How set-piece coaches are changing Premier League football
When Chelsea poached Aston Villa’s set-piece coach Austin MacPhee this summer, it wasn't just a standard addition to the dugout.
They were investing in a part of the game that has become increasingly specialised, writes Sports News Blitz’s Joseph Kan’gethe.
MacPhee arrived boasting a track record of helping Aston Villa become one of the Premier League's most effective set-piece teams, while Chelsea moved Bernardo Cueva into a technical analyst role.
Clubs are realising that set pieces need their own full-time experts instead of a quick five-minute drill at the end of training sessions.
The stats back up the hype. Set pieces accounted for 27.5% of Premier League goals in the 2025/26 season, while 15 of the division's 20 clubs were reported to employ specialist set-piece coaches.
Those numbers explain why clubs are taking the area more seriously.
The more interesting question is what these specialists actually change on the training ground, and whether those changes translate into a measurable advantage on matchday.
The role of a set-piece coach
To see what a set-piece coach actually brings to the table, you have to look at what happens before the ball is delivered.
A set-piece coach studies how an opponent sets up in dead-ball situations, then maps out ways to attack the spaces those defenders are responsible for protecting.
That could mean a player running towards the near post for a flick-on, a team-mate blocking a defender to free a taller player at the back post, or a delivery aimed at a specific area for another attacker to reach.
Players are given clear roles, from attacking specific areas to making runs that create space for team-mates.
The role is not limited to creating goals. It is just as much about preventing them at the other end.
Set-piece coaches may help in determining marking assignments, making sure the most dangerous areas are covered and preparing players to compete for the second ball when the first contact fails to clear the danger.
They can also stand on the touchline and communicate quick adjustments as the game unfolds.
If the opposition suddenly changes its marking or begins to anticipate the drill, the set-piece coach can signal a different routine, allowing the staff to adjust the approach without waiting for half-time.
The work therefore extends beyond designing routines. It involves building a system that can adapt as opponents study and respond to it.
Why Premier League clubs are increasingly hiring set-piece coaches
The simplest reason comes down to how often dead-ball situations arise during a game.
Every Premier League match contains multiple corners, free-kicks and throw-ins, creating repeated situations that can be prepared for and improved over a season.
There is also another attraction.
Unlike many situations in open play, set pieces can be analysed and rehearsed repeatedly on the training ground before they are used in matches.
Set-piece coaches can also pinpoint a defensive weakness on video, and map out a well-drilled routine in training until the lads know exactly where they need to position themselves once those opportunities arise.
These rewards are massive at both ends of a pitch.
A well-designed routine can create a close-range goalscoring chance, while a good defensive organisation can reduce the chances of the opposition creating the same opportunities.
This is what makes the set-piece coaching role different.
It can improve a team's attacking output without requiring the manager to change his style of play.
With set pieces accounting for 27.5% of Premier League goals in the 2025/26 season, the potential return is difficult for clubs to ignore.
Do set-piece coaches make a difference?
Arsenal are probably the clearest example of how set-piece coaching can significantly improve a team's dead-ball output.
Before Nicolas Jover’s appointment, the North London side scored just six set-piece goals during the 2020/21 campaign.
That return jumped to 16 in his first year, followed by 15 and 20 goals in the next two seasons, before the Gunners recorded 25 set-piece goals in the 2025/26 season.
That is a massive turnaround, and it becomes harder to explain it as a coincidence when improvement continues season after season.
But the numbers can't prove that Jover alone caused it.
Better deliveries, different personnel, recruitment, and Arsenal's wider development all played a part.
At the end of the day, a set-piece coach can draw perfect routines, but the players still have to deliver on the pitch.
Jover's track record provides stronger evidence that a dead-ball specialist can contribute to a team's tactical advantage, but simply hiring a set-piece coach doesn't automatically produce more goals or fewer set-piece goals conceded.
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The challenge of maintaining a set-piece advantage
The catch with finding a clever tactical shortcut is that the rest of the league will eventually catch on and copy you.
Once rivals have enough footage of those routines, the element of surprise starts to disappear, and familiar runs become easier to read.
That leaves set-piece coaches with a different challenge of staying unpredictable.
They have to change the starting positions, rotate the runners and blockers, move the delivery zone and hide what the routine is trying to create.
Arsenal's experience under Nicolas Jover shows how this works in practice.
Winning this battle doesn't mean repeating the same routine until it stops working.
It means repeatedly finding new ways to exploit the weaknesses opponents still leave open.
That constant reinvention may be the real value of having a set-piece coach in the team.
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