‘Little nuisance’ helping Arsenal make big strides
Set-piece guru NICOLAS JOVER added to his growing reputation during north London derby
NICOLAS JOVER, that ‘little nuisance’, as Gary Neville called him, jumped around on the touchline in delight after being the architect of another vital Arsenal win via their most trusted weapon — set-pieces.
The deadlock in a tense north London derby with Tottenham was broken on 15 minutes, Bukayo Saka’s corner swung into the near post area with Takehiro Tomiyasu set to head it goalward. The speed and accuracy of the delivery caused Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to panic and head into his own net. On the touchline, Arsenal’s set-piece mastermind Jover jumped into the arms of manager Mikel Arteta.
‘There he is again,’ Neville said. ‘The set-piece guru. He’s a little nuisance that set-piece coach but he’s damn good.’
He is proving damn good. Arsenal have scored 16 goals from corners in the Premier League this season, the most since West Bromwich Albion under Tony Pulis in 2016-17.
They have scored the most set-piece goals excluding penalties (22) and conceded the second-fewest (six).
The latter statistic is just as crucial as the former. As Spurs rained corners into the box in the final 10 minutes, 42-year-old Jover was orchestrating the Gunners’ defensive strategy while Arteta was out of view.
It has not gone unnoticed that when Arsenal win or concede a set-piece, the ever-active Arteta takes a step back in the technical area and Jover takes his space, issuing instructions.
THE pair’s relationship goes back much further than training ground routines at Arsenal. Arteta noted the German-born Frenchman’s work at Brentford, where Jover transformed the approach to set-pieces between July 2016 and 2018 as assistant coach to Dean Smith, before briefly working under Thomas Frank, when the Bees were fixated on marginal gains.
His next move is where he first made his mark on a mainstream audience. He was introduced to Manchester City by Arteta, then their assistant coach. The pair, who both speak English, French and Spanish, hit it off immediately when they met after the Spaniard reached out to Jover.
At the end of his contract in 2021, Jover joined Arteta at Arsenal. It was a reunion of two men who share many similarities. Jover mirrors Arteta in intensity and focus and has the respect of the players. That passion could be seen in his heated confrontation with Manchester City’s Kyle Walker after Arsenal beat them 1-0 earlier in the season.
Both Arteta and Jover have a relentless work ethic and an obsession with detail. Jover likes to keep sessions short, less than 30 minutes, to ensure he has the team’s full attention, and he is given multiple chances during the week to drill his methods.
It was he who convinced Arteta to put Declan Rice on corners during the Dubai winter camp. Rice’s vicious in-swinger on Sunday was headed in by Kai Havertz to make it 3-0, the fourth Arsenal goal from a Rice set-piece this season. For that goal and Hojbjerg’s own-goal, Ben White’s actions were key. For the first, he blocked Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario and even tried undoing his glove. Vicario shook him off but was irritated. His mind had been rattled before the ball even reached the box.
For Arsenal’s third goal, White backed into Vicario on the goal-line, leaving the keeper stuck in one spot.
Jover (right) is a winner, like Arteta, and it is not the first time crafty tactics have been seen around the opposition area when they are about to deliver a setpiece. Take their second goal in the 5-0 thrashing of Chelsea last Tuesday.
Saka was waiting to take the corner. In the box, William Saliba had Enzo Fernandez pinned as White wrestled with Marc Cucurella. Once the ball broke loose, White shrugged off Cucurella to find space and Saliba’s blocking of Fernandez forced the Chelsea man to play Arsenal’s players onside. White duly pounced to score.
FURTHER to the use of NFL-style blocking, there were a number of key examples earlier in the season. Rice’s goal against Manchester United in September started with four Arsenal players outnumbering the two opposition players on the back post. Once the ball reached Rice, Gabriel was blocking Jonny Evans’ path to his shot.
Then when facing Crystal Palace in January, Arsenal’s tactical crowding of certain areas allowed Gabriel to plough in with two headed goals.
For most corners it is Martin Odegaard who stands on the edge of the box, an orchestrator-in-chief. As seen during that 5-0 win over Palace, the Norwegian played with his socks to indicate whether the corner would be sent to the near or back post.
When Mail Sport asked Arteta about the ploy in the days after, he grinned and said: ‘I am not going to tell you that!’
It has been drilled so well into his players that it is almost second nature to create a sense of chaos in the box, which is one of Jover’s aims.
Under Arteta, Arsenal have turned up at opposition grounds with banners and posters to give the away dressing room a more familiar feel. A banner on the wall for Sunday’s game read ‘BASICS’, an acronym for boxes, attack, shape, intensity, compete and set-pieces. It shows how seriously Arteta takes set-pieces and the responsibility he has given Jover. A similar approach has been taken by many Premier League clubs but some still do not have a specialist coach. Spurs are one such side.
When asked about their difficulties in defending set-pieces on Sunday, boss Ange Postecoglou said: ‘If I thought fixing defensive set-pieces was the answer to us bridging the gap then I would put all my time and effort into that. But that is not where we’re at.’ The success Arsenal have had under Jover may force Postecoglou and others to swiftly change tack.