For five seasons, squeezing the pitch was the safest way to defend. A new generation of runners and passers is turning that space behind the back four into the most valuable real estate in football.
A pit stop costs about twenty seconds. Whether it gains or loses a position depends on a calculation teams run thousands of times before the lights go out.
Everyone spaces the floor now. The teams that separate themselves are the ones whose big man can pass from the elbow as well as he screens.
Dead balls decide roughly a third of top-flight goals. Clubs have noticed, and the specialists who design corners are being recruited like centre-forwards.
Aces make the highlight reel. The number that best predicts who lifts a major trophy is points won behind the second delivery.
It asks for a sprinter's speed, a middle-distance runner's stomach and a dancer's rhythm, and it is usually decided at the eighth barrier.