For now, Arsenal’s title as the corner kings of the Premier League belongs to another club: Chelsea.
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.
Chelsea want every corner ‘smelling’ like a goal, we are told, and their new success is partly down to them changing tact 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.
With that, Chelsea are currently the set-piece leaders among England’s elite. When facing Brentford under the lights on Saturday night, they will have the opportunity to add to their total with Caoimhin Kelleher in goal for the Bees.
Signed from Liverpool for £18million in the summer, fans of his former club will tell you Kelleher is not considered the greatest goalkeeper for claiming crosses – see Fabian Schar’s equaliser in last season’s 3-3 draw with Newcastle United – and Chelsea will be looking to exploit this flaw.
They have taken to practising corners over the summer, including the positioning of the players such as Marc Cucurella manning the front area for flick-ons and the deliveries from Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez in particular, with Bernardo Cueva their choreographer of chaos.
Joao Pedro started Chelsea’s Premier League scoring this season with a header at West Ham, one of three corners they scored from that day
And he repeated the trick a week later with the opening goal against Fulham, from Enzo Fernandez’s cross
Set-piece coach Bernardo Cueva is regularly storming down the touchline to instruct every player to find the right position
Cueva is Chelsea’s set-piece coach who likes to sit at the back of the substitutes’ bench with a screen in front of him. When they have a corner, however, you will find his seat empty.
That is when you will often find him storming down the small staircase and to the front, into Maresca territory, to personally direct the players into their precise positions. With the press box sitting so close to the dugout, you can hear his cajoling. ‘Five yards to the left,’ and so on.
Liam Delap did not need such instructions. He knew his role. It was to disrupt the opposition goalkeeper, and that was a feature in the four corners from which they have scored, including three in the 5-1 defeat of West Ham.
When Delap was injured in the 2-0 win over Fulham, Joao Pedro took it on, but broke away from Bernd Leno after Fernandez had swung in his cross in order to head home.
Guiu back and ready to fill Delap’s boots
Marc Guiu spent just 26 days at Sunderland before he was brought back from what was meant to be a season-long loan with the newly promoted club following Delap’s injury against Fulham.
And Chelsea had factored in the fact that the Black Cats had only given him a combined 13 minutes off the bench in their first three Premier League games.
Rather than sit unused, therefore, he could be put to better use as an option with Chelsea while Delap is recovering. Chelsea believe Delap should return before the Christmas period, barring any setbacks.
Marc Guiu was given just 13 minutes across two substitute appearances for Sunderland before being recalled
Sick threats to former Chelsea TV presenter
Alison Bender is the talented former presenter of Chelsea TV who moved back to London in 2006 after working for Real Madrid TV, the channel of which Roman Abramovich was a fan.
Bender has now revealed the rape threat she received in her Instagram messages with the grotesque and anonymous individual signing it off as her ‘secret admirer’.
In a subsequent statement released by the Sky Sports presenter, Bender has said: ‘Thanks for all your messages including those who say he should be reported to the police.
‘The sad part is I don’t really bat an eyelid, many of you are shocked, outraged, angry, sad, but for my female colleagues, we know this is pretty commonplace.
‘I call it out to hope that it stops but really we need more help for the platforms themselves. You should be verified and accountable.
‘It also makes me worry that I’m becoming immune or numb to what is morally right and wrong because I am exposed to so much of it. Anyway, don’t worry about me, I’m absolutely fine. And thanks, 99 per cent of my followers on here are awesome. The rest can f*** off.’
Referees not on the rota
You can imagine the amusement around Chelsea upon learning that their London rivals Fulham included Josh King’s disallowed strike at Stamford Bridge was a) included in their own goal of the month competition and b) won it.
Josh King’s ‘goal’ for Fulham at Chelsea in the Blues’ 2-0 win was disallowed for foul by Rodrigo Muniz on Trevoh Chalobah in the build-up
Rob Jones did not notice the foul in real time but disallowed the goal after a VAR review by Michael Salisbury
PGMOL head Howard Webb contacted Fulham after Chelsea’s 2-0 win to accept that VAR Michael Salisbury was wrong to intervene after King’s would-be opener. Referee Rob Jones ultimately decided to disallow the goal after being sent to his pitchside monitor.
It is worth noting that Salisbury will not be working the Premier League’s return this weekend in any capacity, having also been removed from the Liverpool-Arsenal VAR duties the day after King’s ‘goal’, while Jones will only act as a fourth official in West Ham versus Tottenham.
Jackson clause a non-starter?
Neither Chelsea nor Nicolas Jackson’s camp are commenting on the claims from Bayern Munich’s honorary president Uli Hoeness that the striker’s obligation will only be triggered if he starts 40 games and that just the Bundesliga and Champions League will count towards the total.
Jackson joined Bayern on an initial €16.5m loan with a €65m obligation which we now know is conditional, though the odd source has disputed it being to do with starts specifically.
Estevao’s life in London
After a period of helping Brazil wonderkid Estevao Willian settle into life in London, Confidential understands Chelsea’s South American scouts, Alysson Marins and Carlos Vargas, have now returned home.
The 18-year-old winger has spoken while away on international duty, including mentioning how much his compatriots Joao Pedro and Andrey Santos have been helping him also.
Though they all speak Portuguese, they are trying to converse in English while at Cobham in order to help Estevao get to grips with his new language.
Joao Pedro (right) has been helping his new club and country team-mate Estevao, who scored for Brazil in their win over Chile in World Cup qualifying last week
Dyer deal done in the dying moments
Kiano Dyer’s loan switch to Eredivisie side Volendam was apparently only concluded with four minutes and 10 seconds to spare before the window closed.
Dyer, 18, signed a new contract with Chelsea until 2030 at the same time. Volendam face Go Ahead Eagles this Saturday.
New hires on the agenda
As such a huge operation, Chelsea never stop advertising positions and two in particular caught my attention this week.
One was a new opportunity called ‘Mental Health Senior Officer’ for which they have been inviting applicants.
Another is for a ‘First-Team Data Analyst’ whose responsibilites will include creating visual summaries so that they can easily translate their findings to the players.
