Dead Ball Dynamo: The Secrets of Nicolas Jover's Set Piece Revolution at Arsenal!

When Mark Twain uttered his infamous ‘lies, damn lies and statistics’ line, he had no idea that association football would take his lore and run with it.

There’s statistics for pretty much everything in the beautiful game these days, which can be useful in helping to paint a picture of how a match played out or how a team/player is performing.

Other times, the data is used liberally by TV and radio pundits to make very flimsy, clickbait-infused claims.

But here’s one statistic that cannot be denied: Arsenal are the new kings of the set piece in the Premier League.

At the halfway stage of the 2024/25 campaign, the Gunners have scored ten league goals from set pieces, at least two more than any other side, and more than 25% of their total goal tally for the season.

And that’s no fluke, either. Arsenal notched 20 times from set pieces during 2023/24, as well as a tally of 16 times from corners alone during the 2024 calendar year. The data also doesn’t include ‘second phase’ goals, where the first set piece delivery is defended but a goal is notched soon thereafter.

Mikel Arteta’s men aren’t the tallest or strongest team in the Premier League by any means, so where has their expertise from dead ball situations come from? The answer, at least in part, is their specialist set piece coach, Nicolas Jover.

Training Ground Titan

There are two elements to being proficient from set pieces: a high quality delivery, which is either stuck in the back of the net directly, or the ensuing chaos sees a goal scored during the second phase.

Said delivery relies on the individual quality of a Bukayo Saka or Declan Rice, who have both assisted from corners already this term, while the conversion of the cross requires clever movement, physicality in blocking off defenders and a desire to go and win the header.

Nicolas Jover is part of the puzzle, but the prolific nature of the teams that have been coached by him suggests that set piece success is no coincidence when the Frenchman is around.

Initially employed as a video analyst by French side Montpellier, Jover eventually took on responsibility for their attacking and defensive set piece coaching. The fact that they won the Ligue 1 side for the first time in their history back in 2011/12, with Jover providing the marginal gains with 20% of their goals coming from free kicks and corners, should come as no surprise.

That success was spotted by another forward-thinking side in Brentford, who have utilized a number of innovations over the years to facilitate their climb up the divisions.

So effective were the Bees from dead ball situations (46 goals scored in three seasons) that Manchester City effectively poached Jove… surely the first transfer of a set piece coach in football history?

Pep Guardiola’s outfit, not exactly known for their physical dominance, were morphed into dangerous beasts at set pieces; they won the Premier League title in 2019/20, aided by scoring more dead ball goals than any other side.

Arteta was, at the time, Guardiola’s assistant. And so impressed was he with Jover’s progressive thinking and originality, he took him with him to the Emirates Stadium when appointed Arsenal head coach in December 2019.

And the rest, as they say, is history. Jover has added 20 goals per season to the Gunners’ cause… at a salary far cheaper than that that of the traditional number nine striker, too.

Doing the Dance

There aren’t many similarities between the two most popularity forms of football on planet earth: the association football that we know and love, and the American football stylings of the NFL and co.

But if there is any crossover between the two sports, the set piece playbook might just be the most prevalent.

Take a look at an NFL game and you’ll see it for yourself. The attacking coach flicks through his book of plays, there’s signals to the quarterback, who then recognises the rehearsed play and then delivers the pass accordingly.

Jover, who was schooled in Canada and who became a huge fan of the NFL along the way, takes on a role that is one part American football offensive coordinator and one part dancehall choreographer.

The primary targets for Arsenal’s set pieces – William Saliba, Gabriel and Thomas Partey – all stand 6ft 2in or shorter… so it’s not out-and-out physicality that is central to their dead ball success.

Instead, it’s the clever movement and choreography of Jover that leads to a bait and switch; his players often take up unusual starting positions as a group, lurking at the far post or the edge of the box before exploding into life as the kick is about to be delivered, very NFL you might agree.

Jover has also made it his mandate to take advantage of the current trend for zonal marking, which ensures defenders are in the right place to defend their goal, but often leaves them standing on their heels as they wait, stationary, for the ball to be delivered.

Players not designated as targets have their own roles, acting as blockers to prevent defenders from challenging for the ball or tracking the runs of Saliba, Gabriel and co.

The Frenchman notched the second in the 2-0 win over Manchester United in December from one such set-up, with the first goal notched by Jurrien Tumber using Jover’s explosive ‘front post charge’ tactic.

Four days later, Arsenal travelled to Craven Cottage to take on Fulham. They found their hosts very difficult to break down after going a goal behind, so thank heavens above for Jover and Saliba, who turned in Kai Havertz’s header from a Rice corner to level.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and Arsenal are at Brentford, where they find themselves level heading into the second half. The Gunners are awarded a corner on the right-hand side, which sees a horde of their players descend upon the front post.

Ethan Nwaneri hangs up the corner, which causes mayhem in the Brentford defence. Mark Flekken misses his punch and, after a scramble, the ball eventually lands at the feet of Mikel Merino, who stabs home.

Three weeks, three games, four goals.

Football is, by its nature, a low-scoring game, so any marginal gains that can be had in this regard are very welcome. In that sense, Nicolas Jover is probably worth £50 million in the current transfer market… without even having to kick a ball. 

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