The exact defensive line height I had calculated to be optimal for Palace's personnel was the sweet spot between pressing high and not leaving too much space in behind. Press Success Rate: 74%.
That was almost identical to what my U18s had been achieving all season. Turnovers in Final Third: 6. Six turnovers in the first fifteen minutes. That was elite-level pressing. That was championship-winning pressing.
That was my pressing. I watched, transfixed, as Palace continued to suffocate Arsenal. Every time the Gunners tried to play out from the back, they were met with the same intelligent, relentless pressure.
The same triggers I had designed for the U18 team. The same patterns I had obsessed over. The same tactical blueprint I had scribbled on whiteboards at three in the morning, refining every detail until it was perfect. Pardew's coaching staff had taken my system and my philosophy and implemented them at the highest level of English football.
