{"id":18916,"date":"2026-07-19T18:04:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T18:04:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=18916"},"modified":"2026-07-19T18:04:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T18:04:34","slug":"chelsea-set-piece-coach-set-for-move-behind-the-scenes-as-xabi-alonso-finalises-his-backroom-staff-with-ex-bayer-leverkusen-expert-poised-to-join-the-spaniards-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=18916","title":{"rendered":"Chelsea set-piece coach set for move behind the scenes as Xabi Alonso finalises his backroom staff – with ex-Bayer Leverkusen expert poised to join the Spaniard’s team"},"content":{"rendered":"


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By KIERAN GILL, MAIL SPORT REPORTER <\/p>\n

Published:<\/span>

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Bernardo Cueva, who has served as Chelsea\u2019s set-piece specialist for the last two seasons, is changing roles to one more behind the scenes and away from the pitch.<\/p>\n

The Mexican, 38, had been in charge of set-plays since 2024 when the Premier League club hired him out of Brentford, reportedly at a compensatory cost worth around \u00a31million.<\/p>\n

Now, Daily Mail Sport can reveal Cueva will be taking on a different position under Chelsea\u2019s owners BlueCo in a more technical and advisory capacity.<\/p>\n

Among his responsibilities, he will carry a particular focus on set-piece analysis, opposition preparation, and performance insights.<\/p>\n

Usually a constant presence on the pitch, Cueva has not been spotted in Chelsea’s training sessions since pre-season started under Xabi Alonso on Thursday, July 9.<\/p>\n

Chelsea sources have stressed this change should not be seen as a demotion and that Cueva will continue to play a highly crucial role within their football operation.<\/p>\n

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\"Bernardo <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Bernardo Cueva (right) is set to take up a role in a technical and advisory capacity at Chelsea<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Chelsea have not yet announced Alonso\u2019s backroom staff in full, though among his assistants will be Sebastian Parrilla, who arrives with a reputation for improving set-piece output, both defensively and offensively. Under Alonso, Parrilla was credited with boosting Bayer Leverkusen\u2019s numbers when they worked together at the Bundesliga club.<\/p>\n

Cueva worked with Chelsea in the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons under Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior and then alongside interim head coach Calum McFarlane.<\/p>\n

He was a regular feature in their dugout and, as well as overseeing set-pieces, usually took on the role of speaking with the fourth official about issues during games.<\/p>\n

Chelsea previously identified Cueva as a prime candidate for a role which had been vacant since Anthony Barry exited for Bayern Munich. Cueva, who also holds a UEFA Pro Licence through the Football Association, was regarded as an impressive hire.<\/p>\n

Before joining Brentford in 2020, and helping them secure promotion to the Premier League, Cueva was at Chivas in his homeland of Mexico. He has also had a role with Norway men’s national team.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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By KIERAN GILL, MAIL SPORT REPORTER Published: 18:40 BST, 19 July 2026 | Updated: 18:55…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18917,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18916\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}