Arsenal assistant Nicolas Jover has found himself back in the spotlight after the 2-2 draw with Manchester City over the weekend.
Cadena SER look at the coach today and how his set pieces have generated 52 goals for Arsenal since he arrived at the club in August 2021.
They explained that Arsenal’s clash with Manchester City ‘gave us a formidable show’ and in that show, the set pieces from Mikel Arteta’s team stood out.
The Gunners have scored 52 goals from set pieces since August 2021, ‘a real nonsense’ by anybody’s reckoning. 32 goals have come from corner kicks since the start of the 2022/23 season, eight more than second place and 25% better.
The key is naturally good takers and headers, and Arsenal have both, but it is the work of Jover that sets it all up.
He is Arsenal’s specific set-piece coach after arriving in 2021. He started at Brentford and worked there for three years before being scooped up by Manchester City in 2019. Arteta then took him to the Emirates when he had the chance and that’s proven to be an extremely smart move.
Jover spends his time during the week analysing his opponents weaknesses and drawing up a strategy to exploit those.
Against Manchester City it was clear what the plan was; to ‘send a touched ball’ into a small area at the far post. There was also a plan to block Ederson and for Gabriel to attack the area ‘like an airplane’. It turned out perfect as the Brazilian grabbed a goal to put his side ahead.
Arteta was seen celebrating on the touchline when they did and hugged Jover, something he does every time Arsenal score from a set piece. That is an effort to put the spotlight on Jover, whose work is clearly having an impact.
