Mikel Arteta has hailed the influence of Arsenal set-piece coach Nicolas Jover.
Arsenal have been a real force from set-piece situations this season.
As per WhoScored statistics, the Gunners have scored more Premier League goals from set-pieces than any other side in the division so far in this campaign, with 13 strikes to their name.
The north London club converted two corners into goals during their 5-0 win over Crystal Palace last time out.
Nicolas Jover deserves a huge amount of the credit for how dangerous Arsenal have become as an attacking force from these situations. The coach has ensured that the Gunners are capitalising on the aerial threat offered by the likes of Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, Kai Havertz, and Declan Rice, amongst others.
Jover has drawn praise for his work at the club before. Leandro Trossard has given his verdict on the coach’s work, and Cesc Fabregas has even admitted to seeking advice from Jover at the outset of his own coaching career.
Arsenal’s success from set-pieces has also led to intense media attention. Pundits have analysed what the Gunners do, looking for patterns and even signs of secret coded messages being passed between the players.
Mikel Arteta underlines importance of Nicolas Jover to Arsenal
Mikel Arteta has now now gone into more depth about the role Jover plays at Arsenal on a day-to-day basis. As quoted by TNT Sports, the Spanish coach said, “I gave my advice to go and recruit Nico. I met him, we started to discuss how we could apply set pieces to the open play, which is also connected, they’re not two separate things, it’s all connected in the game, and how we could maximize that. I knew Nico from before, and I asked him to come and join our project, he did, and he’s having a really strong impact on the team.”
“Everything evolves, everything adapts. Opponents are intelligent. They look at everything. One day, they defend that way and next day, they adapt, so you have to be able to adapt.”
“It’s nothing different to anything that we’re doing in open play, it’s a final set action when you’re attacking, and it’s a way of defending deep when you have to defend an action very close to your box, so that’s crucial. It is a big part of the game…it is about tricking the opponent and being consistent and believing in what you do. In the end it works because players believe in what we do, and when that happens then you have a bigger chance to do it.”
Clearly, Arteta has huge faith in Jover, who he has known since they were both assistants to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, prior to the former midfielder taking on the top job at the Emirates Stadium.
As an attacking force, Arsenal have blown hot and cold at times this season. That makes their ability to consistently engineer goalscoring opportunities from set-piece situations even more important. Even when they aren’t firing on all cylinders in open play, the Gunners still carry a threat.
Opposition coaches and analysts will be constantly striving to figure the Gunners’ set-piece approach out, so Jover has to always be one-step ahead, and needs to persistently evolve Arsenal’s approach to how they handle set-pieces. Clearly, what he has done so far has worked.
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