Starting With Real Madrid

After meeting with the two top bosses in Naples, Gao Shen bought two bottles of wine in the city, called Fernando Lucas, and took a taxi straight to the hotel to pick up Lucas. Together, they went to Carlo's house.

Carlo was treating them to dinner tonight.

The three of them sat at Carlo's house, enjoying the meal that Mrs. Carlo had prepared. Lucas drank some wine with Carlo.

On his trip back to China this time, Gao Shen had specially prepared gifts for Carlo, Lucas, and others. One of these gifts was tea.

After the meal, Carlo opened Gao Shen's gift and served them tea.

The air conditioner in the living room was blowing cold air, and as the hot water was poured, a light mist filled the room, and the aroma of the tea spread throughout.

"In the afternoon, I met again with Napoli's chairman, De Laurentiis, and their technical director, Marino," Gao Shen said casually.

Carlo and Lucas were already aware of this, so they weren't surprised.

"What did they say?" Carlo asked.

He had always known that Gao Shen was much more in demand than he was.

At least, so far, no one had approached him for a coaching position.

It made him a bit anxious; being unemployed like this was not a good situation.

Gao Shen talked about Juventus, and both Carlo and Lucas frowned.

When it comes to coaching a team, the most feared thing for a head coach is being undermined by management.

The management of Juventus is indeed a tricky situation, even a minefield.

Particularly, Alessio Secco, the sporting director, has control over transfers, which isn't an issue in itself, but there's a fear he might mess up the signings or fail to cooperate with the head coach's plans.

Therefore, when Gao Shen said he was not seriously considering Juventus, both Carlo and Lucas agreed.

"What about Napoli?" Lucas asked with concern.

Carlo also frowned. "This team is even worse than Juventus a newly promoted club from Serie B with a weak foundation. You could say they're starting from scratch. More importantly, is this chairman trustworthy? Is he really willing to invest?"

For a team like Napoli, it's essentially a brand-new club. It's only been around for two years and has been struggling in the lower leagues. Having finally been promoted to Serie B, the most crucial task is to lay a solid foundation.

But since De Laurentiis didn't use the current coach Reja and wanted to connect with someone at a higher level, he is obviously an ambitious person.

Such people have ambitions, but the worry is whether they are all talk and no substance.

"You don't have to worry about that. From what I've seen of De Laurentiis, he has a clear vision for Napoli. He's not the type of local tycoon who just throws money around; he will be careful with his spending, but the investment won't be small, especially in the early stages."

After a pause, Gao Shen carefully chose his words, "I think he just wants to invest in a team that can reach the top three in Serie A, or even win the championship. That's certain."

"As for Napoli starting from scratch, that's not necessarily a bad thing for me. A blank canvas is easier to paint on."

Lucas kept nodding. He had an almost blind confidence in Gao Shen's abilities.

On the contrary, Carlo, who was more cautious by nature, felt that Gao Shen might be overestimating himself.

Napoli doesn't have much money to burn, so they would only be able to bring in younger players, which is akin to buying a lottery ticket.

Where does Gao Shen's confidence come from?

Not only Carlo but even Sacchi and Valdano were puzzled about this. They had asked Gao Shen several times, but he had always been vague, leading them to secretly speculate if there was some hidden secret.

Or, as Secco of Juventus suggested, was Gao Shen just benefiting from Real Madrid's youth system?

"So, you're leaning towards Napoli?" Carlo asked.

Gao Shen smiled. "From the current perspective, they've offered me the most authority. First, they went to China, and now they've come to Madrid. Their sincerity is clear, but I'm still thinking it over, and they're also considering some of the conditions I've proposed."

To secure Gao Shen, De Laurentiis and Marino even stayed in Madrid, and it was expected that the outcome would be clear in two or three days.

"I get it. You still have some resentment in your heart and want to teach Secco of Juventus a lesson, right?" Lucas, who knew Gao Shen well, asked. He didn't believe that Gao Shen would just let this slide.

Gao Shen smiled but didn't deny it. "That's part of it."

Carlo looked at the two young men in front of him, talking so lightly and freely about coaching a team. He was at a loss for words. Should he say they were too carefree? Or were they just young and naive?

"What if De Laurentiis backs out or doesn't fulfill his promises?" Carlo reminded them.

Gao Shen nodded. "That's why the contract will be signed on a yearly basis, and I want every condition clearly outlined in the contract. For now, I hold the initiative."

It was clear that De Laurentiis was feeling more urgency because of Juventus.

Gao Shen is no longer a rookie; he's a double champion coach of La Liga and the Champions League!

