Starting With Real Madrid

Two days before Gao Shen arrived in Madrid, the results of the Real Madrid presidential election were announced.

Due to Gao Shen's resignation and Martin's aggressive attacks on him in the media, Martin's image plummeted, and his reputation completely collapsed. As a result, he failed to pose any threat to Calderon in the Real Madrid presidential election.

Calderon was eventually elected as the new president of Real Madrid, and his running mate Mijatovic became the general manager of the team.

The day after their victory was announced, they immediately revealed the name of Real Madrid's new head coach: Capello!

This decision sparked intense discussion across European football.

Gao Shen had just led Real Madrid to a double championship, withdrawing from the spotlight quickly afterward. For Capello to take over Real Madrid at this moment would undoubtedly require great courage, as Real Madrid fans would only have higher expectations for him.

Meanwhile, after suffering setbacks last season, Barcelona had bolstered their squad by signing the superstar Henry, determined to challenge Real Madrid once again, and their strength seemed better than ever.

Additionally, with Capello taking over at Real Madrid and Juventus being relegated as a penalty, the morale of the Bianconeri (Juventus) had collapsed.

World-class players like Vieira, Ibrahimovic, Emerson, Cannavaro, Zambrotta, and Thuram were actively looking for new clubs in the transfer market, unwilling to stay and play in Serie B with Juventus.

However, some notable players like Nedved, Del Piero, and Buffon chose to remain loyal and decided to stay and fight with Juventus.

After Capello's appointment at Real Madrid, Turin Sports Daily revealed that Juventus had narrowed down their head coach selection to five candidates, one of whom was Gao Shen, the man who had just led Real Madrid to a double championship.

This news triggered heated discussions among Juventus fans.

A questionnaire survey showed that even though Gao Shen had achieved the success of winning a double crown at Real Madrid and was recognized by numerous football legends like Sacchi and Valdano, many fans were still skeptical about his capability.

In the survey conducted by Turin Sports Daily, less than 20% of the fans supported Gao Shen becoming the head coach of Juventus.

Their reasoning was simple: they didn't believe Gao Shen could lead Juventus to a revival.

Gao Shen wasn't particularly concerned about the strong reactions from Juventus fans.

When he was at Real Madrid, didn't the fans also object?

But now, things were different.

...

The day Gao Shen arrived in Madrid, he received a call from Florentino.

The former Real Madrid president had learned of his arrival date and specifically called to invite him for a meal.

Gao Shen did not refuse and attended the dinner that night. Also present were Butragueno, Manuel Redondo, and Valdano. Naturally, the topic of discussion was the Real Madrid presidential election.

Florentino mentioned that he still hadn't figured out what direction Real Madrid should take, so he chose not to participate in this presidential election. However, he felt that Calderon actually had the ability to lead the club.

Gao Shen had his reservations about this.

Calderon indeed had some abilities; otherwise, he wouldn't have reached where he was today. But whether he could do well as Real Madrid's president was another matter.

It's similar to how former Barcelona president Gaspart was hailed as the best vice-president in history, but when he became president, he turned out to be the worst in Barcelona's history. Who could explain that?

Florentino also inquired about Gao Shen's plans and even asked if he needed any help.

To be fair, Florentino still had a wide range of contacts in La Liga.

However, Gao Shen politely declined, saying he could manage on his own.

He didn't want to owe Florentino any favors.

Favors are hard to repay!

Meanwhile, Valdano offered Gao Shen plenty of advice, mainly about choosing his next team.

...

During the meal, Gao Shen received a call from Fernando Lucas.

When he returned to the hotel, Lucas was already waiting for him there.

And he brought some news.

"Lorenzo is back in Seville."

"Why?" Gao Shen was very surprised.

He knew that Lucas was referring to the city of Seville, not the club.

That was Buenaventura's hometown.

"When Capello took over Real Madrid, he brought his own coaching team, including a fitness coach. So, Mijatovic refused to renew his contract and directly terminated it."

Lucas still looked indignant when he talked about this.

This was the man who helped Real Madrid win a double crown, and he was discarded just like that.

The direct termination of the contract meant that they didn't even need to pay any severance.

Gao Shen also felt very uncomfortable. He trusted Buenaventura's ability greatly.

After thinking it over, he called Buenaventura, who was in Seville.

"I'm back in Spain. If you have time in the next few days, let's meet up. I'd like to have a good talk with you."

On the phone, Buenaventura sounded a bit down, but he was very happy to hear from Gao Shen. He immediately said that he would take care of his family affairs and head north in a few days to meet up and have a discussion.

