The Kings of Set-Pieces: Who is Nicolas Jover, whom Arsenal ‘stole’ from Manchester City?

No doubt, the quality of Arsenal’s set-piece play has been steadily improving season after season. The Gunners have scored an incredible 52 goals since Nicolas Jover’s arrival in 2021. Jover had a similar impact at his previous clubs, and we’ll take a closer look at his contribution.

Who is Nicolas Jover and what has he done?

Before joining Manchester City, Jover worked at Brentford under Dean Smith between 2016 and 2019, and prior to that, he was a video analyst at Montpellier from 2009 to 2016. He also had a brief stint in Croatia, where he spent just 40 days as a match analyst.

This 42-year-old Frenchman joined City in July 2019, spending six months working alongside Arteta at the Etihad before Arsenal appointed the Spanish manager in December of the same year.

Speaking about his decision to bring Jover to the Emirates, Arteta said at the time: “After analysing what the best solutions would be, someone I knew became available on the market.

“Especially when I was at City, I believed we needed someone specialised in that area. I advised them to hire Nico.”

“I met him, and we started discussing how we could apply set-pieces to open play, which is also connected. These aren’t two separate things; everything is linked in the game, and we talked about how we could maximise it. I knew Nico from before, and I asked him to join our project, and he did, and now he’s had a very strong influence on the team.”

In other words, Arteta has been clear in his view that Nicolas Jover is the best coach for set-piece play. It was his decision to bring him to City, and equally his call to bring him to Arsenal shortly afterwards. This could well have been one of the decisive moves, as Nicolas’s contribution has undoubtedly put Arsenal in the race for the Premier League title.

The stats don’t lie: Arsenal’s set-piece dominance

One of the best examples of Jover’s influence on Arteta’s team was the match against their biggest rivals, Manchester City, when Gabriel scored a header from a corner to give Arsenal a 2-1 lead. Pep Guardiola knew exactly who was behind the now well-known move.

The man, who turned City into the team with the most goals from set-pieces in the Premier League during his first season, quickly worked similar magic at the Emirates. When he arrived, Arsenal were statistically the weakest team in terms of goals scored from set-pieces.

Take a look at the table of goals scored from set-pieces since the now-renowned Nicolas Jover joined the Gunners.

Last season in the Premier League perhaps best highlighted the efficiency of their set-piece play. Arsenal topped the charts for goals scored from set-pieces, while they ranked second for fewest goals conceded, behind Manchester City.

Jover’s impact most noticeable at corners

After signing Jover, Arteta said:

“I believed we needed someone specialised in set-pieces.”

There’s no denying Jover’s huge impact on the team, as shown in the tables above. However, where his influence has been most pronounced is in Arsenal’s goals from corners, which have been extraordinary since his arrival.

As reported by Opta, Arsenal have scored more goals from corners in the last three seasons than any other team in Europe’s top five leagues: 42 in 111 matches. Will Jover’s set-piece mastery strike again? Don’t miss out—find out if the Gunners can clinch another crucial victory. See our Arsenal vs Leicester predictions!

In the 111 matches before Jover’s arrival, Arsenal scored from a corner every 32 corners, which is roughly the league average of about 3 percent, while in the 111 matches after that, they found the net every 16 corners. That’s twice as efficient.

It’s no surprise, then, that Arsenal have now equalled the Premier League record for goals scored from corners. You can find the statistics in the table below.

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