Declan Rice has established himself as a force to be reckoned with at Arsenal. Since his move from West Ham, the midfielder’s game has evolved, embracing an increased focus on goals and assists.
A pivotal shift has been his transition into the primary set-piece taker, fuelling Arsenal’s success in dead-ball situations.
Declan Rice, Arsenal‘s star midfielder, has transformed his game since joining the club. He’s scoring more goals and providing assists, making him a pivotal attacking threat. This increased focus on goals and assists stemmed from a change in his set-piece duties, moving from being a target in the box to the corner and free-kick taker.
Rice’s success in this role isn’t just about his deliveries. It’s a team effort. Arsenal have mastered the art of set-piece goals, leading the Premier League in both headers and set-piece goals scored. Key to this is Ben White, who excels in the behind-the-scenes work, distracting and blocking opponents. White isn’t afraid to use any necessary tactics as instructed by manager Mikel Arteta, even if it means bending the rules.
“I’ll be honest, some people might stand here and say ‘Yeah, I’ve surprised myself,’ but I haven’t,” Rice told ESPN at the London Football Awards this week. “I was playing this well at West Ham, I feel like my levels at West Ham gave me so much confidence and belief in myself to have that belief I can be a top Premier League player.
“But the main thing was to be myself. Not to change anything. Just because I have been signed for £105 million, don’t do anything different, just be myself. Things can unlock and so far things have gone really well. I’ve signed for six years and there is still such a long way to go in my Arsenal career.”
Asked about his goal against West Ham recently, Rice added, “To score that and watch the goal back, you can’t help but smile.
“Probably my best moment so far. My role has completely changed to what I was doing at West Ham and it has taken time to adapt, to improve, to ask questions, and I am really just trying to buy into it. I was bought for a lot of money, I want to ask questions and improve, and I want to win stuff with this club.”
The, moving on to his new set-piece responsibility, Rice said, “We had actually been having conversations about it with Nicolas Jover, the set-piece coach, since the start of the season,” he said. “Obviously because of my height [6’1/185.4cm], he’s wanted me in the box. I just feel like he wanted a switch-up. If I hadn’t got the assist against Palace, I don’t think anyone would have been talking about it.
“Obviously I’ve been putting in good deliveries near middle, back post in games. I get excited by getting assists now. It is a big thing for me. Whereas before, goals and assists weren’t really my thing. But now I like getting assists, getting goals and I feel it gives me that extra energy on the pitch. I’m striving, I’ve got targets between the end of the season, what I want to hit.”
Arsenal’s set-piece success
In total, Arsenal have scored 34 goals from set-pieces since the start of the 22/23 season with 19 of those coming this season.
For comparison, that’s the same number as Manchester City and Liverpool, combined.
13 of those goals have come from corners alone this campaign.
While some claim Arsenal’s set-piece success relies on using blockers, this is largely untrue. Just recently, Jamie Carragher incorrectly compared Liverpool’s disallowed goal to Arsenal’s free-kick tactics. Arsenal’s routines involve a line of attackers in offside positions, but they quickly drop onside to attack the cross, rather than blocking defenders.
Arsenal occasionally employ legal “pinning” tactics in their corner-kick strategies, such as Gabriel freeing Declan Rice to score against Manchester United. However, their primary focus is not on blocking. For example, their goal against Crystal Palace utilised decoys and blocking the goalkeeper, but the key element was creating space for Gabriel to attack the ball.
The focus of Nicolas Jover, Arsenal’s set-piece coach, lies in finding creative ways to manufacture space within the penalty area. He designs various moves to achieve this, making Arsenal a formidable threat from set pieces.
What drives Nicolas Jover?
Jover’s passion for set-piece strategy began in 2008 while studying at the University of Sherbrooke. He designed plays, codes, and signals for his university team, drawing inspiration from the deception and decoys seen in American football.
His professional debut in football came as a video analyst at Montpellier, where his focus shifted primarily to set pieces in 2012.
Jover later joined Brentford after six years in France, becoming a dedicated set-piece coach. This allowed him to directly communicate his strategies to players and individualise their roles.
He took this approach to Manchester City, impressing Arteta, who later recommended him to Arsenal.