I switched to a tactical animation Marcus Reid had created. It showed the team pressing high up the pitch, triggered by Zaha closing down a defender. The ball is won back just outside the opposition's box. And it's immediately played to Zaha, who is now one-on-one with a single, terrified defender.
"I'm not asking you to be a defender, Wilf," I said, my voice low and intense.
"I'm asking you to be the trigger. You are the tip of the spear. Look at Liverpool. Mané, Firmino, Coutinho... they're their first line of defense. But they're also their most potent attackers because they win the ball in the final third. That's what I want for you. You start the press, the team follows, we win the ball back high, and you get to do what you do best, where you are most dangerous. No more tracking back 60 yards. No more beating five men just to get into the opposition's half. Just you, the ball, and the goal. We build the entire system around you being the executioner, not the workhorse."
