"Are you guys adjustily?"

  After the game, Gao Shen and Ai met on the sidelines.

  As soon as they saw each other, Ai inquired about Napoli's current state.

  It wasn't a secret ah a bit of football knowledge could tell that something was off in Napoli's game.

  Whether it was winning 50-50 balls or handling physical frontations, Napoli was at a disadvantage in every aspect against A.

  Even Pirlo mao handle Hamsik with ease, which wouldn't have happened if Napoli's pyers were in peak physical dition.

  "Yes," Gao Shen admitted with a wry smile and shook his head, not hiding anything. "Sinber, our eraining pn has been disrupted. We had to restart during the winter break. Now we've just finished special training, so the pyers are far from their best and it shows."

  Ai's expression was initially ral, but after hearing Gao Shen's expnation, he couldn't help but feel both annoyed and amused.

  "You know what, Gao? You really deserve a beating for talking like this!"

  Gao Shen was taken aback. Did he say something wrong?

  "You just finished special training, your team's in terrible dition, a we only mao get one point at home?" Ai raised a finger in mock accusation. "e on, admit it, you're just pretending to be humble, aren't you?"

  Gao Shen burst into ughter. He genuinely hadn't meant to show off.

  But it was true that this uional humility could be the most demoralizing for an oppo.

  "You'll have to get used to it, Carlo. You're ninth in Serie A, and we're sed…"

  "Stht there!" Ai cut him off, raising his voice. "Corre, you're third in Serie A now."

  "Fihird then," Gao Shen said, spreading his arms theatrically. "You see, there's still a huge gap between us!"

  Ai could only shake his head, half-joking, half-serious. "I swear, one day I'll end up pung you."

  After some more banter, Ai looked at Gao Shen thoughtfully, sensing that the young coach had grand pns for the season.

  "If I'm not mistaken, you're trying to baches and adjustment phases. It'll probably take until mid-February or even te February for your team tain peak form. And the schedule's only going to get tougher."

  An experienced coach like Ai could easily infer Gao Shen's strategy from Napoli's current struggles. Given some time to think, he could deduce even more.

  "Close enough," Gao Shen responded, her firming nor denying.

  "Be careful, though. The points gap is widening. Inter Min is very stable. Look at their game yesterday, they weren't in top form, yet they still won. That's the power of a strong team. You 't buy that kind of depth."

  Gao Shen nodded, uanding all too well. In the face of absolute strength, all tactid mind games bee sedary.

  The same holds true on the football field.

  "If the gap widens into double digits, catg up will be incredibly difficult," Ai warned.

  Gao Shen uood, but he smiled wryly. "Thanks to you, we're already nine points behind."

  Ai smiled back, equally frustrated. "It should've been ten."

  Napoli was in such poor form that A should've defeated them, yet they hadn't. Ai's smile was bitter.

  A was fag its own challehis season.

  Ai's season pn had been pletely thrown off, mainly because he hadn't anticipated the team's rapid dee.

  In hindsight, it made sense.

  First, the squad was aging signifitly. Sedly, they'd reached the pinnacle by winning the Champions League st season, and it's natural to see a dee after a peak. Finally, A was beginning a geional shift, pnning for the future.

  Any one of these issues could destabilize a team; having all three at once was a recipe for disaster.

  No team could withstand it.

  "You o rotate," Gao Shen advised. "You've still got a ce to finish iop four. Keep pushing!"

  To an outsider, it might look like both coaches were fag insurmountable problems.

  But by Serie A standards, Gao Shen's achievements this season were already among the best for a newly promoted team in the league's history.

  As Marino had mentioned before, De Laurentiis was extremely pleased with the results so far.

  The only one who was dissatisfied was Gao Shen himself.

  As for Ai's issues with A, there were objective reasons, but he also had a personal fw, his reluce to rotate the squad.

  "Oh, by the way, gratutions on your impressive relegation form!" Gao Shen couldn't resist one final jab as he walked away.

  Ai looked like he was ready to chase him down.

  Of course, Gao Shen was referring to A's atrocious home record.

  It seemed unbelievable, but A had pyed nine home games this season and the results were... shog.

  Seven draws and two losses. Not a single win.

  Yes, you read that right: zero wins.

  Looking at this record, Ai's home performance ranked sed to st among the 20 Serie A teams, only slightly better than Cagliari.

  But even Cagliari had mao win one home game.

  So, Gao Shen was right, Ai was going to face harsh criticism after this game.

  There were many reasons for this embarrassing record. Apart from A's own problems, every oppohat came to the San Siro pyed defensively, frustrating Ai's side.

  Just like tonight, Napoli pyed defensively. Could Ai really ask Gao Shen, "Hey, buddy, how about not pying defensive and going all-out attack with us?"

