Despite the substantial £1 billion investment in new players by Chelsea’s current owners, Mauricio Pochettino emphasizes the need for someone adept at taking set-pieces.
The team’s lackluster performance in a 4-1 loss to Liverpool has left them in 10th place in the Premier League, with dim prospects for European football qualification.
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Stamford Bridge has witnessed remarkable transformations in the past year, as Pochettino grapples with the challenge of uniting an almost entirely new team.
According to the Argentine, the squad is still a work in progress, emphasizing the need for a consistently excellent set-piece specialist.
The former Spurs manager reveals that despite diligent training efforts on set-piece delivery, the absence of the right player hampers the team’s success in this aspect.
‘We work a lot on set-pieces,’ Pochettino told a press conference. ‘We have specialists. We are a coaching staff in charge of everything. We have a group of analysts for 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 we don’t have a specialist after that.
‘If you want to be good in 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.
‘Look before at West Ham, and after. What changed? After and before? It’s not the same. The taker is [James] Ward-Prowse.
‘For sure, you can work, like West Ham were working. But now, you add a player like him, you increase the percentage. That is football. Football belongs to the players. Not to the specialists.’
Chelsea will be back to Premier League action on Sunday against Wolves at Stamford Bridge.
