The m after the match against Roma, Gao Shen and Guardio got into Lucas' car and noticed that Lucas had red, bloodshot eyes a yawning clearly, he hadn't slept all night.

  When Gao Shen took the passenger seat, he poio a thick stack of dots uhe windshield.

  "Everything you need is there. Take a look."

  Gao She a bit guilty; he wasn't the type of cold-blooded capitalist who exploited his subordinates.

  "I'll call Marino a you two assistants."

  Hearing this, Lucas immediately perked up. "Really?"

  Gao Shen, seeing his rea, teased, "Of course not."

  Seeing Lucas' immediate disappoi, Gao Shen couldn't help but ugh. "Go ahead and prepare recruitment materials."

  "Uood!" Lucas regained his energy as if he could survive awo sleepless nights.

  Guardio, sitting in the back seat, chuckled at the exge.

  In fact, it was iime to get Lucas some help.

  Now that Napoli was peting on two fronts, Lucas was receiving all kinds of data, information, scoutis, and news. Everything passed through him, but there wasn't any software or system io process it effitly. It all had to be done manually.

  Lucas may not have stood out much, but he was arguably the most overworked member of the coag staff.

  Of course, uhis kind of pressure, his skills and abilities had improved drastically.

  The progress of Gao Shen and Napoli had forced Lucas to keep up.

  ...

  As they drove from the Bay Area to Fort Volturno, Gao Shehrough the dot that Lucas had piled ht.

  He had gathered a lot of data earlier, and the results of the analysis were more or less what he expected.

  "Problem with the data?" Lucas asked while driving.

  Gao Shen shook his head. "No, it just firms what I already suspected."

  "When I saw you whispering with Vidal on the sideline, I knew you were up to something. You're full of tricks, but people 't tell because of that kind face," Lucas joked.

  "Please, how you call it trickery on a football pitch?" Gao Sheed with a smile.

  "I bet you told Vidal tet Perrotta and De Rossi."

  Guardio, sitting in the back, was stunned.

  In fact, he had been w the same thing.

  Otherwise, how could it be a ce that Perrotta received a yellow card right after Vidal came on?

  Gao Shen's truly devious, Guardio thought. Better not get on his bad side.

  The muardio worked with Gao Shen, the more mysterious and uable he seemed. Every day brought something new, making him a formidable oppo.

  ...

  Ten minutes after the trio arrived at Fort Volturno, Carlo and the other coaches showed up.

  There was still an hour and a half before the pyers were due to arrive for training.

  Guardio had already made several copies of Lucas' analysis for the coaches to review.

  Gao Shehe meeting, with Lucas sitting in for the start. Afterward, Lucas would be allowed to skip training and catch up on sleep a privilege that Gao Shen had granted him in the car.

  "What you're holding is the analysis of our match against Roma st night. Along with your impressions of the game, you should all know by now that Roma is a strong team, but they are far from uable."

  Gao Shen's tone carried a sense of determination and fidence.

  "Last night, at the post-match press ference, I said that we would score at least three goals iurn leg. Don't think I was joking. I'm very serious. I firmly believe we do it!"

  Even though Carlo and the others were aced to Gao Shen's bold statements, they were still surprised by his unwavering fidence.

  He thrived on challenging situations, always seeking the thrill of taking risks and pushing limits.

  Everyone who worked with Gao Shen could feel his drive to fight, to take risks, and, most importantly, his fidence.

  Bueura, the fitness coach, had said multiple times that w with Gao Shen was the most challenging experience he'd ever had.

  Ba their Real Madrid days, and now in Napoli, Gao Shen always raised the bar. When they first arrived in Naples, Gao Shen had set a target of making the pyers run over 10,000 meters per game every single pyer, except the goalkeeper.

  Bueura had been driven nearly mad by the challehinking it was impossible.

  But looking baow, while not every match met that standard, most of Napoli's games had e close. A season, Bueura was fident they would surpass the target.

  He was already pnning further improvements to the team's training schedule to optimize their fitness and performance.

  It was undeniably stressful.

  But the progress was also undeniable, and the sense of achievement was immense.

