TFA Exclusive Interview: Michael Mackin (Ex-Spurs Set-Piece Coach) On Match Day Strategy – Tactical Theory

In part ‌1 ‌of ‌TFA's exclusive set-piece specialist interview with Michael Mackin, he laid out the scaffolding of his set-piece work, the culture he tries to create, the player profiles he looks for, how he maps out a match week, and how he measures performance.

In the second half of the interview, we will shift to what happens when the whistle goes: how Mackin sets up defensively, how he reacts when opponents spring something new on match day, and why he thinks football is still a long way from producing the next wave of set-piece specialists.

Over the years, Mackin has moved through club and international football, from Burton Albion, the Canada national team, and Derry City, to his current role in the UAE, experiencing different countries, different dressing rooms, and different habits, and picking up plenty of lessons along the way.

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Michael is not a fan of too much freedom on set-pieces, describing a spell at Burton when players were given a lot of freedom to organise themselves, during which many problems appeared.

“I remember one time at Burton we gave players autonomy, and 50% of them didn’t know where to go.”

In Michael's view, uncertainty at a dead ball hurts almost as much as a bad delivery.

That doesn’t mean everyone gets the same brief.

His job, as he frames it, is matching roles to individual traits.

He brings up instinctive strikers, the sort of profile you’d associate with someone like Jermain Defoe, and explains why he’d rather put them in positions to pounce on scraps and second phases than ask them to run blocks.