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After two years in charge of set pieces, Bernardo Cueva is being moved upstairs as Chelsea get things in order for Xabi Alonso.
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Xabi Alonso into his second full week as Chelsea manager, and he’s already making some interesting moves at the club.
Kieran Gill of the Daily Mail has the exclusive story that Bernardo Cueva is changing roles under the new manager. The set piece coach was signed from Brentford since the start of Enzo Maresca’s reign. His arrival (which cost Chelsea £1m in compensation) was one of the issues that led to Mauricio Pochettino leaving Chelsea.
Now, after two years without a major improvement on offensive or defensive set pieces, Cueva is “changing roles” to one of analysis. Gill notes that he’s not been set on the training pitch during these early weeks of preseason.
Chelsea prepare to give Alonso more control
Manager Xabi Alonso of Chelsea during a training session at Chelsea Training Ground
Xabi Alonso (Photo by Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
Alonso’s full staff has not been announced yet, although Gill notes that one of his assistants will be Sebastian Parrilla, who was apparently key in a set piece capacity for Alonso at Leverkusen.
We wonder if we will see Cueva again, or if this is simply the first move in his departure? Is his analysis role a real thing, or just an excuse to get him out of the way?
In other news…
Chelsea’s plans to sign Pep Chavarria are looking increasingly unlikely – the Blues have been forced to consider returning to other targets previously considered too expensive.
Enzo Fernandez’s future needs to be sorted out immediately – the club are frozen over their other plans until they know whether the midfielder is staying or going.
Xabi Alonso
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