- Gary Neville has called an Arsenal figure “the most annoying guy in football”
- He was crucial to Arsenal’s 2-0 victory over Neville’s beloved Manchester United.
- LISTEN NOW: Manchester City correspondent Jack Gaughan joins It’s all starting! to explain if Pep Guardiola will have money to spend in January
The man responsible for Arsenal’s 2-0 victory over Manchester United is “the most annoying guy in football”, Gary Neville has claimed.
Goals from Jurrien Timber and William Saliba provided a harsh reality check for Ruben Amorim at the Emirates, who suffered his first defeat in charge of United on Wednesday night.
And Neville was quick to revive his comment about a man he once branded a “little annoyance” after his former team were outclassed.
That man is none other than Arsenal’s set-piece coach Nicolas Jover, who must have been delighted that both goals came from set-piece routines.
Arsenal have scored 22 goals from corners since the start of last season, more than any other team.
“Arsenal’s set-piece coach has to be the most annoying guy in football,” Neville said while watching the match on The Overlap.
Arsenal’s set-piece coach Nicolas Jover has been called “the most annoying guy in football” by Gary Neville
Arsenal scored two set pieces to defeat Neville’s former Manchester United 2-0.
Neville had previously called Jover a “little annoyance” due to his gift for organizing corner routines.
It has to be, right? It has to be, right?
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher said: “I’ll tell you what, give him what he wants.”
“If you were that Arsenal set-piece coach, you could draw up your own contract, right?” You couldn’t get rid of it.
‘You know, if he said, “I want $25,000 a week,” you’d have to give it to him, right?’
Jover is becoming a much-loved figure at the Emirates as his set-piece wizardry has helped Arsenal gain the advantage over their rivals, including in the 3-2 derby win over Tottenham in April .
He hit the headlines in October last year when Manchester City’s Kyle Walker appeared to snub a handshake from Jover after Arsenal beat them 1-0 at the Emirates.
There is history there because Jover worked in the same role for Pep Guardiola at City between 2019 and 2021, before linking up with Arteta again at Arsenal.
And Neville has previously expressed his exasperation at how good Jover is. At the Spurs-Arsenal game in April, he said: “It’s been the same Arsenal set-up all year and it’s been good all year.”
Rubén Amorim had to face reality after suffering his first defeat as United manager.
Jurrien Timber and William Saliba scored as Arsenal reduced the gap on Liverpool to seven points.
“That set piece coach is a little annoying, but he’s really good!”
Born in Berlin, Jover began his career as a video analyst at French club Montpellier and briefly held a similar position with the Croatian national team.
He arrived in England in July 2016 to work as assistant coach to Dean Smith at Brentford and continued under Thomas Frank when the Bees were in the Championship.
His talent was recognized by Guardiola and in 2019, Jover joined City’s coaching staff to work on set pieces.
While at the Etihad, Jover worked in his first months under Mikel Arteta, Guardiola’s number 2, before leaving to take charge of Arsenal.
Arteta convinced Jover to take on a similar role at Arsenal in July 2021 after previous set-piece coach Andreas Georgson returned to Malmö as sporting director.
