“He’s Arteta’s secret weapon and most valuable asset in the team, we see him as the team leader and mentor, he told Arteta to sub off Declan Rice in the 70th minute”- Arsenal star Bukayo Saka praises Arsenal’s secret weapon which Mikel Arteta hijacked from Pep Guardiola at Man City

“He’s Arteta’s secret weapon and most valuable asset in the team, we see him as the team leader and mentor, he told Arteta to sub off Declan Rice in the 70th minute”- Arsenal star Bukayo Saka praises Arsenal’s secret weapon which Mikel Arteta hijacked from Pep Guardiola at Man City

Bukayo Saka has given a big thumbs up to Arsenal’s set-piece coach, Nicolas Jover, who was snatched up by Mikel Arteta from rival Manchester City. This clever coach, originally from Germany and France, joined the North London team in 2021, reuniting with Arteta after their time together under Pep Guardiola at City. Before that, Jover worked with Brentford, the Croatian national team, and French side Montpellier. People behind the scenes call the 42-year-old tactician a “genius,” and he’s earned praise from the public multiple times.

Saka was all praises after Arsenal’s impressive 5-0 victory against Crystal Palace on Saturday, highlighting the team’s success in scoring two goals from set-pieces. He specifically credited the hard work and fun approach brought by Nico, their set-piece coach. Saka shared, “It’s the worst, it’s the worst! Nico, our set-piece coach, does a really good job though, he tries to make it fun and he’s enjoying it. What he’s doing is clearly working so we’ll have to continue doing it.”

The young winger emphasized their dedication to improvement, stating, “We work on everything and we want to dominate every phase of play. We want to be the best team in the world so you have to be the best in everything. We can still do better so we will continue to work on everything that can make us better.”

In November, Leandro Trossard, who scored in the game against Palace, also spoke highly of Jover, expressing his pleasure in working with him and commending Jover’s clever strategies on set-pieces.

Arsenal brought in Jover in the summer of 2021 to fill the shoes of Andreas Gorgson, who decided to return to his native Sweden. Arteta explained the decision, saying, “After looking through what the best solution would be, a person that I know was on the market was available. He is someone whose expertise is incredibly useful and valuable for us. He’s joining us. His name is Nicolas Jover and I’ve worked with him before at City.”

Jover has delivered what Arteta anticipated, and with Arsenal now just two points off the top of the Premier League table, there’s a renewed sense of positivity at the Emirates. Arteta shared his satisfaction, stating, “They are great players, we have a great team and today they really wanted it. I could feel that. It was a win with a clean sheet and we scored five goals which we really needed.”