  Napoli had bee a target in Italian football. Gao Shen was stantly criticized.

  But far from being a bad thing, this was a mark of success.

  When no oakes you seriously, when no one cares about your team, that's when you know you're irrelevant.

  Why were people critig Gao Shen and Napoli?

  Because Napoli had bee good enough to threateatus quo.

  The media wasn't critig them out of generosity. They wouldn't waste their time on someone who didn't matter.

  Among the aplishments Napoli had achieved, Bueura's fitness regimen had transformed the team into one of the hardest-w sides in Italy.

  That was something to be proud of.

  And Gao Shen? He was stantly creating problems, challenges, and pressure for everyone around him.

  W for someone like that, you had no choice but to keep up.

  ...

  One of Gao Shen's defining characteristics was that every goal he set, every bold statement he made, wasn't just for show.

  Take this match against Roma, for example.

  "You all take a look at this PPT it's Roma's formation."

  On the s, the coaches saw Roma's tactical yout.

  "They don't appear to have a traditional striker, but they do. Totti is their striker, but he's so versatile that he press forward, drift wide, drop deep, scoals, assist, and make key passes. He do everything."

  Gao Sheured toward the tactical board with a sense of authority.

  "There's a saying I'm sure you've all heard: 'The prehensiveness of a pyer determihe diversity of tactics.'"

  "What does that mean?"

  "A pyer as versatile as Totti provides Roma with endless options in attack. Their front line bees more dynamic, more fluid, thanks to his presence. But…"

  Gao Shen paused for effect.

  Everyone could already guess what he was going to say.

  "Totti is the core of Roma's attack. Everyone pys off of him. When he drifts wide, they adjust. When he drops deep, they react. He is their focal point."

  "Shut down Totti, and you cripple Roma's attack."

  Napoli had not done a good enough job taining Totti in the first leg, especially when he dropped into the space between Napoli's midfield and back line.

  The problem, as always, was the positioning of Napoli's two tral midfielders.

  Gao Shen had a solution: "We're going to pother defensive pyer behind the two tral midfielders to make sure we effectively tain Totti when he drops deep."

  But to add another defender meant sacrifig an attacker.

  The bae wouldn't be touched. At this stage, the four-man defense was a standard. Biglia and Rakitic were untouchable in midfield, meaning one of the attag pyers would have to be sacrificed.

  The other coaches held back their questions, waiting fao Shen to expin further.

  "Roma's attack revolves around Totti. But their midfield has two key pyers: De Rossi ata. De Rossi is more obvious he protects the bae. But Perrotta is more subtle."

  Gao Shen switched to another slide, dispyita's activity zones.

  It was clear that Perrotta covered a massive amount of ground, from his owy area to the opposition's.

  "De Rossi is crucial, but Perrotta is the unsung hero. He does the work of one and a half pyers sometimes even two. He's everywhere, and he makes Roma's midfield tick."

  If De Rossi was the visible protector, theta was the invisible king.

  Just like Makelele had been iar-studded Real Madrid team.

  Every team has someone like that—someone whose tribution goes unnoticed until they're gone.

  Perrotta was that pyer for Roma.

  Whether or not Spalletti was fully aware of his importance was debatable.

  Sometimes, coaches choose their lineups out of habit, unaware of the subtle dynamics at py.

  Gao Shen's initial pn had been tet either De Rossi or Perrotta through Vidal, and ideally, he had hoped to ralize both.

  Noerrotta was suspended, Gao Shen reparing for how Roma might cope without him.

  If De Rossi had been the one suspehings would have been easier for Napoli, as Hamsik had been effectively marked out of the first leg by De Rossi.

  For the sed leg, Gao Shen wasn't pnning on starting Hamsik.

  He was switg to a 4-3-3 formation, with Vidal in the defensive midfield role, and Biglia and Rakitic further ahead. The forward trio would press Roma's bae and exploit their pace advantage.

  Vidal's presence would not only help ralize Totti but also provide additional support to defend the fnks, particurly against the dangerous Mani.

  This was Gao Shen's pn for sg three goals against Roma.

  This was the source of his fidence.