Starting With Real Madrid

This time, when Capello took over as head coach of Real Madrid, he brought his own coaching team, but he didn't bring a goalkeeper coach.

The main reason was that, at this stage, Casillas' status was unassailable.

Everyone knows that Raul has been criticized in recent years, mainly due to his underwhelming performances. But Casillas, on the other hand, is in his prime; he's the darling of Real Madrid fans, the management, and the media. He's seen as the natural successor after Raul. Who would dare to provoke him?

In fact, sometimes, Gao Shen finds this situation quite amusing.

Back then, the media and fans would scold Sanchis and support Hierro. Later, when Hierro got old, they began to criticize Hierro and support Raul.

Now, they are criticizing Raul and supporting Casillas. In a few years, they'll start criticizing Casillas and supporting Ramos. And a few years after that, they'll start criticizing Ramos. And then... it seems like there will be no one left…

But no matter what happens in the future, Casillas' position is unshakable at this point.

Pedro Haro has worked well with Casillas, and Capello doesn't dare to make any changes.

Therefore, it's naturally impossible for Pedro Haro to leave his position as Real Madrid's goalkeeper coach to follow Gao Shen and coach a newly promoted Serie B team.

Thinking about it this way, Pedro Haro is really not suitable.

"What do you think of Luis Llopis from the U17 youth team?" Gao Shen asked.

Carlo and Lucas's eyes lit up. This guy is indeed a talent.

Antonio Adan, Felipe Ramos, Tomas Mejias, and Kiko Casilla all excellent goalkeepers were developed under his guidance, and he's genuinely adept at grooming goalkeepers.

The key point is, Luis Llopis is now forty-three years old, about the same age as Pedro Haro, but he's still stuck coaching Real Madrid's youth team and has never gotten the opportunity to move up.

If Gao Shen remembers correctly, Llopis later went to several different teams. But when Zidane took over as Real Madrid's head coach, he invited Llopis back. Llopis played a major role in Real Madrid's three consecutive Champions League titles. When Zidane returned to the club for a second spell, he even forcibly brought him back from Real Sociedad.

In the process, he trained Kepa at Athletic Bilbao.

As the world's top football powerhouse, Real Madrid's Valdebebas training complex is filled with talent.

When Gao Shen was in charge of the first team, his time there was very brief and intense, so he didn't have the opportunity to interact with these talented people, but he knew them well.

"If you put it that way, I think Luis Llopis is more suitable than Pedro Haro," Carlo nodded.

Gao Shen listened and made a mental note of Luis Llopis.

Pedro Haro is also talented, but at this stage, Gao Shen isn't in a position to recruit him. Fortunately, Luis Llopis seems to have greater potential for development in the future.

…

With the goalkeeper coach position settled, Gao Shen outlined his requirements for the technical coach.

Modern football concepts are still somewhat influenced by Barcelona's possession-based tactics, which is quite normal.

By 2021, which team in the world doesn't take possession of the ball seriously?

For the technical coach, Gao Shen already had a candidate in mind. This was another suggestion from Football Manager: the data genius, Rodolfo Borrell.

In Football Manager, Rodolfo Borrell is highly skilled at training players' technique, ball control, and attacking abilities, particularly with young players. He is also very good at assessing players' abilities and potential.

Every time Gao Shen played Football Manager in his previous life, he would try his best to recruit this data genius. Naturally, he became very familiar with Rodolfo Borrell's background. At the moment, he is still coaching in the Barcelona youth team. Although he has trained players like Messi, Cesc Fabregas, and Piqué, he hasn't truly made a name for himself yet.

What's even more interesting is that the 35-year-old Rodolfo Borrell has been working in Barcelona's youth training system for ten years. He is well-versed in Barcelona's passing and training methods, but he is actually a native of Madrid.

As soon as Gao Shen mentioned his name, Carlo immediately knew who he was.

The professional coaching world can be both big and small. Coaches like Rodolfo Borrell, who have worked with youth teams at top clubs for many years, are naturally not unknown figures. On the contrary, they are all waiting for an opportunity.

The difference is that Rodolfo Borrell's opportunity came in 2007 when Benitez, who also has a Real Madrid background, brought him to Liverpool for youth training. Now, Gao Shen plans to recruit him as an assistant coach.

This man later became Guardiola's chief assistant coach when he managed Manchester City. His abilities are undoubtedly exceptional.

The question is whether he is willing to give up his job as head coach of Barcelona's youth team to join Gao Shen's coaching team.

Gao Shen isn't entirely sure because reality is different from games.

In a game, if you offer a high enough salary, people will always be tempted to move. But in reality, that's obviously not always the case.

