We drilled it. Monday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday morning. Three sessions, each one sharpening the timing, the angles, the delivery.
Dann's decoy run had to be precise too early and the marker would recover, too late and the gap wouldn't open. Sakho's movement had to be delayed, arriving a half-second after Dann pulled the defenders out of shape. And Rodríguez's delivery had to be flat, driven, aimed at a specific spot six yards from goal and three feet off the ground.
They executed it perfectly in training on Wednesday morning, Sakho burying the header into an empty net while the coaching staff applauded from the sideline. Bray, standing beside me, just nodded. He didn't celebrate practice goals. He celebrated match goals.
But the tactical preparation was only half the story of that week. The other half was Sakho.
