Man City's Jover replaces Georgson as Arsenal set piece specialist
Jover worked for City for two seasons
Written by Simon Austin — July 6, 2021
SET PIECE specialist Nicolas Jover has left Manchester City after two years to replace Andreas Georgson on the staff at Arsenal.
Swede Georgson is leaving the Gunners after one season to return to Malmo, where he had spent the previous 14 years in a range of Academy and first-team roles.
His title there will be Sports Director, with responsibilities including management, strategy, development, player and leader recruitment, and analysis.
“I have enjoyed and learned a lot during my seasons at Brentford and Arsenal, but when this opportunity arose, I did not hesitate for a second that it is the right place for me to be,” said Georgson, whose official title at Arsenal was Assistant Head Coach.
City have no plans to replace him with another dedicated set-piece specialist, TGG understands, although new assistant Carlos Vicens will take on some responsibility for this specific area of the game.
Before City, Jover spent three seasons with Brentford, the kings of specialist coaching.
His successor there was Georgson, whose title was Head of Set Pieces and Individual Development. And Jover will already be well-acquainted with a couple of members of Arsenal’s staff.
He worked with manager Mikel Arteta for half a season at City, when the Spaniard was assistant to Pep Guardiola, and with goalkeeper coach Inaki Cana Pavon for one season at Brentford.
The Frenchman has a very interesting back story, as we've previously outlined on TGG. He went to University in Canada and then worked as Technical Director at local amateur side Université de Sherbrooke.
This is where he got to know former Montpellier player Pascal Baills, who recommended him for a video analyst job with the French club in 2009. This is where Jover, an American Football fan, became a set-piece specialist, poring over tapes of thousands of throw-ins, free kick and corners, and helped them claim their first ever league title in 2011/12.
After this came a spell with the Croatia national team, under Niko Kovac, and then with Brentford. Ball striking specialist Bartek Sylwestrzak worked closely with him at the west London club and told TGG: "His work was about the position of the players, the runs they make, the deception, the different variations that can be deployed.
“I would ask him, ‘What type of delivery do you want?' Where do you want the ball to go?’ ‘Who do we work with?’ And we would go from there. Nicolas has good English, good communication skills and is good with the players.
"This is one of the reasons he has had success, because he is a very easy person to work with; no conflict, no friction. I can only say positive things about him."
In an interview with Christoph Biermann for his book ‘Football Hackers: The Science and Art of a Data Revolution’, Jover said: “I dream of developing a recognisable style of set pieces, just like a playing style”.
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