As the iional pyers headed off for their national team duties, Gao Shen and his coag staff couldn't help but feel anxious, their hearts seemingly traveling with the pyers.

  The fear of injury alpable.

  Napoli was i form at the moment, but iional breaks were already disruptive enough without the added risk of pyers returning injured. Gao Shen and Lucas were stantly monit updates from their iional pyers' training and matches.

  It wasn't that Gao Shen didn't trust the national teams' coaches or medical staff, it's that he couldn't trust them at all.

  It wasn't just national teams. Many mid- to lower-tier club team doctors were equally unreliable. Even in the early days, the medical teams at football giants like Real Madrid and Bara were notoriously insistent.

  There had been numerous instances where the media exposed their mishandling of injuries.

  How could Gao Sherust his pyers to such people?

  But unfortunately, there was no way to refuse a national team call-up.

  Gao Shen now uood a very parental feeling—"w when they leave, fearing they return injured."

  Each of his pyers was a treasure, someone he had ied heavily in, and they all had potential he was ting on. How could he not be worried?

  …

  While anxiously awaiting the return of the iional pyers, the annual Italian Professional Coag Summit was held in Rome.

  pared to UEFA's coag summit, the Italian version was retively low-key.

  Despite featuring some high-profile managers, the event didn't receive much publicity.

  Although Gao Shen had time, he decided not to attend. Still, he was kept well-informed about what was happening at the summit.

  He had two sources of inside information. One was Arrigo Sacchi.

  After Napoli's 5-0 demolition of Udinese and their rise to the top of the Serie A standings, Sacchi had written a series of ns over three secutive days, all focused on Napoli and Gao Shen's tactical innovations.

  Just for the sheer dedication Sacchi dispyed in writing so much, his title of *Il Primo o del Cielo* "the first trumpet of the heavens" was firmly ted.

  Sacchi joked that if his editor hadn't called and asked him to ge the subject, he would have kept writing about Napoli for a whole week. Gao Shen couldn't help but tease the legendary coach.

  "I think you should be called *the first water monster of the heavens* you're so good at watering down your points!"

  But Sacchi argued that there was a lot to expin about Napoli's tactics, and expining it thhly might indeed feel drawn out.

  "Otherwise, how will people fully uand your tactical ideas?"

  "Sure, but then what?" Gao Shen challenged.

  "They'll find inspiration, whether they agree with you or not. Whether they want to learn from you or destroy your tactics, they'll at least evolve their thinking."

  Gao Shen had to admit Sacchi had a point.

  But he believed it would be difficult for Serie A to ge mu the short term. There simply wasn't enough talent to sustain such a shift.

  Youth training in Italy had withered, and strict fn pyer restris had caused the overall quality of Serie A to dee.

  Inter Mie being one of the top clubs, was being held back by one signifit weak link: Roberto Mani.

  Sacchi, sensing something, asked cautiously, "Are you eyeing Inter Min by any ce?"

  He always suspected Gao Shen wasn't the type to stay at a club like Napoli for too long.

  Moreover, while De Laurentiis was keeping a low profile for now, Sacchi khat over time, the Napoli president might start flexing his authority.

  "I think this team could win the Champions League if they hired a good coad strengthewo or three key positions," Gao Shen said with a light smile, radiating fidence about Inter Min's potential.

  Sacchi agreed.

  A's Champions League victory st season was somewhat surprising, to say the least.

  To be more precise, it was a triumph of Ai's Christmas tree formation, the creative influence of Pirlo, and Kaka's breakout performances. Without Kaka's explosive form, A would never have won that title.

  Sometimes, winning the Champions League wasn't just about strength. At most, sheer ability could get you to the quarter-finals or semi-finals. But beyond that, you needed a touch of luck.

  Of course, it could also be argued that luck teo favor those who were well-prepared.

  …

  Ai, oher hand, didn't just call Gao Shen, he showed up in Naples unannounced.

  The rotund coach proudly informed Gao Shen that he had e specifically to give Gao Shen the honor of treating him to a meal.

  "You should feel lucky to have the ce to buy dinner for the Champions League-winning coach!" Ai boasted.

  Hearing this, Gao Shen wondered if Ai had lost his mind.

  "Do you believe I'll have someo you up and send you bain?" Gao Shen jokingly threatened.

  Ai roared with ughter. "That'd be great! You'd even save me the cost of the return flight."

  During dinner, Ai filled Gao Shen in on Renzo Ulivieri's speech at the summit.

  It was long-winded and full of theoretical jargon that sounded impressive but offered little in practical terms.

  For example, Ulivieri argued that to avoid Napoli's high press, teams o move the ball faster.

  Who didn't already know that?

