How Austin MacPhee exit will affect Aston Villa in the 2026-27 season
Austin MacPhee's exit from Aston Villa has the potential to damage Unai Emery going into next season.
The 46-year-old's impact has been apparent throughout his time at Villa Park.
The Scottish set-piece coach joined the Villans in August 2021, but he has now departed.
He has linked up with Chelsea, who activated a clause in his contract worth less than £1million.
The B6 side tried to convince him to stay, but he wanted to experience another opportunity with their Premier League rivals.
Villa News looks at how the shake-up will affect the UEFA Europa League winners in the 2026-27 season.
What was Austin MacPhee's impact at Aston Villa?
The Villans have benefitted immensely from MacPhee's tactics when it comes to set-pieces, with the dangerous players they have in the box such as Ezri Konsa and Pau Torres.
According to data from The Athletic, they scored 74 goals from those scenarios in his time with the club.
In the campaign that has just concluded, they had the joint-most goals from set-pieces with Arsenal, which was 29.
Emery has shared his appreciation for the coach on many occasions, one of the most telling was after a 3-0 win against Young Boys in the Champions League.
He said: "Set-pieces are sometimes 25 per cent, 50 per cent, sometimes even could be 100 per cent, the way to win.
"We are working at lot, Austin, when I was arrived here, was for me, very important."
Given the direction that the league is going in and how the manager feels about him, the Spaniard and his side will surely suffer from MacPhee's exit.
Why Aston Villa are set to suffer from MacPhee's departure
The English top-flight has seen a transition to a style which is more heavily focused on the exact situations that MacPhee coaches.
Keeping him in their ranks would have much more beneficial than not having him around anymore, especially with his services now helping a rival team.
As of March 2026, 18 per cent of goals in the division last season came from corners, per data from the BBC.
The numbers from all total set-pieces were 27.1 per cent in the same month, according to figures in The Guardian.
With those scenarios becoming more and more prevalent, and the trend showing not sign of stopping, his absence threatens to limit Villa's threat from dead-ball situations.
Emery could hire someone to replace him, but given his record and experience, MacPhee may be the best man for the job, and his successor may not be as good.