Arsenal’s Set Piece Routines: Inside Mikel Arteta’s Secret Weapon for Premier League Charge

• Arsenal have enjoyed massive success from set pieces since the arrival of Nico Jover
• Mikel Arteta's team scored twice from corners in the North London derby on April 28
• Sports Brief takes a look at some of the Gunners' unique set pieces used this season

When you watch Arsenal matches, you will instantly realise that Mikel Arteta is the pensive type. He rarely sits down, always standing on the touchline, barking constant instructions to his troops on the pitch.

However, when Arsenal get a set piece in a dangerous position, the Spaniard often takes a back seat and up steps Nico Jover - the brain behind everything the Gunners do when it comes to free kicks and corners.

Like Arteta, Jover is wholly involved. He directs where he wants the taker, usually Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, or Declan Rice, to plant his effort and what kind of movements the players in the box need to execute.

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Of the 85 goals Arsenal have scored this season, 20 have come from set pieces - the most of any team in the division. This tactic has worked for them, including netting twice in the North London derby on April 28.

So, what do Arsenal do differently from the rest, and most importantly, who is Nico Jover?

Who is Arsenal's Nico Jover?

Nicolas Jover is a 42-year-old dead-ball specialist who, like Arteta, was previously in the books of Manchester City. He began his career as a video analyst at Montpellier before serving in a similar role for the Croatia national team.

As Football London reports that he had stints as Brentford's assistant manager under Dean Smith and Thomas Frank in the Championship before Pep Guardiola hired him in 2019.

He left Manchester City to follow Guardiola's former number 2 to North London, and together, they have created a team that is going toe to toe with their former employers.

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Arsenal's top set piece routines under Nicolas Jover

Sports Brief takes a look at some of Jover's incredible routines:

1. Ben White's positioning on goalkeepers

Perhaps this is the most important piece of Jover's set play, given that it has been repeated several times this season.

Ben White's starting position before a corner is taken is usually standing side-by-side with the goalkeeper. It is not illegal to apply pressure on the goalkeeper as long as you don't foul him. Against Chelsea on April 23, Marc Cucurella tried to cover his goalkeeper, but the Englishman still found a way to destabilise the defence and score himself.

As reported by Sports Brief, he tried some dark arts on Guglielmo Vicario, who failed to stop Pierre-Emile Højbjerg's own goal.

White is often not involved in vying for the ball in setpieces, but he is deployed as a master of chaos around the goalkeeper to throw him off as the ball comes in.

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2. William Saliba's drag on Enzo Fernandez

William Saliba played an integral cheeky role in the aforementioned goal scored by White against Chelsea. As a 1.93m centre-back, the Frenchman will always be one of the targets in the opposition box.

Against Chelsea, Arsenal opted for a short corner, which meant he didn't need to do a quick run inside the area. Instead, the 23-year-old dragged Enzo Fernandez, who was marking him, towards the goal.

If you look at the replay, you will see that Saliba had no real intention of receiving the ball. In fact, he stopped at some point and, together with the Chelsea midfielder, watched as the ball came in.

The result was that Fernandez played White onside, who scored that goal. Saliba's role was to drag a Chelsea player and make sure by the time the ball came inside the area, he was keeping them onside.

3. Gabriel Magalhaes' run at Crystal Palace

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No set piece conversation in the Premier League can be complete without mentioning Gabriel Magalhaes. He is the highest-scoring defender in the league.

Against Crystal Palace in January, Jover's plan revolved around making space for Magalhaes to attack the ball. The end result made it look like Roy Hodgson's side allowed him a free run, but it wasn't.

As Declan Rice prepared to swing in the corner, Magalhaes was near the edge of the box - far from shooting (or heading) distance.

As the ball came in, Saliba and Leandro Trossard made a darting run towards the front post, taking two defenders, Marc Guehi and Joachim Andersen, with them. Guehi and Andersen are physically imposing and can be relied on to defend corners.

As this happened, Gabriel Jesus, who was in front of Magalhaes, dragged Nathaniel Clyne with him. Magalhaes lost his marker, Chris Richards, and darted forward in the space left by Trossard, Saliba, Jesus, and whoever was marking them.

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The most important part here is that Andresen realised that neither Trossard nor Saliba was the target and attempted to close Magalhaes, but Trossard screened him off, allowing his centre-back a free header.

Also, peep Ben White's positioning. He stood in front of Dean Henderson, preventing the goalkeeper from coming out to claim the ball. Magalhaes got the free header with no one marking him, Henderson was helpless, and the ball ended up in the back of the net.

4. Gabriel Magalhaes vs Liverpool

We've looked at three corners, so let's see how Jover operates in a free kick situation. In December against Liverpool, Arsenal took an early lead at Anfield through a Magalhaes' header.

Again, from a quick view, it looks like poor marking from Jurgen Klopp's men. As Odegaard stood over the ball, four Arsenal players were offside. Liverpool's line is just outside the area. The four Arsenal players, who stood in a parallel position with their Liverpool markers, forced Alisson to sit deep.

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Before Odegaard took the free kick, they quickly came back onside and Jesus blocked his marker, allowing his skipper to put the ball over them.

Ibrahima Konate, who was marking Magalhaes, appeared lost by Arsenal's quick shuffle and lost him in the process. The ball came through where Jesus and his marker would have been had they made the run and found Magalhaes totally unmarked. After that, it was simple to steer the ball past Alisson.

There are a couple of other examples, but from the foregoing, it is important to note that Arsenal's set pieces are carefully thought out. They just don't hoof the ball inside the area and expect miracles. Can this be the difference in the title race?

Time will tell.