The insane stat showing how Chelsea’s coaching and transfer strategy came together this summer | OneFootball

Kieran Gil’s Chelsea Confidential for this week is out, and it has some interesting stuff in it.

He has a focus on one feature that’s been clear from the first 3 games of the season at Stamford Bridge – the importance of set pieces.

Incredible stats show Chelsea’s changed focus

Joao Pedro scores with a header. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

“Enzo Maresca’s side have scored from four out of the 22 corners they have taken this season – equating to 18.18 per cent – after managing only seven out of 234 last season – 2.99 per cent,” he wrote.

“Chelsea want every corner ‘smelling’ like a goal, we are told, and their new success is partly down to them changing tack for this campaign. Last season, 28.63 per cent of their corners were taken short. This season, they have slashed that percentage to 13.64 per cent.”

Of course it’s a classic example of a small sample size, and we can’t possibly maintain that rate all year, but it’s still a vast jump which shows the hard work in training is starting to pay off.

There’s more to it than just that though. Chelsea brought in Bernardo Cueva from Brentford, with initially disappointing results. However a specialist coach like that can only work with what he’s given, and it seems that adding big, physical players who are good in the air and players who are good at taking set pieces has finally made the jump up we were looking for possible.

Chelsea will need more than just corners in the long run

The set pieces we’ve been scored have been especially important this window because our attacking play has yet to really click. Both our wins so far have been sparked by set pieces, and while it’s not something you want to rely on all season, it’s certainly a useful tool to have.