Unai Emery has told Austin MacPhee he can carry on celebrating after set-piece coaches came under fire.
Aston Villa’s boss has instructed the Scot to continue standing by his side after Arsenal ’s Nicolas Jover incurred the wrath of Sky Sports’ duo Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher.
The pair were incensed that 45-year-old is taking an increasingly active role - standing on the sidelines alongside Mikel Arteta. Neville accused the German of ‘over-reaching his importance,’ labelling him ‘the most annoying man in football.’
With Jover’s help, Arsenal sit top of the table for set-pieces - and Villa lie in third. But Emery insisted that he doesn’t have an issue. When asked if he would mind if MacPhee celebrated a goal from a dead ball situation, he said, “No, of course not—I’ll be celebrating it as well.
“As long as he is respectful, helping the team, helping the players, supporting me - then there is no problem. Offensively, defensively, we have a very good coach in Austin. Set pieces have always been important throughout my career. A big part of my success has been through set pieces.
“Twenty years ago, there weren’t any set-piece coaches. But I always liked working on them. It can mean the difference in a lot of matches. When I arrived here, it was the first time I started to work with one with Austin. I have told him my experience and we chat a lot about how we prepare the set-pieces for the players.
"We work on the field for one week before a match, sometimes one or two days. We have one meeting a week for it. We share our emotions. The responsibility is mine. I support the coaches and one of them is Austin. Now, he is helping me - and helping me a lot.”
Villa did the double over Arsenal last season - it was a major reason why the Gunners could not overhaul Manchester City and land the title.
The games since Emery turned up at Villa Park have been tight - with a fight breaking out between rival analysts in the press box during one last season. The past ten days may have seen Arteta’s side suffer a blip - but Emery believes that a record-breaking season is not beyond them.
He said: “They are in a good moment, even though they lost to Newcastle and Manchester United. They are building the team progressively, adding something, improving.
"They are one of the favourites to win the Premier League. They are the clear favourites to win the Premier League with Liverpool. And they are one of the favourites to win the Champions League. They are doing good work. They are always getting better. And they have the ability to invest."