Arsenal's secret signing the real difference in North London Derby as Kai Havertz says thank you
How many times do we find ourselves as Arsenal fans looking at this team and saying, 'my goodness me they're big?' That's simply because they are, and as they bullied a Tottenham Hotspur side in the North London Derby - certainly in the first half - it was evident that additional height and muscle was a key difference.
That said, plenty of sides have height and physicality in their own armoury but what is it about Arsenal which sets them aside from the rest? Mikel Arteta's philosophy has been the foundation for the ever-progressing side, but one signing he's made once again stole the pictures and the focus from the television cameras: Nicolas Jover.
The Arsenal set-piece coach was getting all the praise from the pundits before the half-time break and it continued into it with two of the goals coming from corners. Both Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's own goal and Kai Havertz taking advantage of deliveries from established takers Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice respectively.
The double took Arsenal to 16 goals from corners for the season as they rank among the best in the league for their routines from the corner flag. Clubs can invest huge amounts in players and see varied amounts of success.
Look to Chelsea under the Todd Boehly regime and witness a side with seemingly little strategy in spending beyond targeting promising young players, and even fewer successes in delivering footballing philosophies to the players they bought. Whereas there is far greater establishment of how Arsenal exercise the traits of their team, perhaps none more so than by the work of Jover.
At every single set piece, the movement of the players is unpredictable and it appears to set a mode of panic in the opposition ranks. Perhaps none so more evident than the Gunners' first goal against Spurs as Tomiyasu's run in front of Hojbjerg unsettled the Dane, who ended up heading into his own net.
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Then came the high curling effort onto the head of Havertz. Bread and butter for a player of his characteristics and certainly well-planned as both Rice and Saka on the corners love to try and find the players at the near post with dipping crosses.
However, as Tottenham fought back in the second half, Arsenal had to defend corner after corner, free-kick after free-kick and they managed to come through it. David Raya might have given away a horrific goal which changed everything, but all that followed was very good indeed.
Yes, he couldn’t stop a perfect Son Heung-min penalty, but his collections and presence in the box were excellent. Spurs had so little joy that the chances were mitigated to potshots and deflections.
Arsenal's tall defenders also came good as they headed away opportunities left and right. Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba proved the difference continually, playing no small part in Jover's organisation.