Rival fans have mocked Arsenal after an ‘embarrassing and cringey’ mural of set-piece coach Nicolas Jover was unveiled outside the Emirates Stadium.
The new mural, which depicts a smiling Jover in an Arsenal jacket beside a corner quadrant, was spotted for the first time on Wednesday night ahead of the club’s Champions League clash with Monaco.
Arsenal have become set-piece kings over the past two seasons, scoring more goals from corners than any other team in Europe’s big five leagues.
While clearly a bonus for a team bidding to win the Premier League for the first time since 2004, fans of other clubs have mocked Arsenal’s reliance on set-pieces and likened Mikel Arteta’s side to Tony Pulis’ Stoke City.
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta poached set-piece analyst Jover from his former club Manchester City in 2021 and the German-born coach has now been given his own mural close to the Emirates stadium.
Jover has been hailed as a ‘genius’ by fellow set-piece coaches and Arteta has repeatedly highlighted the 43-year-old’s importance to his side.
But Jover also has his critics, with ex-Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville somewhat bizarrely labelling him the ‘most annoying bloke in football’ last week.
Rival fans were not overly impressed by the mural of Jover and suggested it was ’embarrassing and cringey’.
‘This is just embarrassing,’ said one fan, while another posted on X: ‘This is why Arsenal will never win anything.’
A fan who appears to support Liverpool said: ‘Nah this is the cringiest thing I’ve ever seen.
‘I’d half understand if you won something and this set-piece coaching was the main reason but a mural after a quarter of a season just because you’ve scored a few set-pieces has to be the most Arsenal thing ever.’
Another added: ‘Well they can’t make murals of lifting trophies so I guess the set-piece coach is the next best thing?’
While rival fans revelled in the mocking of Arsenal, several Gunners fan appeared pleased with the mural and that Jover had been celebrated.
Discussing Jover’s importance to Arsenal earlier in the month, Arsenal boss Arteta said: ‘He’s a very special person and obviously someone very close to me.
‘I went to war for him at City because I felt there was a big room for improvement in that department.
‘I contacted him and I suggested to Pep (for him) to come and help us. Since then we’ve been extremely close.
‘We share a clear vision of how we want to put everything together, about how everything is connected, aligned and can work efficiently in our team.
‘There are a lot of other people who put a lot of effort and thought and hours into that, but for sure he is someone who is very, very important for the team.’
Jover has previously been described as a ‘genius’ by fellow set-piece analyst Mads Buttgereit.
‘I always had a passion for set-pieces but at that point I was still a normal coach, in a normal coaching role,’ he told Sky Sports. ‘I think, after meeting him, I began to see myself more as a set-piece specialist.
‘Nicolas is a genius in the way he thinks and the way he creates the plans. Sitting with him and discussing different set-plays, you feel everything has an exact thought behind it.
‘There are no coincidences at any point in any routine. Whenever we discussed set-pieces, it was never simple. We could discuss a specific corner routine for over an hour, not a problem.
‘We would go through every aspect and go through what the opponent would then do. It was very, very detailed.
‘There are a few set-piece coaches who I know personally but, in my mind, I think Nicolas is the best. He is fantastic.’
Jover appeared to irk ex-England defender Neville during Arsenal’s Premier League victory over Manchester United last week.
‘The set-piece coach at Arsenal, he’s got to be the most annoying bloke in football,’ he said during a watchalong on The Overlap.
‘He’s got to be, hasn’t he? He’s got to be though, hasn’t he?’
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