If football is a war, it's often not just the battlefield that determines victory or defeat.

  Before the battle even begins, both sides must make the most thh preparations.

  With a passionate decration of war, Gao Shen had mao unify his coag staff, aligning their thoughts and strategies. Over the few days, they would foaking the best preparations for the match against Inter Min.

  At the same time, Gao Shen also began to have more frequent versations with his pyers.

  As the head coach, it was crucial for him to ehat the pyers uood his thoughts and the reasoning behind his decisions. For example, why not opt for a defensive approad terattack when fag a stronger oppo like Inter Min? Wouldn't that be safer?

  Gao Shen's answer was simple: he wao show that Napoli had fidence.

  The 0-3 loss st season had been a huge psychological blow to the team.

  It wasn't just the pyers or coag staff who were affected, Gao Shen himself had been deeply shaken by that defeat.

  Now, whenever Napoli faced Inter Min, there was an invisible psychological pressure weighing down on everyone.

  But if they allowed that pressure to persist, what would happen iure, if and when Napoli and Inter Min fought for the Serie A title? At that crucial moment, every little thing would be tested strength, morale, fighting spirit, willpower, everything.

  Just look at Maer United's legendary eba the 1999 Champions League final. That fighting spirit, that unshakeable belief, was built over years of overing adversity.

  Many people wondered why Arsenal always seemed to fall apart in critical moments against Maer United. While fatigue was a factor, it was also clear that Arsenal cked the fidehat United had built up over time.

  Wenger, for all his brilliance, wasn't a manager known for his strong, imposing aura. The Arsenal teams he created were known for their beautiful football, but they cked the mental tougho see things through when it mattered most especially after the departure of key pyers like Patrick Vieira. The team's spirit deed sharply after that.

  Arsenal's fall from title tention wasn't solely because of the stru of a adium. It was also a refle of their weakened mentality.

  Napoli, under Gao Shen's guidaneeded te their own strong character. Gao Shen wao instill his own personality into the team. That's why, against Inter Min, they had to fight.

  Had it been aeam, perhaps oh simir or weaker strength pared to Napoli, Gao Shen might have opted for a defensive approach. But against Inter Min, he wao attack.

  He wao rebuild the fidehat had been shattered by that 0-3 defeat.

  …

  Some pyers uood Gao Shen's reasoning and fully supported him. Others uood it but remained hesitant. And then there were those who didn't fully grasp the idea but were still willing to give their all.

  This was normal.

  In a team of dozens of individuals, it was impossible for everyoo pletely align with Gao Shen's mi.

  Pyers came from different backgrounds, grew up in different enviros, and had unique personalities. That would iably influeheir behavior aions.

  What Gao Shen could do was expin his vision to them and lead by example.

  He didn't need every pyer's full approval or wholehearted support. What he needed was their a, he hem to execute his pns and do their jobs well.

  After talking with the team, Gao Shen was fident that they would step up to the challenge.

  With the pyers onboard, it was time to focus entirely on preparing for the match.

  Inter Min was undoubtedly a strong team, but every team, no matter how powerful, had weaknesses.

  For example, st season, Inter Min's attag lineup was incredibly luxurious. With strikers like Ibrahimovic, Crespo, Adriano, Cruz, and Recoba, petition for spots was fierce. At one point, Adriano even had a fallout with Mani.

  This season, Recoba had left, Adriano was in the cold, and Cruz though often overshadowed was earning more pying time due to his efficy. Crespo, oher hand, seemed to be fading.

  And then there was Suazo, the high-priced signing from Cagliari. His performances had been disappointing, failing to replicate the form he showed st season.

  Mani had experimented with pairing Ibrahimovid Suazo up front, but the results were underwhelming.

  Retly, Mani had begun fog the team's offense around Ibrahimovic, establishing him as the clear attag focal point.

  I three matches, Ibrahimovic had scored five goals aered an assist.

  But that shift also presented a new problem.

  …

  "Suazo's inpatibility with Ibrahimovic has been proven. The most likely forartner for Ibrahimovic is Cruz," Gao Shen said, pointing to Cruz's number oactical board. He pced Cruz alongside Ibrahimovic at the front of Inter's 4-4-2 formation.

  Inter Min's lineup was fairly predictable:

  Goalkeeper: Julio Cesar.