After all, among the current head coaches in European football, how many are Champions League winners?

"To be honest, I can't imagine a head coach like you, who's won La Liga and the Champions League, going to coach a newly promoted Serie B team. If this news breaks, won't it shock all the media? They'll definitely say you couldn't continue in the top leagues, so you moved to a newly promoted Serie B team. You'll be the best double champion coach ever," Lucas said wryly.

He had become increasingly adept at understanding the routines of the media reporters.

And indeed, that's probably how it would go.

Gao Shen and Carlo looked at each other and laughed in unison.

"That's okay. If they dare to say that, I'll prove them wrong again!" Gao Shen said confidently.

At this point, even Carlo was impressed by Gao Shen's calm confidence.

Ever since becoming Real Madrid's head coach, Gao Shen seemed to have undergone a transformation always so confident and composed.

It was as if nothing in this world could ever defeat him.

"By the way, what conditions did you put forward to De Laurentiis?" Lucas asked casually.

"A lot. One of them is that I want to bring in a core coaching team of five people."

"Five?"

Lucas wasn't the only one surprised; Carlo was also taken aback. That's quite a large number!

You know, even some famous coaches usually bring only three people. And now Gao Shen wanted to bring in two more, which would certainly increase the cost in terms of salaries and bonuses.

But Gao Shen had his own considerations.

For now, it's manageable, but in the coming years, the competition faced by head coaches will only become more intense, and tactics and techniques will evolve rapidly. If you can't keep up, you'll be eliminated immediately.

The ability of a head coach alone is actually quite limited, so there needs to be a team with a clear division of labor and cooperation.

When Guardiola was coaching Barcelona, ​​the coaching staff of the first team reached more than 30 people a huge number. Later, when Rosell became the president of Barcelona, ​​he complained about it quite a bit and cut back significantly.

This was around 2010, only about four years from now.

So, Gao Shen was also planning ahead, aiming to get everything set up in one go.

"I've thought it through. Lorenzo Buenaventura will continue to be the fitness coach, Fernando will be the analyst, and I also need an assistant coach who specializes in leading the team, a goalkeeping coach, and another technical coach."

Gao Shen had been planning this for a long time, and it was actually necessary.

Needless to say, the fitness coach, analyst, and assistant coach are essential. The reason for the goalkeeping coach is that Gao Shen intends to implement high-pressing tactics, where the goalkeeper's position would be higher than usual, almost covering the entire penalty area.

Here's the problem: most current goalkeeping coaches can't do that.

Goalkeeper coaches from the Netherlands and Spain align more with these advanced requirements because they both draw from the same source Van Gaal's goalkeeper coach Frans Hoek.

This coach completely revolutionized the training mechanism for goalkeepers in Spanish football, so over the years, Spanish goalkeepers have largely met the needs of high pressing tactics.

Ball control is very common in La Liga, but the problem is that this is a significant trend.

In the coming years, world football will continue to integrate ball control, and all teams will emphasize possession. This is a direction that will be pursued.

Controlling possession requires three things: overall strategy, off-ball movement, and foot technique.

For players in the top leagues, the latter two are not an issue; the key is training.

Passing with the foot is not difficult the key is training.

Running off the ball is not difficult the key is training.

The level and quality of training are the keys that determine a team's effectiveness.

Gao Shen could say with confidence that in the future, the division of labor among a team's coaching staff will become more and more detailed, and coaching teams will grow larger and larger.

Is it necessary to poach those future big names?

No need just like with Lucas.

Gao Shen had never heard of his name in his previous life, but after leading Real Madrid to win the double, Fernando Lucas, as an analyst, also gained fame and was regarded as the top expert in football analysis. 

 Top coaches have their own fixed teams because these people are trained by the head coach. Gao Shen is now looking for and cultivating his own team. Fernando Lucas and Lorenzo Buenaventura have already been recruited, and he plans to make Carlo an assistant coach, but hasn't mentioned it to Carlo yet. The real problem is finding a goalkeeping coach and technical coach.

"What do you think of Pedro Haro, Real Madrid's first-team goalkeeping coach?" Lucas suggested. "He's 43 years old, from Madrid, and played for Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in his career.

 After retiring, he worked as a goalkeeper coach at Atletico Madrid and then for the Spanish U21 youth team for two years before joining Real Madrid in 2005." It would be a pleasure to work with Gao Shen, mainly because Pedro Haro trained Casillas, and there's no conflict with Gao Shen.

"This suggestion is good, Pedro Haro is very strong," Carlo agreed. 

But Gao Shen shook his head.