Former Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas has now provided an insight into the work that set-piece coach Nicolas Jover does at the club.
Arsenal hired Nicolas Jover in 2021, as reported by the The Athletic.
The coach had previously been working on Pep Guardiola’s staff at Manchester City, where he first met Mikel Arteta, who was also an assistant to Guardiola prior to taking on the top job at Arsenal.
The Gunners have had a great deal of success with set-pieces since Jover came into the club, as evidenced by the two goals from corners that they scored against Crystal Palace last time out.
Arteta has heaped praise on Jover himself. Now, Cesc Fabregas has lifted the lid on how Jover works with the Arsenal first team squad on a day-to-day basis.
Fabregas is now working his way up the coaching ladder himself, and is part of a project in Italy which is being supported by his fellow Arsenal icon Thierry Henry.
The former Arsenal captain has now revealed that he has previously sought Jover’s advice on set-pieces.
Cesc Fabregas discusses Nicolas Jover advice
Speaking on the BBC’s Planet Premier League show, Fabregas said, “when I took over the Primavera in the summer, me and my assistant, we had a chat with him [Jover]…It was quite interesting. He didn’t really give me something that I said ‘wow’. But he did give me some tips. My question was. When do you work set-pieces? What are the best moments for the players? As a player, we used to do it the day before the game. It was for about 10-15 minutes. You knew it was coming.”
“He just gave us a few tips on when to do it in the middle of the session. Just to hit someone just like that and they don’t expect it. They just have to get focused quickly. They have two ways of defending. Two ways of attacking. He didn’t go into the detail, obviously, I understand that. But he did say, whatever they work, they work two things each game. Offensively and defensively. They don’t want to go crazy and put everyone, let’s say, in trouble.”
“Sometimes when you give the players a lot of information they don’t take it well and it could be the other way, then it goes the other way around in the game. They do work on this quite a lot in the week and it’s something Mikel really believes in.”
How important are set-pieces to Arsenal?
Whilst set-pieces aren’t generally the most fashionable route to take to goal, they are still a hugely important part of the game. Being able to defend set-pieces into your own box, and maximising the threat you offer from set-piece in the opposition box are vital elements in any successful team.
Arteta will understand this, and has entrusted Jover to make the most of the raw ingredients available to him in the Arsenal squad. The likes of Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, Declan Rice, and Kai Havertz, amongst others, are all notably strong in the air. David Raya excels in his ability to come off of his line and claim crosses into the box. Equally, the likes of Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, and Gabriel Martinelli are capable of putting high quality deliveries into dangerous areas themselves.
So far this season, Arsenal have scored 12 goals in the Premier League from set-pieces, more than any other team in the division, as per WhoScored statistics. Clearly, Jover’s methods are bearing fruit.
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