Arsenal defeated Manchester City in the Premier League for the first time since 2015, making the eight-year wait worthwhile but a fight between Nicolas Jover and Man City players video went viral
The game appeared to be headed for a scoreless draw before Gabriel Martinelli’s long-range strike bounced off Nathan Ake to give the Gunners the victory five minutes from time.
Who is Nicolas Jover Arsenal set piece coach involved in fight with Manchester City players in viral video
Nicolas Jover rattled Kyle Walker and Erling Haaland badly pic.twitter.com/5vAN6o0apD
— Gunners (@Gunnersc0m) October 9, 2023
Arsenal earned a statement win over the Premier League champions Manchester City.
After a lengthy wait, Michael Oliver announced the game’s end, and the atmosphere at Emirates Stadium was ecstatic. With more energy than usual, Martin Odegaard made his customary lap of celebration. As Mikel Arteta raced onto the pitch to embrace his squad, Martinelli collapsed to the ground in joy.
It Was Not All About Celebration For The Teams
Erling Haaland, Kyle Walker, and Jack Grealish all got into a fight with the Arsenal coach Nicolas Jover as the City players limped back towards the away dressing room.ย
Bukayo Saka promptly broke up the fight and served as a mediator before the City players eventually left the area and went into the tunnel.
The specific reason for the altercation is still unknown. In his post-game press conference, Mikel Arteta channelled his inner Arsene Wenger and merely stated, “I haven’t seen it.”ย
Pep Guardiola was ready to confess that he saw it, but he was coy about the specifics. He added, “I know what happened, but I don’t want to say anything.”
Who is Nicolas Jover?
The German-born French football manager was born on October 24, 1981, in Berlin, Germany. He is the set-piece coach for Premier League club Arsenal.ย
Nicolas Joverโs Career
Jover began his coaching career at Montpellier as a video analyst and worked with numerous managers at Stade de la Mosson from July 2009 to June 2019.ย
He briefly served as a match analyst for Croatia in 2013 while he was employed by Montpellier. He then relocated to England in July 2016 to work as Dean Smith’s assistant coach at Brentford, where he remained until June 2019 before joining Thomas Frank’s coaching staff.ย
Jover joined Manchester City in July 2019 as Pep Guardiola’s assistant, specialising in set pieces, where he met Mikel Arteta, who was playing No. 2 at Etihad.ย
In December 2019, Arteta departed Manchester City to become the manager of Arsenal, and in July 2021, he persuaded Jover to go to North London.ย
In just three months of the 2021/22 season, Arsenal went from having the third-lowest number of goals from set pieces in the Premier League in 2020/21 to leading the league in goals from dead-ball situations.ย
Nicolas Joverโs Immediate Effect On Team
He can frequently be seen shouting instructions from the sidelines for every corner and free-kick due to his prominent position with the Gunners. However, he is used to having this kind of power.
Gareth Southgate’s assistant visited Brentford’s training ground before the 2018 World Cup to observe the Frenchman’s American football-inspired tactics honed while studying at the Universitรฉ de Sherbrooke.
The knowledge gained that day would later serve as the foundation for the infamous “love train” strategy, which was so effective in helping the Three Lions advance to the Russian World Cup semifinals.
Jover has previously discussed his aspiration to one day create a corner play that would be so recognisable that it will be associated with him in the same way that “Tiki Taka” is associated with Guardiola or “Gegenpressing” is associated with Jurgen Klopp.
In his book Football Hackers: The Science and Art of a Data Revolution, he told Christoph Biermann, “I dream of developing a recognisable style of set pieces, just like a playing style.”
Nicolas Joverโs Previous Encounter With Walker, Haaland And Grealish
Walker would have been familiar with Jover prior to their Sunday matchup after the whistle because he got his start at the Etihad Stadium. In fact, only a few moments earlier, he had spoken to John Stones, another of his former players, in what appeared to be cordial terms.ย
However, Haaland and Grealish wouldn’t have known the Frenchman before the match because they came after his departure for north London.