  That would be ridiculous.

  In the end, it was just a bitter pill to swallow.

  …

  "Hey, Ronnie!"

  When Gao Sheered the pyers' tunnel, he ran into Ronaldo.

  The Brazilian star was noticeably heavier now pared to when Gao Shen coached him at Real Madrid.

  "Hey, Gao!"

  Ronaldo looked delighted to see Gao Shen, walking over to shake hands and give him a hug.

  The two walked side by side, chatting about the game. Ronaldo seemed impressed by David Luiz.

  "This kid should be iional team," Ronaldo cluded.

  Gao Shen didn't know whether to be happy or worried.

  "You, oher hand, could stand to lose some weight," Gao Shen said, pointing at Ronaldo's belly with a chuckle.

  Ronaldo ughed. "I'm just enjoying football now."

  Gao Shen nodded, uanding. Ronaldo was now in a position where he could truly enjoy the game without pressure.

  He had money, fame, and nothio prove in his career.

  Especially after winning the Champions League, he had lost the ambition to push himself to his limits.

  But perhaps because of that, Ronaldo felt a deep sense of gratitude tao Shen. He had publicly stated more than ohat Gao Shen was one of the best coaches he'd ever worked with.

  Such was the prestige of the Champions League.

  Everyone makes different choices.

  Ronaldo was only 31. From a fan's perspective, people wanted him to keep striving. But from his own perspective, given all his injuries and the fact that he wasn't g in money nition, it erfectly reasonable for him to want to just enjoy the game.

  …

  Ba the locker room, Gao Shen praised the pyers generously.

  Although the team had only managed a draw against A, the pyers were disappointed with their own form. However, Gao Shen reassured them, expressing satisfa with their performand attitude.

  Gao Shen's praise and encement lifted the team's spirits. They deeply admired and respected him, and his fiden them helped rekiheir own.

  "I believe you won't let me down!" Gao Shen said with vi.

  Afterward, he headed to the post-match press ference.

  There wasn't much to discuss. Most of the questions revolved around Napoli's current state, but Gao Shen couldn't reveal too much. He simply emphasized that the team's poor form art of his pn aerated his satisfa with the game's oute.

  After this round, however, Napoli had dropped to third in the league, now nine points behind Inter Min.

  More signifitly, Inter Min was actively pursuing reinforts during the wiransfer window.

  This was the advantage of having deep pockets.

  While Gao Shen was in Naples, struggling to stretch a budget of one or two million euros, Inter Min a team already overflowing with talent was still strengthening its squad.

  Today, Inter annouhe signing of Puese midfielder Maniche.

  They also had their sights set on Valencia's midfielder, Mohamed Sissoko.

  With stars like Stankovic, Vieira, and Cambiasso already in their lineup, adding Maniche and potentially Sissoko would make Inter's midfield nearly uable.

  At Maniche's signing ceremony, Inter Min's head coach Mani was interviewed by Sky Italia. He discussed the Serie A title race, fidently stating that while Inter Min had a fortable lead, he believed they could do eveer.

  Mani praised pyers like Ibrahimovic, stating that Inter had the quality to widen the gap further.

  When discussing his rivals, Mani mentioned Roma, Juventus, and even A, but spicuously ignored Napoli. After the reporter prompted him three times, Mani finally said, "I don't sider Napoli as a tender for the title, even though they've topped the table three times."

  He went on to say that Napoli's form had been deing sinber and that they had now dropped to third pce. Acc to him, they would tio fall and might even struggle to finish iop four.

  "In fact, this is the case for many mid- and lower-level teams. They have a good run of form for a while, but they quickly return to their normal level. We're still fog more on Roma and Juventus."

  The implication was clear: Where is Naples? Mani couldn't see them as serious tenders.

  Wheers reyed Mani's ents to Gao Shen, he was infuriated.

  He had experienced Mani's arrogance before, but this was on a different level an ht dismissal of both Gao Shen and Napoli.

  Whether it sychological warfare enuine belief, Gao Shen couldn't accept being dismissed like this.

  "Yes, Inter Min is still the stroeam in Italy. The addition of Maniche has strengtheheir advantage even further. But I don't believe they're invincible, because at the San Siro, we almost beat them!"

  So far this season, Mani's Inter Min was the only uen team across Europe's top four leagues.

  "But e February, when the Champions League kicks in, I doubt they'll be able to maintain this momentum. My pyers and I are fident that we'll be back to our best form by the 26th round."

  "We'll show our true strength and take the fight to Inter Min head-on at the San Paolo Stadium!" Gao Shen decred boldly.

  't see us?

  Fine, we'll make sure you do!

  ***

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