"Seriously, Gao."

After Gao Shen hung up with Buenaventura, Fernando Lucas looked at him earnestly. "Real Madrid isn't the same as when you were here. Capello has his own people. I'm actually fine because Capello doesn't have an analyst, but Maqueda has been completely marginalized."

After a pause, Lucas gritted his teeth and said, "I'd rather just follow you!"

Gao Shen looked at his friend, who had always been loyal to him, and said, "Fernando, you know, I haven't chosen a team yet, and it might not even be in one of the top five leagues. You need to think this through."

"I know. Whether it's more money or less, it's not important," Lucas said firmly. "Besides, we managed to lead Real Madrid to a double crown before. Even if we don't coach a top-five league team this time, we can still take them to the Champions League. I have faith in you!"

Gao Shen nodded and gave Lucas a hard pat on the shoulder. "Alright, it's settled then. But you need to continue your studies at Loughborough University. That's our core weapon."

"Of course, I'll double down on it."

...

True to his word, the next day, Lucas went to Butragueno and submitted his resignation.

Before Gao Shen left Real Madrid, he had specifically asked Butragueno to take care of Lucas.

Back then, he believed that Buenaventura was highly capable, and Real Madrid had no reason to make things difficult for him. Instead, he was more worried about Lucas, but who would have thought that Lucas turned out fine while Buenaventura got fired.

This time, when Lucas resigned, Butragueno tried to refuse, but upon learning that he was planning to follow Gao Shen, he could only agree and called Gao Shen to inform him of the situation.

However, Butragueno showed his righteousness. Although he terminated Lucas' contract, he didn't demand Lucas repay the tuition fees Real Madrid had previously paid for his studies at Loughborough University.

Lucas directly moved into Gao Shen's room in the hotel, and the two started preparing materials for the upcoming meeting with Juventus.

They focused mainly on analyzing Juventus' current lineup and situation. Gao Shen needed to formulate a detailed plan, including how to get promoted from Serie B and how to perform in Serie A later.

His goal was to help Juventus regain its former glory in the shortest possible time.

Simultaneously, Gao Shen also wrote a detailed analysis of the current state of Italian football, including the tactical styles of Serie A teams. He believed that Serie A had long lost its previous technical and tactical advantages.

In this analysis report, Gao Shen conducted a detailed analysis, starting with Juventus, then covering AC Milan, Inter Milan, Roma, and other Serie A teams. He concluded that Serie A was outdated in terms of techniques and tactics and needed a significant overhaul.

Merely pointing out the issues wasn't enough; Gao Shen also provided solutions to the problems.

These were aligned with his next tactical ideas.

He stated that if he took over Juventus, he would start from certain aspects, what changes he planned to implement for the team, and what goals he aimed to achieve, thereby driving an improvement in overall competitiveness.

His focus was not just on Serie A. From the beginning, his target was European competitions, especially the Champions League.

In Gao Shen's words, if he were allowed to take charge of Juventus, with the club's full support in terms of transfers and finances, he was confident that within three years, he could build a team highly competitive in European football.

He even broke down the whole plan into different phases, with clearly defined goals for each stage.

In essence, it was a highly feasible proposal.

Not only that, Gao Shen also privately compiled a list of promising young players who could be signed to the Serie B league based on his memories before his time-travel. All these players were highly cost-effective. If Gao Shen successfully took over Juventus, he planned to bring these young talents into the Bianconeri one by one, gradually replacing veterans like Nedved.

Of course, this list was only known to him.

He was confident that within three years, he could not only bring Juventus back to the forefront of Serie A but also lead them to reclaim the Champions League!

After completing the plan, Gao Shen shared it with Valdano, Sacchi, Carlo, and others, who all provided their suggestions, especially Sacchi, who was more familiar with Italian football. Many of his suggestions were precise and valuable.

However, they all had a common doubt: Gao Shen was too confident in his transfer strategies.

You must know that even with giant teams, the probability of transfer failures is quite high.

But in Gao Shen's plan, he didn't seem to have any such concerns and appeared fully confident in his ability to sign the right players.

When asked why he was so confident, Gao Shen would simply smile without giving a detailed explanation, and they didn't press further.

Perhaps they thought Gao Shen had his own criteria and methods for scouting talent.

But regardless, as Sacchi and Valdano put it, this was a very high-quality and comprehensive team-building plan.

"Take this plan to Blanc," Sacchi encouraged him over the phone with a smile. "I believe there will definitely be no problems."

Gao Shen also thought it was feasible.

He couldn't wait to make a big impact in the new season and on a new stage.