Which Premier League side has scored the most set-piece goals since the start of the 22/23 Premier League season? You guessed it: Arsenal. The Gunners have scored 33 strikes from set pieces since the beginning of last season due to the strategies of one man: Nicolas Jover.
42-year-old Frenchman Jover cut his trade under Brentford boss Dean Smith between 2016 and 2019 after serving seven years as a tactical analyst at Ligue 1 side Montpellier.
Jover earned plaudits for establishing a unique brand of dead ball plays designed after NFL tactics. So admired, England coach Gareth Southgate sent scouts to study Jover’s disruptive “love train” or “bus stop” formation ahead of the 2018 World Cup. That’s where players line up in a queue in the penalty area before the cross comes in.
Nine of England’s twelve World Cup 2018 goals emerged from set pieces. The innovative set-piece designs helped the Three Lions advance to the semifinals during the Russia tournament.
Arteta’s Arsenal reaps benefits of key set piece recruit
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta worked aside Jover briefly at Manchester City before the Spaniard took the helm at the Emirates in December 2019.
Arteta convinced Jover to join him in North London the following summer, instantly turning Arsenal into dead ball specialists. The Gunners have scored 19 goals from set plays during this 23/24 Premier League season alone, catapulting them above Everton’s 14 tally.
“I dream of developing a recognizable style of set pieces, just like a playing style,” Jover shared with journalist Christoph Biermann in the book Football Hackers: The Science and Art of a Data Revolution.
The customizable set pieces have become an art form for Arsenal in the past few seasons. Sitting third in the table with eleven games to go this term, Jover’s tactics could serve as the catalyst for Arsenal’s first Premier League title in two decades.
Photo: x/statmandave
