Chelsea agrees to sign dead-ball specialist Bernardo Cueva
According to David Ornstein, via Football. London, Chelsea have reached an agreement to bring Brentford set piece coach Bernardo Cueva to West London after the end of the summer. The Blues have been without a set-piece specialist since the exit of Anthony Barry, who joined Bayern Munich in April 2023.
Since then, the West Londoners club have only produced seven from dead-ball situations in 2023/24. The arrival of Mexican set pieces from Brentford should help the club become a threatening side in dead-ball situations.
Cueva came to the Bees in 2020 when they were in the Championship, and soon they were promoted to the Premier League, and the Mexican work has been witnessed at the club. During their time at the championship, the Bees produced 12 goals from set pieces, and the numbers ultimately enhanced following the advancement to the top flight.
Brentford goals through set pieces have stood out in the Premier League under Cueva, who made the club one of the most dangerous sides during dead-ball situations. The number speaks for itself.
In the 2021/22 season, the Bees recorded 15 set-piece goals, which accounted for 30 per cent of their overall goal total. In the previous campaign, the 16 set-piece goals made up 27 per cent of Brentford’s goals.
Brentford’s record in set pieces tells us that Chelsea have landed one of the most impressive coaches in the world. This season, we have barely scored a goal from a free kick or any other set piece. Cueva’s work at Brentford speaks volumes, and it will be interesting to see how the coach helps the players.
We have many free-kick specialists like Enzo Fernandez, Christopher Nkunku, and Raheem Sterling. However, we also need to be physically built to score goals in those dead-ball situations because, currently, we don’t have that physicality in the league.
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Take Brentford as an example. They have players who are physically strong and always punish the opposition through set pieces, and their numbers in those situations are enough to justify it. So next season it will be interesting to see how the Blues will enhance their attributes in dead-ball situations.