A bck Fiat slowly pulled up in front of Gao Shen's house in the Naples Bay area, led in the mountains.
"I'm heading out now. Be careful on your way back," Gao Shen said as he waved at Carlo, who was sitting in the driver's seat.
"Gao," Carlo called out, hesitating for a moment.
Gao Shen turned and looked at him, puzzled.
"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. You've already done enough," Carlo advised.
Gao Shen snorted, a light ugh esg him. He waved dismissively. "I know, but we could still do better!"
Carlo paused, wanting to say more but ultimately stayed silent.
Gao Shen stepped out of the car, watg as Carlo drove away. The smile on his face slowly faded.
The previous night, Napoli had drawn 1-1 with Genoa at home. It had been a tough match, and after the m's recovery session, Gao Shen announced a rest day for the squad, giving them time to recharge before returning to training the afternoon.
He had taken his coag staff out for a meal, and the ohing everyo repeating was what Carlo had said, don't put too much pressure on yourself.
But how could he not feel the pressure?
In just a week's time, Napoli would fater Min.
Inter was the only team in Serie A that had the strength to pete in the Champions League. Gao Shen wasn't na?ve, he had managed in the Champions League with Real Madrid, and he knew just how tough the petition was. It wasn't just about tactics; it was a plete test of a team's mental and physical endurance.
Napoli, Juventus, Roma, even A, who had retly won the Champions League, didn't have the sistency or depth to pete at the highest levels. Only Inter Min had that capability.
A, despite Inter Min's strength, their greatest weakness y in their coach Roberto Mani. Gao Shen respected Mani's talent, but he believed the Italian coach cked the capacity to ma the highest level, particurly in Europe.
As Gao Shen had said before, Mani was Inter Min's biggest shorting.
With Inter Min having recimed the top spot in the Serie A standings after the sixth round, there was no avoiding the uping csh. The pressure on Napoli had only increased.
…
After sh aling down at home, Gao Sheered his personal tactical library.
Since his time-travel experience, he had made it a nightly habit to study in the library, immersing himself in books on football tactid ma.
Tonight, he once again opened Ferguson's book and read it carefully.
There was a saying that every football manager has a predecessor they admire, someone whose influence guides their coag philosophy.
For example, Ai had frequently told Gao Shen that his benchmark was Nils Liedholm, the Swedish legend who had coached at A and Roma.
For Kevin Keegan, it was Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley, the Liverpool greats.
Fao Shen, if there was one person who could be called his guiding figure, it was Sir Alex Ferguson.
Throughout his career, people had tried to pare Gao Shen to different coaches, Benitez, Capello, and even Marcelo Bielsa. Eaparison had some truth to it, but none of them fully captured who Gao Shen was as a coach.
Only Gao Shehe truth: he had been learning and evolving, and much of that evolution was inspired by Ferguson.
Ferguson had a wealth of football knowledge, and he never hesitated to share it with others. Many of Europe's top coaches, from Moyes to Houllier, had traveled tuson's seminars in Sd, seeking wisdom from the legendary manager.
Gao Shen had never been to one of these seminars in person, but through the tactical library, he had seen Ferguson's work everything, plete and unfiltered.
Tonight, Gao Shen was reading an article Ferguson had written about club culture and the manager's personality.
Ferguson described himself not as a traditional leader, but as a shaper of culture.
"I think time gave me the opportunity to influehe beliefs of others and give them fidence. My fidend personality ied them. I oftehat my team reflected my own shadoersonality, and that personality is something I've been searg for my whole life," Ferguson wrote.
Gao Shen found himself returning to these words repeatedly. This passage had struck a chord deep within him when he first read it, inspiring him to shape a team in his own image, to instill it with his own character.
It was this passage that had driven him to join Napoli to create a team that embodied his vision and values.
Whenever he faced difficult decisions, he would revisit this text, reminding himself of his inal purpose.
Gradually, he had begun to find crity and dire in Ferguson's words.
...
"I'm about to fae of the toughest challenges of my career, and I'm irely sure how it will turn out. But I'll face it with dignity," Gao Shen wrote in his private journal the m.
He left the entry untouched for a few minutes before a new message appeared beh it.
"For those with fidence, who don't let temporary setbacks defihem, there is no such thing as failure!
For those with an iron will aless perseverance, failure does!
Where ive up, they persist; where others retreat, they charge forward. For them, failure does!
And for those who rise each time they fall, strohan before, failure is impossible!"
Gao Shen's eyes grew misty, but a smile crept onto his lips.
"Thank you," he replied.
"You're wele!" came the quick response.
...
...
"Everyone!"
Gao Shen strode into the coaches' office at Fort Volturno, calling out to his staff with a anding voice.
Instantly, all eyes turo him.
"I've made a decision," he decred. "It's going to be a tough fight, but we have to take it. And we have to make it t!"
The atmosphere in the room immediately became more serious.
Everyone knew what Gao Shen was talking about, the uping csh with Inter Min.
It wasn't an easy decision, and it was a risky one. But Gao Shen had made up his mind.
"I know that Inter Min is currently the stroeam in Serie A. There's e about that. I know that, realistically, our ces of beating them aren't great. I also know that, at the San Siro, they'll be waiting for us, eager to solidify their position at the top of the league."
He paused, letting the gravity of the situation sink in.
"But we have no choice!" Gao Shen tinued firmly. "This is a team that we've all worked incredibly hard to build. I don't want our pyers—our team—to carry fear in their hearts. I want us all to have unshakable belief. Even when we face stroeams, when we're up against the odds, we 't be afraid. We 't shrink back. We have to step up and fight!"
"I'm going to fight Inter Min!" Gao Shen decred, his voice filled with vi.
It was a bold and dangerous decision.
Napoli's strength didn't quite measure up to Inter Min's. The odds were stacked against them. To win, they would have to push beyond their limits.
"I know that st season's 0-3 defeat to Inter did immeasurable damage not just to me, but to all of us. And I know that some of you are probably w, 'What if it happens again? What if we lose 0-3 again, or even worse?'"
He paused, meeting the eyes of each of his staff members.
"Believe me, I've worried about it too. I've been haunted by the thought of another 0-3 defeat or something worse. That's why I've hesitated."
"But no more."
"In 2009 and 2011, Sir Alex Ferguson faced Bara in the Champions League finals. He knew going into those games that his team was at a disadvantage. But he didn't back down. He fought them head-on, choosing his own way, even if it meant riski."
"And Guardio? In 2014, when Bayern Munich faced Real Madrid in the Champions League semifinals, Guardio knew his team might not be able to match Madrid. But instead of pying servatively, he chose to attack, to follow his heart. Ahey lost 0-4. But at least they didn't back down."
"Why? Because weakness is worse than failure!"
"There are two ways to face adversity: either you let it destroy you, or you let it make you stronger!"
Gao Shen's voice resonated in the room, stirring the emotions of everyone present.
"I'm going to show Inter Min and the world that we haven't been broken by that 0-3 defeat."
"Even after that loss, even knowing that we might lose again, maybe even worse we're still going to stand tall. We're going to fight back, because we aren't afraid!"
"We're not afraid to lose! We're not afraid of Inter Min!"
