Pochettino to raid Brentford for set-piece specialist in ‘significant coup’

Robin Bairner

• 14 Mar 2024 08:07 GMT
• 3 min read

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino is looking to Brentford to plug a major gap in his team that has been very obviously missing this season.

While Bees striker Ivan Toney has been linked with a move to the Blues in the past, Pochettino appears to have little interest in the England striker now. Victor Osimhen appears destined to join the Stamford Bridge club from Napoli instead.

Instead, the Argentine’s interest in Brentford surrounds filling a void that has been very obviously missing at the Blues this season.

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Chelsea have been without a set-piece coach all season, and with such specialists now commonplace at top clubs, this is a gaping void that needs to be filled.

According to David Ornstein, Pochettino wants to raid the backroom team of Thomas Frank’s side to sign Bernardo Cueva.

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Who is Bernardo Cueva?

Cueva has been with Brentford since September 2020, before they were promoted to the Premier League, and has won widespread acclaim for his work.

“Chelsea identified Cueva as the prime candidate for a role that has been vacant since Anthony Barry exited for Bayern Munich last April — and landing such a well-regarded operator will be viewed by many as a significant coup,” The Athletic reports.

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Somewhat surprisingly, given Chelsea’s interest and their reputation, Brentford have not excelled from set-pieces this season.

Frank’s men have scored from only seven dead-ball situations in the Premier League, and despite playing three giant centre-backs in the main.

This tally puts them joint 10th in the league, sitting alongside Chelsea, who clearly have significant scope to improve this area. This is highlighted by the fact that they have taken a league-low number of shots from set plays, yet when they have got them away, they have been deadly.

Arsenal, meanwhile, have been the league’s masters of set-pieces, scoring 18 goals to date.