Gary Neville rattled by ‘annoying’ Arsenal man who masterminded Man Utd defeat and wowed Jamie Carragher

Gary Neville labelled an Arsenal man the “most annoying bloke in football,” though Jamie Carragher was far more appreciative of the impact he’s making.

Ruben Amorim’s unbeaten start to life at Manchester United came crashing down in north London on Wednesday night. The Red Devils remained resolute in the first half, though were powerless to prevent Arsenal from scoring from corners after the break.

Jurrien Timber glanced home his first goal for the Gunners from Declan Rice’s accurate corner. William Saliba scored the second of Arsenal’s two goals on the night after nudging home Thomas Partey’s headed effort from Bukayo Saka’s corner.

Partey actually missed a glorious chance of his own in the first half. Sticking with the theme, the opportunity arose from a corner.

Arsenal have proven themselves near-impossible to stop from set pieces and corners in particular in recent years.

Credit must go to Rice and Saka for their pin-point delivery, as well as those in the box who follow their instructions closely. Gabriel Magalhaes – who attacks the ball with ferocity – is often the main beneficiary.

But while the players cannot be overlooked, the bulk of the credit must go to the man designing the plays – Arsenal’s set piece coach, Nicolas Jover.

Arsenal hired Jover in 2021 after the 42-year-old brought his two-year stint with Manchester City to a close. His influence can now be seen all over Arsenal’s set pieces, with the Gunners scoring 16 goals from corners in the 2023/24 season.

That figure matched the Premier League’s all-time record for corner goals in a single-season. Oldham (1992/93 – 42-game season) and West Brom (2016/17) are co-holders of that particular record.

Jover’s impact is unparalleled from a set piece coach’s perspective and he’s even beginning to rattle legends from rival clubs.

While watching Arsenal’s clash with Man Utd during a watchalong on The Overlap, Man Utd legend, Gary Neville, declared Jover is “the most annoying bloke in football.”

“The set-piece coach at Arsenal, he’s got to be the most annoying bloke in football,” bemoaned Neville.

“He’s got to be, hasn’t he? He’s got to be though, hasn’t he?”

Neville’s annoyance at Jover simply stems from how effective he is. Fellow pundit Jamie Carragher adopted a more even-handed outlook on the irreplaceable coach when claiming he could rightfully ask for a pay-rise.

“I’ll tell you what, give him what he wants,” added Carragher.

“If you were that set-piece coach for Arsenal, you could write your own contract, couldn’t you? You couldn’t get rid of him.

“You know, if he said, ‘I want 25 grand a week,’ you’d have to give it to him, wouldn’t you?”

Latest Arsenal news – Isak, Kiwior, Edu successor

In other news, Spanish reports claim Arsenal could be ready to smash their transfer record for Alexander Isak.

TEAMtalk understands Isak is valued at £115m by Newcastle and the latest news from Spain states the Gunners could table a mammoth £112m bid.

Elsewhere, no fewer than 10 clubs are reportedly interested in signing Arsenal defender Jakub Kiwior in January.

Finally, reports in France claim to know the identity of Edu’s successor in the sporting director role.

Arsenal’s corner dominance (Premier League only)