  But the real question was: how do you do that?

  Italy's best ball-pyier-backs were all at Napoli: Bonucci, David Luiz, and even Paolo avaro.

  Now, you could uand the first two being good with the ball at their feet, but avaro? When had he bee such a ball-pying defender?

  He certainly hadn't shown this kind of potential when he arma.

  So, the question became: had Gao Shen's system and tactics brought out the pyers' hidden potential, or were these pyers naturally gifted in this area, and Gao Shen had just reized it?

  It was difficult to say, but in avaro's case, it seemed to be more of the former.

  This led to another question: if all the best passier-backs were at Napoli, what should other teams do?

  Develop their own? That would take years.

  Buy them?

  Even if these pyers were poached, could they still perform like they do at Napoli?

  Because Gao Shen hadn't attehe summit, the discussions there were more did, with some coaches even critig his tactics ht. They argued that his style of py was reckless and overly destructive, representing a step backward for football.

  But the majority of attendees agreed that Napoli's football was worth studying, even if it was hard to replicate.

  Si season, Napoli had sistently led the running stats in Italian football. This season, after their promotion to Serie A, they were running even more. How could other teams keep up?

  Napoli had the you squad in both Serie A and, arguably, all of Europe's top leagues. They covered the most distan the field. This was something other teams simply couldn't imitate.

  "Ultimately, they came to a sensus," Ai said with a grin. "If they 't copy you, they'll try to figure out how to stop you."

  Gao Shen chuckled. "So, did they e up with any solutions?"

  Ai gave him a sideways gnce. "Do you really think I'd tell you if they did?"

  Gao Shen smirked but remained silent.

  Ai was clearly teasing him. But in truth, the summit wasn't likely to produy groundbreaking tactical pns.

  In the end, oactic would always remain: park the bus. It had been the greatest defensive formation throughout history, and it was never going out of style.

  …

  After being coerced into treating Ai to a meal, Gao Sheuro his rather dull life as the coach left behind during the iional break.

  Every day, updates about Napoli's pyers on iional duty came in, how they were training, how they were perf in games. All the information was detailed and clear, keeping Gao Shen well-informed about his squad's dition.

  To his surprise, Paolo avaro didn't py in Italy's two European Championship qualifiers, so the dream of the avaro brothers pying side by side would have to wait.

  But with Materazzi returning from injury and Napoli's youer-back duo, Bonucd David Luiz, tinuing to shine, avaro's pce at Napoli was being increasingly uain.

  No one could predict what the future held.

  What Gao Shen didn't expect, however, was bad news frentina. After pying a friendly in Australia, Napoli midfielder Lucas Biglia picked up a calf injury during Argentina's sed friendly against Mexico. He was substituted midway through the game for Fernando Gago.

  After the match, the Argeeam doctor informed Napoli that Biglia had suffered a calf muscle strain, with an initial estimate of a one-month recovery period.

  When Gao Shen received this news at Napoli's training ground in Castel Volturno, he was furious.

  Biglia was a crucial pyer for Napoli.

  Rakitic was still young, and Vidal and Nainggon couldn't fully repce Biglia's defensive capabilities or his anization in midfield. Parejo and Pastore were also too inexperienced. Uhese circumstances, Biglia's steady performances were essential.

  And now, with him injured, what was Gao Shen supposed to do?

  "I just don't uand those idiots!" Gao Shen ranted. "A friendly in Australia? Then another one ba Argentina? If you're preparing for Copa America qualifiers, wouldn't it make more seo py just the sed game?"

  Gao Shen was livid, almost boiling over with frustration.

  Iy, everyone knew why Argentina had pyed the first match, Australia had paid them to py.

  And now, thanks to that unnecessary match, one of Napoli's key pyers was injured. How was Napoli supposed to cope?

  "The first match was for money! What a waste," Gao Shen muttered angrily. "And now they've cost us Biglia! How are we supposed to mahout him?"

  His was immediate. The third-round match against Sampdoria wasn't too troubling because Gao Shen had already po rest his iional pyers, particurly the South Ameris. But what about the games following that? There would be three matches in one week, culminating in the crucial away match against Inter Min in the seventh round of Serie A.

  That was the match Gao Shen had been targeting for a long time, the match where he po exact revenge for st season's humiliating 0-3 loss in the Coppa Italia semi-final.

  And now, Biglia was out of the picture.

  "Get Biglia back here right away," Gao Shen ordered, his frustration still simmering. "I want to know as soon as possible if he'll be fit enough to fater Min!"

  After giving the instrus, Gao Shen couldn't help but curse the Argentine Football Association under his breath.

  The uping match against Inter Min was the one he had been strategizing for all along.