After Gabriel Magalhaes scored two more headers from corners and won a penalty from a similar routine, set-piece coach Nicolas Jover’s influence on Arsenal’s set-pieces has been a key talking point during Mikel Arteta’s press conferences this week.
After the 5-2 over West Ham on Saturday, the manager was asked, not for the first time, if his assistant should be due a goal bonus.
He laughed it away, saying: “That’s a question for him and his contract. I’m not sure. I don’t negotiate contracts!”
Three days later, in his pre-Manchester United media gathering, Jover again came to the fore with Arteta challenged to shed more light on his relationship with a coach he recruited in the summer of 2021.
“He’s a very special person. Obviously someone very, very close to me,” explained Arteta.
“I got to work with him at [Manchester] City when I thought that there was a big room for improvement in that department and I contacted him and I suggested to Pep [Guardiola] that he come and help us.
“Since then we’ve been extremely close. We share a very clear vision about how we want to put everything together. It’s not about open play or set pieces, it’s how everything is connected, aligned and can work efficiently in our team.
“There are a lot of other people that put a big effort and thoughts and hours into that but, for sure, he’s someone that is very very important for the team.”
While excelling at set pieces is nothing new for Arsenal – teams of the past, particularly under George Graham, found great success – Mikel Arteta approaches them with a fresh perspective.
Whereas previous coaches allocated specific time in training solely for set-piece routines, Arteta integrates them into a broader philosophical framework, viewing them as part of a holistic approach to the game.
“It’s all connected, you have to train as it’s all connected, it’s not sequences of play that are very far apart. We work in a way that is actually very close to the game.”
Ultimately, he wants to arm his players with the information they need to excel on the pitch.
“It’s the defensive part as well and why you have to defend set pieces and when you have to defend set pieces,” he added.
“Sometimes it’s too late, what actually happened before that for you to be in that position? How can you be in another way in a better position? So that’s always something that we are discussing.”
Dude is a genius, so is Arteta for noticing an area most managers don’t pay special attention to. Some don’t pay any ” big ange and the spuds”
Going a bit far to say Jover is a genius. Very good job done by him, but it is also Arteta’s vision and leadership and, most importantly, the outstanding quality of execution from the likes of Saka, Rice and Gabriel.
All these things together have led to great outcomes.
I love articles highlighting Jover because every single one makes Ange look more and more like a twat.
It is what it is, mate.
I always win things in my second season mate!
Arteta says a lot without revealing a lot when it comes to his tactics. You go out scratching your head over what he has said. His injury updates is a nightmare to our opponents and their coaching crew.😀
yeah, i hope he writes a book or somebody asks him about his previous tactics now in a few years, since he won’t talk about it now. what the hell does it mean that they don’t have a dedicated time to practice set pieces routines? i understand the concept, but it’s a little bit too broad and it’d be cool to know what the fuck do they actually do in training
I think it relates to what Rice and others have said about being blown away by the tactical approach. I.e. it’s about how he is getting them to think about how to respond to scenarios and their awareness of what their team-mates are doing and becoming like one brain. This can translate to continuous and static play situations.
Very Cruyffian … Johan once said ““If I wanted you to understand, I would explain it better.”
Lol
Like the high level of intelligence that is in our management/coaching team!
I remember previously when one of the Arsenal coaching staff got fired for betting on Ozil to come to the club and thinking the complete opposite. Good to see improvement
1) To be frank Wenger and Bould’s zone defending for corners was a bad idea for the players they had.
2) PSG and Real will be offering Jover double his salary soon or City will want him back. But Arsenal’s way is that it wouldn’t make sense if he makes double the money of the assistant manager.
115 can’t get any top personnel as long as they have expulsion hanging over their heads. That’s their biggest problem right now.