavours
Xabi Alonso and Chelsea announced their new backroom team today, with many new faces set to be seen at Cobham.
While Chelsea can be seen to be changing their philosophy and profile of signing, with Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson both coming to the club in the last few days, they are also trying to change the way they are off the pitch.
Macphee reportedly had interest from two different Premier League clubs, including Chelsea, alongside Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr.
While Emery and Villa made numerous attempts and offers for the Scot to stay in the Midlands, Macphee made it clear he felt he wanted a new challenge.
Chelsea scored 13 set-pieces in the Premier League last season, while Villa scored 18.
However, the xG set play created by both teams isn’t too different, with Chelsea creating 14.0, while Villa created 14.8.
With clubs creating near enough the same xG set play creation, the difference could be seen as just Villa players being more clinical than Chelsea, or it could be the creativity and inventiveness of Macphee’s work which puts players in better positions to capitalise on chances.
Villa scored 32.14% of their goals from set-pieces in the Premier League last season, with only Spurs, Leeds and Arsenal recording higher figures, which shows how vital Macphee was to the coaching staff at Villa Park.
While Chelsea now will prioritise the slick play style of Alonso’s philosophy, it would be silly to disregard Macphee’s qualities in the set-piece area.
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