Chelsea reach agreement with Bernardo Cueva for summer deal after Pochettino consultation

Chelsea recently finalized the acquisition of their first player of the summer transfer window—a coach, rather than a player. Numerous reports claim that the Blues and Brentford have agreed to name Bernardo Cueva as a set-piece coach. The 36-year-old will reportedly work with Thomas Frank at the G-Tech Community until the end of the current campaign before bringing his magic to Stamford Bridge, according to the report. The Telegraph also reports that Chelsea will pay the Bees anywhere from £750,000 to £1 million in exchange for Cueva. Since Anthony Barry left the Blues in April 2023 to follow Thomas Tuchel to Bayern Munich, the team has been without a dead ball specialist coach. With that said, football.london has examined Cueva’s recent attention-grabbing story and the reasons Chelsea was eager to sign him.

Remarkably, Ivan Toney scored seven of those. Arsenal came in behind Tottenham Hotspur with 15, and the latter with 16. To put things in perspective, the Blues scored only eight goals from set pieces the previous season and have only scored seven so far this one.

How has Cueva been discussed?
Frank jumped to Cueva’s defense in January 2023 after Jurgen Klopp said Brentford’s aggressive set-piece tactics “stretch the rules.” “I guess we have some very, very good refs, I think there are four on the pitch, and then we have a VAR room,” the Bees manager said to Sky Sports.

“Scoring a goal has never been more challenging. Today, two of our goals were disallowed. Since neither of them appeared to be offside, we most likely would have scored in a game [without VAR]. Naturally, though, I’m glad he gave us credit for our efforts and thinks highly of our offensive set pieces.

Klopp did not think highly of Cueva’s contributions. “I’m not sure you can really control it all the time because each corner is a massive threat,” the manager of Liverpool remarked. In these moments, they fully engage in body contact, pushing the boundaries.

“It’s funny that there was only one offensive foul called on a set-piece tonight, and it was against us. Pushing is pushing, and holding is holding. More than our desired game, it was the one they wanted. The way the whistle went off allowed them to control it.

“They scored from two corners; one was offside, and the other—well, we don’t always follow the rules—went beyond the bounds of the game. They are holding and pushing incredibly hard. It’s evident that you are capable of that.

“I really can’t respect the third goal.” The referee ruled that there was no foul, and VAR then uses the term “clear and obvious” to cover itself. If someone were to question the referee, he would have to clarify that.

What remarks has Pochettino made?
It’s interesting to note that Pochettino expressed earlier in the year his desire for Chelsea to sign a set-piece specialist in the summer. According to the Blues manager, “We work a lot on set-pieces.” We have experts on staff. We are the all-powerful coaching staff. We have a team of set-piece analysts.

“After that, the player’s caliber becomes important. The takers are the key. There isn’t a specialist here. We may have a good delivery from Chilly [Ben Chilwell], but beyond that we don’t have a specialist.

“We work a lot if you want to be good in set-pieces. Then again, you need good acceptors. When a team has quality takers—which Wolves, of course, do, as do other teams like Manchester City.

It has nothing to do with labor. We operate in a similar manner, but finding good takers is a challenge. Examine West Ham both before and after. What altered? both prior to and following? It isn’t equivalent. It’s [James] Ward-Prowse who takes.

You can work, just as West Ham was working, without a doubt. However, the percentage increases when you include a player such as him. That’s how football works. The players own football. Not to the experts.

Lampard gives advice on transfers.
Even with the best set-piece specialists in the world, you would still struggle to score many goals from close range. Frank Lampard proposed in July 2020 that Chelsea should sign taller players in order to benefit from their training ground labor.

This season, we’ve looked at set pieces, the former Chelsea manager said. “We looked at the stats from the previous season when we first arrived at the club. When it came to teams getting big chances against us, we were last in the league’s set play defense and second-bottom in terms of attacking.

“This year, we haven’t made much progress. Although I really hate to discuss my own playing days, there were several reasons why we didn’t work much on set pieces, chief among them being the presence of John Terry, Gary Cahill, Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack, and [Branislav] Ivanovic.

“You would place it there, and they would either score goals or defend it. A few seasons ago, I seem to recall hearing a lot of talk about Liverpool and set pieces. They were conceding a lot and playing zonal. Virgil van Dijk is a player they signed, and he leads everything.

The main thing is to try to compete as hard as you can and make it difficult for other teams to score if you don’t have that size. Personnel is a big factor.

“But since we haven’t performed that well enough and it needs to get better, I’m not offering any justifications. It is undoubtedly something to consider when looking at potential additions to the squad’s balance.