Matt Law is today reporting that Chelsea are considering hiring Brentford’s set piece coach Bernardo Cueva to be the club’s first full time specialist in that area.
The Mexican has been with the Bees since 2020 and their effectiveness from set pieces has been absolutely vital to their continued Premier League survival. Law now says he’s on Chelsea’s “radar”, although he insists it’s “not known” whether there have actually been any talks between the clubs yet.
This may well be true, and in fact we hope it is. If the coaching staff aren’t able to get set pieces sorted themselves, there’s no shame in bringing in outside help. This isn’t even in the realm of marginal gains, this should lead to an immediate impact in terms of goals conceded and scored.
But there’s also the sense that this is the kind of news that the club enjoys leaking out, so everyone knows they’re being proactive.
