Manchester United icon Nicky Butt has shared his opinion on the dynamic between Mikel Arteta and Nicolas Jover on the touchline when Arsenal play.
Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Chelsea has generated an unfathomable amount of negative discourse, mostly due to the game being won by two set-piece goals.
William Saliba and Jurrien Timber’s goals saw Arsenal match an all-time Premier League record for most corner goals in a single season, which, apparently, is not something to behold, judging by the media’s reaction.
It’s therefore unsurprising that set-piece coach, Jover, has been pulled into the discussion.
Jover earns a set-piece goal bonus, which some find bizarre, but that’s not what Nicky Butt has found most ‘weird’ about the Frenchman’s role at Arsenal.
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Set-piece Kings 👑
Nicky Butt thinks that Mikel Arteta and Nicolas Jover’s dynamic is weird
Speaking alongside Paul Scholes on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, Butt delved into what he’s noticed unfold on the touchline at Arsenal during games.
“You see it all over the show. The manager will be sitting on the sideline. Dictating everything, and Arteta is the best at it, or the worst at it; he never sits down,” Butt began, before mentioning Jover.
“He’s always involved in the game. The minute a set piece goes, he comes and walks back and sits down. And then the set-piece coach goes on.
“Now, if they get beat, or give a set piece away, this set piece coach isn’t the one getting a do in the newspapers or on Sky Sports. It’s the manager. I think it’s a really weird dynamic.”
In Butt’s opinion, it’s ‘weird’ that Arsenal’s set-piece coach plays a greater role on the touchline than Arteta when Arsenal get a set-piece.
Nicolas Jover is no different to other set-piece coaches, look at Austin MacPhee
While Butt has every right to share his opinion, it’s incredibly flawed to make this assessment about Arteta, Jover and Arsenal alone.
I ask, how is the action of coaches getting involved during a game when a passage of play in their field arises, weird? We see it every week.
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Jover is the best set-piece coach in the league, which is why he’s under the microscope, but others are similar to him, in fact, some more animated.
Aston Villa’s set-piece coach, Austin MacPhee, is constantly involved during games, so much so that he was actually involved in a bust-up when the Scotsman was a set-piece coach for his national team.
During Scotland’s 5-1 defeat to Germany at Euro 2024, MacPhee and Steve Clarke were involved in a heated dispute about a set-piece routine not working and leaving Scotland vulnerable on the counter.
MacPhee was the man of the moment then, as he and Clarke argued on the touchline.
My point is, for Butt to call Jover and Arteta’s dynamic weird is merely convenient at a time when Arsenal are under scrutiny, but there’s nothing weird about it, having looked at set-piece coaches elsewhere.
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