The Blues have reportedly agreed a deal with Brentford on having Bernardo Cueva as their set-piece coach from next season.
The 36-year-old will continue working for the Bees until the end of the current campaign before making the switch across west London, according to The Athletic. The Blues had been looking to recruit a specialist set-piece coach to replace Anthony Barry, who left the role in April to join former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich, Mail Sport reported earlier this month .
Cueva began working as the tactical statistician and has played a crucial role in Brentford’s progress from the Championship to the Premier League side, after having joined Brentford from Mexican side Chivas in September 2020 after being recruited by the club’s director of football Phil Giles and technical director Lee Dykes.
The Bees quickly acquired a reputation for their set-piece prowess during his time at the club, with 16 of Brentford’s 58 goals in the Premier League game coming from a set piece last season. This is invariably the second-best figure in the league after Liverpool’s tally of 17.
Chelsea’s attacking set-pieces in particular have been underwhelming this season, with the Stamford Bridge side not having scored a single goal from an indirect free-kick. Only relegated threatened Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace, Burnley and Sheffield United have scored fewer than their six goals in the Premier League.
Following Barry’s departure last year, Chelsea had been without a specialist set-piece coach.
Pochettino however seemed to question the value of specialist coaches in a press conference last month.
“We have specialists,” he said. “We are a coaching staff in charge of everything.”