  Defense: Chivu or Maxwell at left-back, Samuel and Cordoba as the ter-backs, and Mai on the right.

  Midfield: Cesar or Sori on the left, Vieira and Stankovi tral midfield, and Figo on the right.

  Forwards: Cruz and Ibrahimovic.

  "Ibrahimovic is now the focal point of their attack," Gao Shen tinued. "This has stabilized their offense, but it's also created another issue—Ibrahimovic himself."

  Gao Shen tapped on Ibrahimoviumber on the board.

  As the legendary German defender Franz Bebauer once said, the stro pyer ofteeam's biggest weakness.

  A team built around oar pyer has a clear vulnerability.

  For Inter Min, everything revolved around Ibrahimovic. If Napoli could ralize him, Inter's entire offensive system would suffer.

  "We see from Ibrahimovic's heat maps over the past two seasons that his movement is actually very limited," Gao Shen expined, pulling up a series of visual charts on the s.

  "Ibrahimovic has never been a pyer who enjoys running off the ball. Back at Ajax, he had a public falling out with Van Gaal because he didn't want to track back or press. He believed that as a high ter-forward, it wasn't his job to run around like Kluivert."

  "When he moved to Juventus, he was a little more team-oriented under Capello, but he never fully ged."

  So what was Ibrahimovic's biggest problem?

  Simply put, his greatest strength, his extraordinary teical ability was also his greatest weakness.

  For a pyer of his size and physical presence, Ibrahimovic should have been a dominant for the air, bullying defenders and using his body to win battles. Instead, he preferred to py with finesse, relying on his toud teique.

  He could use his size to overpower defenders, but he didn't. He chose to rely on skill instead.

  This worked well when defenders didn't put him under much pressure.

  But wheensity ramped up, like in the Champions League, Ibrahimovic's limitations were exposed.

  "Almost all of his movements are desigo be himself," Gao Shen said. "He's an incredibly self-tered pyer. At Juventus, he couldn't fully express that, but at Inter Min, especially this season, there's nobody to hold him back."

  Mani had structured the eeam around Ibrahimovic's preferences.

  "Sihey 't get Ibrahimovic to adapt to the team, they've made the whole team adapt to him," Gao Shen tinued.

  And that was why Ibrahimovic had been flourishing this season.

  Knowing this, Napoli's deferategy became clear: they o cut off Ibrahimovic's supply of passes.

  If Ibrahimovic wasn't receiving the ball, he couldn't hurt them.

  It was difficult stopping a pyer of Ibrahimovic's caliber was never easy but it had to be done.

  Inter's entire offense revolved around Ibrahimovic. If Napoli could restrict his influehey could disrupt Inter's eag system.

  In addition to Ibrahimoviapoli would also o pay close attention to Inter's wingers, Figo on the right, aher Cesar or Sori on the left. Both fnks were dangerous, especially Figo, who remained a potent threat despite his age.

  "Last season, Inter's left fnk was Sori, but this season it's been Cesar," Gao Shen pointed out.

  Mani's tactical system this season had beeively simple: a three-man midfield for the Champions League, and a 4-4-2 formation for Serie A.

  From this, it was clear that Inter Min were prioritizing the Serie A title.

  And as the results had shown, oer Min had settled into their rhythm, they were nearly unstoppable in Italy.

  But Gao Shen was vihat Napoli could execute their game pn and cause Inter problems.

  …

  After studying Inter Min's tactics, Gao Shen and his coag staff began tail their training sessions accly. They simuted different match sarios, preparing Napoli to face various challenges.

  There was still a full week before the match against Inter Min, and aside from giving the pyers a day off, Gao Shen had ample time to refihe team's tactics. He po hold three focused training sessions, each desigo sharpen specific aspects of Napoli's py.

  Napoli's starting lineup was mostly set. The only question mark was Biglia.

  Biglia had almost fully recovered from his injury, but his ability to py would depend on his physical dition closer to the match.

  In Gao Shen's tactical pn, he wasn't ting on Biglia. If the Argentine wasn't 100% fit, someone else would take his pce.

  "I want both Pastore and Valencia ichday squad," Gao Shen instructed.

  His coag staff exged surprised gnces but quickly nodded in agreement.

  Pastore had shown promise, but Valencia had struggled to adapt to Serie A's defeensity.