Chelsea’s Spending Continues as They Hire Mexican Set Piece Coach
Even with a whopping $1.26 billion spent on signings since Todd Boehly took over from Roman Abramovich, Chelsea are still willing to splash the cash to address their issues. The latest addition to their backroom staff is Mexican set piece coach Bernardo Cueva, who currently works at Brentford. The reported fee for his services is $1.1 million.
At 37 years old, Cueva is set to join Mauricio Pochettino’s team and bring his expertise in revamping Chelsea’s set pieces. The agreement between the two clubs has been reached, and Brentford has officially announced Cueva’s departure, expressing gratitude for his contributions over the past few years.
Phil Giles, Brentford’s director of football, praised Cueva’s work, stating, “Bernardo has done a fantastic job for us over the last four seasons. He leaves with the blessing and best wishes of everyone at Brentford.”
Cueva played a crucial role in Brentford’s recent successes in the Premier League, helping them survive in the top flight for three consecutive seasons. Of the 160 goals they scored since gaining promotion, 41 came from set pieces. In other words, more than 25% of their goals were meticulously designed by Cueva on the training ground.
Moving forward, Cueva will embark on a new chapter at Stamford Bridge after stints with Chivas, the Norway national team, and Brentford. His task will be to improve Chelsea’s set pieces, an area where they have struggled despite having towering defenders like Benoit Badiashile, Axel Disasi, and Levi Colwill.
Chelsea’s weakness in defending set pieces was evident in their 1-0 Carabao Cup final defeat to Liverpool. This season, their three defenders have contributed six of their 12 goals from set pieces. However, with Cueva’s expertise, the Blues will aim to close the gap on Arsenal, who have seen improvement with their own set piece specialist, Nicolas Jover.
In summary, Chelsea’s spending spree continues as they bring in Bernardo Cueva to address their set piece woes. With his track record at Brentford and his meticulous approach to designing set plays, Chelsea will hope to see an improvement in their set piece performance.
