I walked on, past the video and match analysis suite. The largest room in the building, converted from a former storage area in August, was now home to ten analysts who operated as the club's intelligence department.
David Carter led the team, a thirty-five-year-old former university lecturer who had pivoted from sports science academia to applied match analysis and had built, in five months, a department that rivalled anything in the Premier League.
His team worked in shifts. Three analysts focused on opposition. Three on Palace's own performance metrics.
Two on recruitment and scouting. One on set-piece analysis, working directly with Kevin Bray.
