Mauricio Pochettino could possibly clash with Chelsea’s owners over their decision to hire Bernardo Cueva and he says he will determine if the new set-piece coach will be on the touchline.
The Blues have agreed to compensate Brentford with around £750,000 and will assign Cueva to establish a new set-piece department at the club.
Up to this point, Chelsea did not have a specialized set-piece coach, with goalkeeper coach Toni Jimenez leading, and Pochettino previously played down the importance of such a role.
But Chelsea are one of few teams in the Premier League without a dedicated coach for the role, with the likes of Arsenal’s Nicolas Jover and Aston Villa’s Austin MacPhee very visible, very vocal presences on the touchline, often shouting instructions before set-pieces.
While Pochettino insists he is in favor of Cueva’s appointment, the idea was not his, and the Argentine is firm that it will be his decision whether the set-piece coach is actively involved during games.
‘I am the head coach and I will decide if some people will be with me or not, or if I will add more people or not to the touchline,’ Pochettino said.
‘Sometimes I work [on them], sometimes Jesus Perez [his assistant], does. We are a coaching staff who already work on set-pieces. We are not only working in the gym or the tactical area.’
He continued: ‘[Cueva’s arrival] is the idea of the owner and sporting directors and we are very supportive.
‘We are aware the club want to create a global area about set pieces to reinforce the two people here. If some people come here to add their knowledge and to help us and to be better, very welcome. We cannot go against the things that can help us to be better and to maybe help us to win games.’
Speaking just last month, Pochettino had questioned the value of specialist set-piece coaches, saying: ‘We work a lot on set-pieces. After that, it is about the quality of the player. It is about the takers.
‘We don’t have a specialist. Maybe Chilly [Ben Chilwell] is good in the delivery but after that, we don’t have a specialist. If you want to be good at set-pieces, we work a lot. But then you need good takers.
‘When you have good takers, and of course, Wolves have good takers, and like Manchester City have or other clubs. It is not down to the work. We work similarly. But the problem is to have good takers.
‘We have specialists [coaches]. We are a coaching staff in charge of everything. You can have a specialist and you can promote the specialist. Or you can have the specialist and not promote the specialist. It depends how you want to sell the idea of working on set-pieces.
‘We have a specialist, we have a group of analysts for set-pieces, we have the coaching staff and we work a lot. And then it is about the quality. At the moment, we were talking about trying to find a good specialist [player] for next season.
'Compare West Ham's current state with their previous state. What has changed? Before and after? It's different now. The one taking the kick is [James] Ward-Prowse. Or is it Pochettino, right? Prowsey is a much better kicker than me. Definitely, you can put in the effort, like West Ham did. But when you add a player like him, you increase the chances of success. That's football. Football belongs to the players. Not to the experts.'
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