In a title race or a team that is struggling to score goals, set-pieces can make all the difference as seen for Rangers this season.
In Philippe Clement, the Ibrox outfit has a manager who is under pressure but who also insists on remaining as hands on as possible.
One constant complaint through this tenure has been just how poor Rangers have been at scoring goals from set plays, an issue that has only recently seen a small improvement.
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Austin MacPhee appointed as Portugal set-piece coach
A specialist set-piece coach could have made a difference and one of British football’s most celebrated has taken another step in a career that had covered the Scottish Premiership, Premier League, major international tournaments and now the chance to work with Cristiano Ronaldo.
Austin MacPhee made his name at Hearts as an assistant coach and the one who designed their corner kick and free-kick routines that became such a big part of their play.
Next came Scotland duty, where Steve Clarke also made the most of the small margins that being prepared could offer.
MacPhee’s name became well known in England when he joined Aston Villa, however, nothing will prepare him for Ronaldo and suggesting a few things to the self-proclaimed GOAT on the training ground.
The former Hearts interim boss has joined Roberto Martinez at Portugal in an assistant coach role in what is a great move for the Scot.
What has Clement said about Rangers’ set-piece woes?
Clement was asked about Rangers’ lack of threat from set plays last season and was in no mood to accept assistance:
“I satisfied with the set-pieces? It’s an interesting question as I’ve been looking more into that this week. I had a feeling we didn’t create enough but if you see the data until now we’re doing quite well but we underperformed in scoring goals because we hit the crossbar a few times and there were really good saves from goalkeepers. The goalkeepers always perform well against us in the data if you speak about expected goals.
“Can it be better? Of course, it would be boring if it could not be. So we’re working on that before every game to do the right things.
“Would I hire a set-piece coach? No. Because I love set-pieces. That’s a thing of the past but it’s one of the reason I played a lot of games, because I scored a lot of goals from set-pieces. That part I won’t give away! Maybe other parts.”
Maybe he should have and enlisted MacPhee’s help, because he might not have been in his current predicament if he did.
