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Chelsea's miserable campaign continued following a 2-2 draw at Brentford on March 2. They are currently 11th in the Premier League table with dreams of European football next season still very distant.
Pressure from fans is mounting, who are once again calling for the sacking of manager Mauricio Pochettino following a run of disappointing results. Chelsea have been on a downhill path in terms of results on the pitch ever since BluCo, the consortium led by Todd Boehly, took over back in 2022.
It's been a dismal couple of seasons, which saw managerial changes, huge spendings, and British record transfer fees (£106.8 million for Enzo Fernandez, £115 million for Moises Caicedo) being shelled out. There has also been a structural change in the operations owing to the multi-club model, which was initiated by the purchase of a majority stake in French club RC Strasbourg by Boehlys consortium.
At the heart of all this has been the recruitment of several senior executives and coaching staff from several Premier League clubs. The club has put emphasis on data-backed transfers and improving the overall sporting infrastructure by bringing in the best in every department, the latest of which is a set-piece specialist.
Chelsea are reportedly in talks with Brentford's set piece specialist Bernardo Cueva to strengthen their set piece department, as reported by Telegraph correspondent Matt Law. Although nothing has been finalized yet, reports suggest that Chelsea have already "sounded out" potential candidates, with the Brentford coach leading the race as of now.
Who is Bernardo Cueva, the set-piece specialist coach on Chelsea's radar?
Cueva's official title at Brentford is "tactical statistician," which entails handling set pieces and he is often seen yelling directions to the players from the technical area. Born in Mexico, Cueva was previously employed as the strategic analysis manager at Club Deportivo Guadalajara, known as Chivas.
He moved to the UK in September 2020 and has since worked with Thomas Frank. For a while now, Brentford has been among the most creative and productive teams at set pieces.
They scored 19 goals from set pieces during the 2022–23 season, ranking first on this department in the Premier League last campaign. They scored 59 goals in total the previous season, which indicates that around 30% of their goals came from set pieces.
Brentford have conceded five goals from only 39 shots and scored five times from 66 shots in set-pieces this season. Only Arsenal and Manchester City have conceded fewer goals from set-pieces than Thomas Frank’s team this season.
It wouldn't be the first time Brentford would have their set-piece specialists poached, having seen Nicolas Jover, who went to Manchester City and then to Arsenal. And before that, Gianni Vio, who worked with Antonio Conte at Tottenham Hotspur, and Andreas Georgson, who has worked for Arsenal and Malmo, also left the club.
Are Mauricio Pochettino and the board on the same page regarding the appointments?
Chelsea say Pochettino has been involved in the process of creating a set-piece department, despite several reports stating otherwise. The head coach dismissed the importance of specialist coaches in a press conference before their loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge earlier this season.
He had said:
"It depends how you want to sell the idea of working on set-pieces. We have a specialist, we have a group of analysts for set-pieces, we have the coaching staff and we work a lot. And then it is about the quality. At the moment, we were talking about trying to find a good specialist [player] for next season."
Chelsea are currently missing a set-piece specialist in their backroom staff since Anthony Barry moved to Bayern Munich back in April 2023.
Can a set-piece department help Chelsea improve their record?
Chelsea have struggled defensively this season, having conceded a total of 43 goals this season in the Premier League. This translates to a goal every 55 minutes, or an average of 1.65 goals per game. Yet their set-piece success in both defending and attacking isn’t exactly a glaring issue.
With respect to set pieces, Chelsea have scored six goals and conceded seven, the latest and most gut wrenching of those coming in the League Cup final. The rough 10 percent success rate shown by Chelsea (four goals from 38 set pieces in the league) also resonates with the PL average for set piece conversion (97 goals from 1092 shots).
Chelsea's lengthy injury list has also contributed significantly to their defensive vulnerability. Defenders like Reece James and Wesley Fofana are out for the entire season, while others like Marc Cucurella, Benoit Badiashille, Ben Chilwell, and Trevoh Chalaboh have been suffering constant injury setbacks.
Thiago Silva, who isn't getting any younger by the day, has also struggled massively in several matches. Chelsea, however, could take inspiration from the success achieved by rivals Arsenal in their set piece culture after similar specialist recruitment.
Nicolas Jover, the former Brentford man, helped improve their free-kicks and corner conversion, which saw them score 19 set-piece goals so far this season. Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa are two more teams that have hired such specific coaches. While an overnight turnover cannot be expected, Chelsea would like to make this one of the areas they improve in ahead of next season. And they would be hoping this appointment paves the way.
