John McGinn and Douglas Luiz ‘better’ since behind-the-scenes appointment at Aston Villa
We’re delighted to welcome Sky Sports journalist Dan Bardell as our exclusive Aston Villa columnist as each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the club…
Austin MacPhee has made both John McGinn and Douglas Luiz “a lot better” since his arrival at Aston Villa, according to Dan Bardell.
MacPhee, the club’s set-piece coach, made the move to Villa Park under the tenure of Dean Smith but has outlasted two Villa bosses in Smith and Steven Gerrard and has since had his impact felt on the side. Per The Athletic (26 April), Emery was so impressed with MacPhee’s work that he rewarded him with greater responsibility than Gerrard ever did.
Villa have since significantly improved their set-pieces and each player knows exactly where they need to be in-game to pull off their well-drilled routines. Their corners and free-kicks have seen improvement in recent months, which has often led to game-winning moments.
Bardell has singled out McGinn and Luiz as the greatest benefactors of MacPhee’s influence but did not hold back on his praise for the coach for his “excellent” contribution to the club.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, Bardell said: “John McGinn’s a better player [since MacPhee’s appointment]. You only have to take one look at Douglas Luiz to see that he’s been a lot better under MacPhee too.
“He scored two goals directly from a corner since he’s been at the club. People always look for problems, but MacPhee will be very low down that list that Villa have.
“He’s been an excellent addition and they’ve scored some really inventive goals.”
In other Aston Villa news, a journalist has mooted a “unique” international problem for a Villa Park ace.