A wealthy team like Barcelona offers more than just an annual salary to its coaches. On the contrary, the annual salary for youth coaches at top clubs is often not high, but the resources, platform, and prestige they offer are something other clubs cannot provide.

If Gao Shen were coaching a team in one of the four major leagues now, it would probably be easy to convince Rodolfo Borrell. Even if he were coaching Juventus, it likely wouldn't be a problem. But for Napoli, it might not be so easy.

To put it bluntly, the risk is too high.

So this will have to rely on Gao Shen to persuade him.

…

After identifying the candidates, Gao Shen began to take action.

That night, Carlo got a hold of Rodolfo Borrell's phone number through his connections, and Gao Shen made a direct call.

It's currently the offseason, but Rodolfo Borrell doesn't live in Madrid; he resides in Barcelona.

Gao Shen's reputation is quite well-known at this point, but it's obviously unrealistic to convince a Barcelona youth coach over a phone call. So, Gao Shen didn't reveal his intentions right away. Instead, he made an effort to build rapport, saying he'd like to meet up, and they arranged a time to meet.

The next day, Gao Shen went straight to Luis Llopis' home.

His contact with Luis Llopis was mostly from his time interning with the second team, and they didn't have a deep relationship. But after Gao Shen coached Real Madrid's first team, many of his deeds spread throughout Valdebebas, leaving many with complex impressions of him, with both praise and criticism.

Coincidentally, Luis Llopis had a very good impression of Gao Shen.

After they sat down, Gao Shen explained how he was forming a coaching team.

Although Gao Shen hadn't decided where he would go yet, Luis Llopis was already very interested.

Because at forty-three years old, he didn't want to remain as the goalkeeper coach of Real Madrid's U17 team forever. He also wanted to push his career forward, so he had been waiting for an opportunity.

And joining Gao Shen's team was also a good opportunity.

From his time coaching at Real Madrid, it's not hard to see that he's someone who genuinely wants to achieve something and is capable of doing so.

Luis Llopis was interested, and the two sides quickly reached an agreement.

Regarding his contract with Real Madrid, Gao Shen said there's no rush for now. Once he confirms his final destination, he'll step in to negotiate with Butragueno. He believes it won't be a big issue, and the "Vulture" will give him this favor.

Not to mention Butragueno, even Calderon and Mijatovic would have to show him some respect right now.

After all, Gao Shen did lead Real Madrid to a double after a 50-year drought.

…

After finalizing things with Luis Llopis, Lorenzo Buenaventura also arrived in Madrid from Seville.

Gao Shen didn't hide anything from his former assistant, and he explained his current situation clearly.

On the phone previously, Gao Shen had hinted that Juventus was a more likely destination, but he candidly told Buenaventura that he would most likely not choose the Bianconeri. Instead, he was more inclined to go to Napoli to build a team that could challenge the top three Northern giants and push into the Champions League.

And all of this would essentially start from scratch.

This is a very challenging endeavor extremely difficult but also very rewarding.

The more achievements one earns in Napoli, the higher and more secure their position will be.

In the future, no one would be able to question Gao Shen's coaching level or credentials.

Buenaventura understood this, so he didn't hesitate and directly stated his willingness to follow Gao Shen.

"It doesn't matter whether it's a newly promoted Serie B team, Juventus, or another team in the top five leagues. Either way, I'm sticking with you!"

For a middle-aged man in his forties, saying such words to a young man in his twenties might seem embarrassing.

But surprisingly, Buenaventura said it very naturally it seemed like a given.

Behind this was his experience working with Gao Shen at Real Madrid.

In those short three months, he had been completely won over by Gao Shen.

More importantly, Gao Shen also trusted him.

After negotiating with Luis Lopis and Lorenzo Buenaventura, Carlo was essentially a done deal, leaving only Rudolph Borrell remaining. Just as Gao Shen was about to leave for Barcelona to meet with Borrell, he received a call from Marino inviting him to the hotel where they were staying.

 After two days of deliberation, De Laurentiis and Marino agreed with Gao Shen's terms and decided to accept his request. Gao Shen, still wary of De Laurentiis, proposed a restriction clause in the contract: in the future, all locker room matters would be under his control, and De Laurentiis would not intervene.

"Of course, I understand your personality. If you think I'm not doing well or something isn't up to your standards, you can tell me face-to-face or criticize me in the media - that's fine. If it makes sense, I'll happily accept it, but not in the dressing room.

" This was Gao Shen's bottom line. For De Laurentiis, this was a difficult concession, but the Napoli boss clearly prioritized making Napoli a strong team as soon as possible. However, in a surprising move, De Laurentiis proposed a novel but unusual treatment clause to Gao Shen, leaving him stunned. This was the first time Gao Shen had seen such a contract clause.