{"id":19047,"date":"2026-07-20T03:47:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T03:47:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=19047"},"modified":"2026-07-20T03:47:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T03:47:58","slug":"xabi-alonso-reshapes-chelsea-staff-with-cueva-decision-read-chelsea-f-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=19047","title":{"rendered":"Xabi Alonso reshapes Chelsea staff with Cueva decision &#8211; Read Chelsea F.C."},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Chelsea have moved Bernardo Cueva into a technical and advisory position as Xabi Alonso reshapes his backroom operation at Stamford Bridge.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cueva had overseen the club\u2019s set-piece work since arriving from Brentford in 2024. Chelsea reportedly paid approximately \u00a31m in compensation to secure the highly rated Mexican specialist.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Daily Mail Sport reports that the 38-year-old will now work away from the pitch in a broader position under BlueCo.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His responsibilities will include set-piece analysis, opposition preparation and performance insights. Chelsea sources have stressed that the move is not a demotion and that Cueva remains an important part of the football operation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cueva has not been seen during first-team training since Alonso began pre-season work at Cobham on Thursday, 9 July.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Exc: Bernardo Cueva is changing roles at Chelsea. #CFC set-piece specialist since 2024 is moving into a more behind-the-scenes position, away from the pitch. 38yo Mexican not spotted in training since pre-season began. Details in story: https:\/\/t.co\/5NarZva990<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kieran Gill (@kierangill_DM) July 19, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Parrilla set to influence Chelsea set pieces<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The change coincides with the arrival of Sebastian Parrilla, one of Alonso\u2019s long-term assistants.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Parrilla worked with Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid. He developed a strong reputation for improving attacking and defensive set pieces during their successful period in Germany.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cueva had previously been expected to remain part of Alonso\u2019s on-pitch staff alongside Parrilla, Calum McFarlane and goalkeeping coach Ben Roberts, as BBC Sport reported following the manager\u2019s appointment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead, Chelsea have created a role which allows Cueva to concentrate on analysis across the wider BlueCo structure while Parrilla takes greater responsibility during first-team sessions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The adjustment fits the collaborative model outlined in ReadChelsea\u2019s assessment of Alonso\u2019s plans for staff and sporting decisions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cueva\u2019s specialist knowledge has not been discarded. Chelsea appear to be separating detailed preparation from delivery on the training pitch.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The success of the move will be judged by whether that division produces clearer routines and better results in both penalty areas during Alonso\u2019s first season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chelsea have moved Bernardo Cueva into a technical and advisory position as Xabi Alonso reshapes&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19048,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19047","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\/19047","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=19047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19047\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}