Piero Hincapie makes clear demand to Arsenal team-mates as Nicolas Jover admission made

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Arsenal defender Piero Hincapie has spoken bullishly about the criticism his side has faced and credits set-piece coach Nicolas Jover for making the club's routines talked about all over the world

Piero Hincapie says Arsenal should be fighting to the limits of what is allowed as he prepares to face his former club, with the defender praising set-piece coach Nicolas Jover for the club’s world-renowned corners and free-kick prowess. The Ecuador international is currently on loan from Bayer Leverkusen and football.london understands the move will become permanent in the summer.

After suffering an injury at the beginning of the season, it was difficult to break into the side with the presence of Riccardo Calafiori and Myles Lewis-Skelly. However, in the last couple of months the defender has become the main starter in the side.

He impressed in Arsenal’s wins over Tottenham, Chelsea and Brighton and now looks immovable from the role. Speaking in an interview with BILD, Hincapie explained that the team is hungry for silverware.

“The most important thing is already in place at Arsenal: after such a long time without any major trophies, everyone here is hungry for titles,” he said. “So we're all really pulling in the same direction, and the coaching team's plans are working out really well so far.

“We need to keep it that way until the very last second, then we'll have something to celebrate at the end of the season. I've been through this before and now I want to help my new team by using and passing on my experience.”

Hincapie won the Bundesliga with Leverkusen when they went an entire league campaign without losing. He is now looking to take that experience into this huge end to the season.

“Our will to win makes us perfectionists,” he said. “We pay attention to the details. Our set-piece strength is talked about all over Europe. That's the result of really daily training with our set-piece coach Nico Jover.

“It sounds annoying, but the results mean that every one of us wants to score a goal from a corner or a free kick.”

Fabian Hurzeler was videoed in conversation on the touchline with Hincapie, where the Arsenal defender could be seen shushing the Brighton head coach. The Gunners faced criticism during the game around time wasting which extends beyond the more general critiques the side have faced.

Hincapie understood Hurzeler’s frustrations and labelled them as being something in the moment. Most poignantly however was the defender’s spirit to suggest Arsenal need to “fight to the limits” and “have balls” to achieve what they want to.

“I don't hold that against him at all. In the heat of the game, differences of opinion are bound to arise,” he said. “The most important thing for me is that we are successful and don't do anything illegal.

“You can't always win beautifully. Every now and then, you have to be smart and fight to the limits of what is allowed. You have to have balls. In the double season, not all of our games were great to watch, but we won them.”