It now makes complete sense why Nicolas Jover has been frequently spotted smoking expensive cigars, wearing top hats and driving around in a Lamborghini.<\/p>\n
The news revealed by The Athletic<\/em> that Arsenal\u2019s set-piece coach is receiving bonuses for the team\u2019s goals from dead-ball situations is not a huge surprise, given his importance to their attacking approach, but it\u2019s hard to imagine this happening 10 years ago.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a reflection not just on Arsenal, but on the marginal gains most Premier League sides are trying to achieve from corners, free kicks and throw-ins.<\/p>\n Mikel Arteta\u2019s team have scored 21 goals from set pieces this season, representing more than a third of their overall total of 58 from 29 matches.<\/p>\n On Sunday, both of Arsenal\u2019s goals in the 2-1 victory over Chelsea came from corner kicks, taking their tally from corners to 16 in 2025-26, already the joint-most in any Premier League campaign alongside Oldham Athletic (from 42 matches) in 1992-93, Tony Pulis\u2019 West Bromwich Albion in 2016-17 and Arteta\u2019s Arsenal two seasons ago.<\/p>\n The match centred on set pieces, with Chelsea profiting from a corner when Piero Hincapie scored an own goal, moments after an outstanding save from David Raya prevented Declan Rice from scoring an own goal from a Chelsea corner (Arsenal are clearly programmed to try to find the net from any set piece).<\/p>\n Former midfielder Leon Osman said on Match of the Day: \u201cIt was such a game of grapples and holding people all over the place.\u201d<\/p>\n Jover\u2019s goal bonus speaks to the growing profile and influence of set-piece coaches across the Premier League, with the man Arteta brought over from Manchester City in 2021 largely considered a pioneer for the rest of the division, who are following suit.<\/p>\n \n Arsenal fans pose for a picture next to a mural of Nicolas Jover (Alex Pantling\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Liverpool appear to be the latest team to embrace the dark side, albeit reluctantly.<\/p>\n Arne Slot has turned Liverpool into set-piece specialists, breaking a Premier League record by scoring seven successive non-penalty set-piece goals.<\/p>\n They had managed only three from set pieces from August to the end of December (the worst record in the Premier League), but since relieving former set-piece coach Aaron Briggs of his duties on December 30, they have struck nine times from set pieces (the best record in the Premier League).<\/p>\n That\u2019s a pretty remarkable turnaround (and won\u2019t be a statistic Briggs puts on his CV), but perhaps even more remarkable is that their head coach doesn\u2019t seem keen on the idea.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the new reality,\u201d he said after the 5-2 win over West Ham United on Saturday, another match dominated by set-piece goals.<\/p>\n \u201cDo I like it? My football heart doesn\u2019t like it. Thinking about football, I think about the Barcelona team from 10 to 15 years ago. Every Sunday evening, you were hoping they would play.\u201d<\/p>\n Slot stated Premier League games, saying they are not \u201ca joy to watch\u201d, albeit the league\u2019s competitiveness makes them interesting.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe in five to 10 years, things will change again,\u201d the Liverpool head coach added. \u201cBut I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if you went to some under-16s game in grassroots football and you saw teams completely focused on set pieces.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the new reality. I have my opinion about it but that doesn\u2019t change it.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, putting aside the argument that last season\u2019s champions spent \u00a3500million ($670m) and could therefore actually attempt to emulate Barcelona from 10 to 15 years ago if they really wanted \u2014 rather than just being a set-piece side like everyone else \u2014 does Slot have a point?<\/p>\n Manchester United\u2019s tally of 15 set-piece goals is the second-highest among Premier League sides but you rarely hear United described as a set-piece side. No player has created more chances from set plays this season than Bruno Fernandes, with 25.<\/p>\n But then teams practising and perfecting set pieces is nothing new, nor is gaining an advantage from them. We just recognise and focus on them more because of Arsenal\u2019s success, and also because the staff member assigned to oversee these duties now has an official title and a touchline presence. At Arsenal, that is Jover, while probably the second-most high-profile set-piece specialist is Aston Villa and Portugal coach Austin MacPhee.<\/p>\n There\u2019s certainly something impressive about the inventive routines these specialists come up with, which, again, are nothing particularly new. In terms of set pieces, arguably, it\u2019s only really the long throws that take it a step too far. Ask a Wolverhampton Wanderers follower if their team is gaining any advantage (other than trying to win second balls from clearances) from Yerson Mosquera\u2019s shot-put-esque piddlers that barely land inside the penalty area. It\u2019s pretty desperate stuff from them and several other copycat Premier League sides.<\/p>\n Criticising Arsenal\u2019s approach is not necessarily about a lack of invention or excitement \u2014 Brentford are also genuine specialists in this regard but you wouldn\u2019t necessarily call their games or their style boring. Villa have been rightly praised for their creative set pieces in recent years.<\/p>\n But the notion of an expensively assembled team specialising in set pieces rather than attractive open-play football gets people\u2019s backs up.<\/p>\n For Arsenal, it\u2019s a very effective alternative to trying to circumnavigate a frustrating low block. Set-piece supremacy doesn\u2019t discourage attacking football, either \u2014 the only way you can win corners or free kicks in the final third is with some form of offensive intent.<\/p>\n Osman added: \u201cHow often are we going to say about Arsenal, when the game\u2019s tight, they end up winning with a set piece? If you\u2019ve got this armoury that Arsenal have, if you can score and make the difference from set pieces, then you take that opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n From an entertainment perspective, endless set pieces are not incredibly exciting, but they still beat death by 1,000 passes.<\/p>\n Ultimately, it\u2019s fine as a neutral to criticise Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, etc, if they\u2019re scoring more goals from ugly set pieces than beautiful strikes from open play, given their vast resources and incredible cohort of talented attacking players.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also fine for Arsenal to concentrate strongly on set pieces, especially if it\u2019s going to give them a notable advantage in the title race.<\/p>\n Should Arteta\u2019s side end up winning the league, there will be no asterisk by Arsenal\u2019s name in the final 2025-26 table. Their success will not mean less than any previous title win.<\/p>\n No one wants their team to be Set Piece FC, but if it means winning a first Premier League title in 22 years, they could score 80 goals in off their backsides and supporters probably wouldn\u2019t care. In the great set-piece debate, you\u2019re unlikely to find many fans of Arsenal (the league leaders) or Brentford (the league\u2019s surprise package) complaining. And that\u2019s no coincidence.<\/p>\n The cycle will turn; referees will, eventually, clamp down on wrestling at corners and fans will demand more from their teams. But this is the age of the set piece. Let\u2019s just hope it doesn\u2019t last too<\/em> long.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It now makes complete sense why Nicolas Jover has been frequently spotted smoking expensive cigars, wearing top hats and driving around in a Lamborghini. The news revealed by The Athletic … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2026\/03\/02105721\/GettyImages-2189922184-scaled.jpg\")
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