Mauricio Pochettino discusses the Chelsea project after their midweek drubbing at Liverpool
Mauricio Pochettino last night let slip one of Chelsea’s chief transfer targets for this summer - a top-notch free-kick taker. Chelsea spent nothing in the transfer window that just shut, but on Wednesday, 24 hours before that period closed, their unhappy season lurched to another dismal low point when they were thumped 4-1 by Liverpool at Anfield.
It was Chelsea’s sixth away defeat in 11 league games this season, and though Pochettino insisted he was happy with his squad despite not bringing anyone in in January, he did surprisingly admit one area where his side were lacking.
The Stamford Bridge side have scored only five goals from set-pieces (excluding penalties) this season, which puts them 12th in the Premier League rankings, Arsenal topping the list with 14 - and even struggling Everton managing 11.
Pochettino’s side also do not have a designated set-piece coach, unlike Manchester City with Carlos Vicens, and several other clubs. But Pochettino admitted: “It is about the quality. At the moment we were talking about trying to find a good specialist player for next season.
Mauricio Pochettino is eager to sign a free-kick expert for Chelsea (Image: GETTY)
“Look at West Ham. They signed James Ward-Prowse - I didn’t say we are going to sign him! But look at West Ham before and after that. What changed? The taker is Ward-Prowse. For sure, you can work, like West Ham were. But if you add a player like him, you increase the percentage. Football belongs to the players. Not to the specialist coaches.
“We work a lot on set-pieces. But after that, it is about the quality of the player, about the takers. We don’t have a specialist. Maybe Ben Chilwell is good with delivery for us, but after that, we don’t have a specialist. You need good takers.
“We have specialist coaches. You can have a specialist but not promote the specialist. It depends how you want to sell the idea.”
England star Chilwell has only just returned after being out for four months with a hamstring injury, which has hampered Chelsea - and Enzo Fernandez and Reece James also take set-pieces but have both also been sidelined.
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Raheem Sterling scored a free-kick for Chelsea vs Preston in the FA Cup (Image: GETTY)
Chelsea let Armando Broja and Ian Maatsen go out on loan during the window and made no signings, but Pochettino said: “We didn’t find anyone that could improve our squad. I am happy with the squad. We have improved a lot in the last two months.
“We have the players we want. We can perform better, but it is not a problem not to sign anyone.” Chelsea, who face Wolves at home on Sunday, will have striker Nicolas Jackson back after his stint at the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal.
