- Chelsea have scored five goals in the Premier League from set pieces in the competition
- The Blues do not have a dedicated set-piece specialist on their coaching staff
- Mauricio Pochettino wanted to sign three players in the transfer window, but ended up with NONE – It all kicks off the Transfer Week podcast
Chelsea will target a set-piece specialist in the summer transfer window, with Mauricio Pochettino citing the impact of his former player James Ward-Prowse at West Ham.
Pochettino believes his team lack a ‘taker’ for such scenarios, saying Ben Chilwell comes closest as they look to bounce back from their 4-1 defeat at Liverpool when Wolves visit on Saturday came.
“We work a lot on set pieces,” said Pochettino, whose side are 10th in the Premier League. ‘After that it’s about the quality of the player. It’s about the takers. We do not have a specialist. If you want to be good at set pieces, we work a lot. But then you need good buyers.’
This week, Manchester City credited Carlos Vicens with Julian Alvarez’s goal assisted by Kevin De Bruyne against Burnley.
Chelsea are one of a growing number of Premier League clubs without a dedicated set-piece specialist on their coaching staff, but Pochettino insisted on Friday that is not the problem.
Mauricio Pochettino believes his team lacks a player capable of consistently producing from set-piece opportunities
The Chelsea boss cited the impact of his former player James Ward-Prowse at West Ham
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“It’s not the work,” Pochettino said. ‘We work similarly. But the problem is having good customers. We talked about finding a good specialist for next season.
‘Look at West Ham. What changed? After and before? It’s not the same. The taker is Ward-Prowse. If you add a player like him, you increase the percentage. That’s football. Football belongs to the players. Not to the specialist (coaches).’
Five of Chelsea’s 36 Premier League goals this season have come from set-pieces, with Pochettino working to improve their goal threat.
Although they loaned Armando Broja to Fulham in January without signing a striker, Pochettino insists he has plenty of options to play alongside Nicolas Jackson against Wolves upon his return from the Africa Cup of Nations.