‘Secrets’ of Arsenal’s set-piece goal glut are ‘revealed’ in the French press, hours before they face PSG – and suggests Mikel Arteta’s team will be ‘sanctioned’ for their dark arts tactics
A French publication has claimed that it has revealed the secrets of Arsenal’s set-piece success just hours before Mikel Arteta’s side faces off with Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
The north London club has racked up an impressive number of goals stemming from corners and freekicks, an achievement which has been placed at the feet of not just the club’s head coach, but their set-piece specialist Nicolas Jover.
The Frenchman joined the club in 2021, but rose to prominence last year as Arsenal scored effort after effort from well-worked routines.
This season has proved no different, with the Gunners scoring via set pieces in their last two wins, against Leicester City and in last week’s north London derby against Tottenham.
But ahead of the club welcoming the Ligue 1 big beasts on Tuesday evening, L’Equipe appears to have offered the visitors a look at how and why their hosts have seen so much success from set-pieces – and offered a warning to Arsenal should they try similar moves on the night.
The sports news outlet alleged that Jover drills the squad on perfecting their set pieces using second goal net ‘perpendicular to the goal’ during training, with dummies placed in the second goal.
Players including Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, and Gabriel Martinelli are then said to be challenged to shoot at targets, scoring points against one another in a competitive ranking.
L’Equipe also claimed that Jover has been working on specific runs to sharpen players’ attacking edges.
Players are thought to be given just two seconds by Jover to run into a specific point to receive the ball, with Jover insisting on repeating and re-repeating the action until it becomes second nature to the squad.
Arsenal made their opponents pay on both occasions where set pieces have undone rivals this season, but L’Equipe was keen to highlight the winner at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as an example of Jover’s technique in practice.
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Ben White’s dogged tracking of Guglielmo Vicario proved crucial to allow Gabriel to sprint in from the penalty spot and bury his header from the corner kick, much to the chagrin of rival teams and fans who believe the defender should be penalised for blocking the ‘keeper.
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