Starting With Real Madrid

"You're looking thin."

When Marino received Gao Shen and Lucas at Naples airport, he was somewhat taken aback.

After running around for half a month, Gao Shen indeed looked thinner.

Gao Shen smiled.

Although he flew from Europe to South America and took some time for sightseeing over the past two weeks, he had been more occupied with work.

Fortunately, the results were fruitful.

"How's the progress on the European side?" Gao Shen asked with concern.

"Pelle, Bonucci, Hamsik, Handanović, and Gervinho have all been signed."

After Marino finished speaking, he hesitated and asked again, "I'm very curious. Although Pelle is a player for the National Youth Team, there is a lot of controversy around him. Many people are not optimistic about him. Why did you want to buy him?"

Graziano Pellè, who will soon turn 21, is a player for the Italian national youth team. In 2005, he performed well in the youth team friendly matches. In the U20 World Cup in the United States, he scored four goals in five games, and coach Paolo Berrettini praised him as the future hope of Italian strikers.

However, in 2006, after the youth team changed coaches and the new coach Casiraghi took over, Pellè's performance was lackluster. It could even be described as poor. From the second half of 2005, through the qualifiers to the official U21 European Youth Championship, he scored zero goals and faced heavy criticism.

Not only that, but he also performed poorly at Lecce. In the 2004-05 season, he was loaned to Catania in Serie B. He failed to score a single goal in 15 games.

In Lecce last season, he played ten games and still scored zero goals until he was loaned to Crotone in Serie B after the winter break. There, he scored two goals in 17 games, and his performance was just as bad.

It can be said that Italy was not satisfied with Pellè's performance and even felt that his development was far below expectations.

This is why Napoli was able to buy Pellè from Lecce for one million euros.

Therefore, Marino was puzzled about why Gao Shen wanted to buy Pellè.

Gao Shen knew that not only now but in the coming years, Pellè's fate would be just as disappointing.

In 2007, Van Gaal, who coached Alkmaar, took a liking to him and bought him for a high price of 6 million euros. It didn't take long for Van Gaal to leave, and Pellè was quickly sidelined. After returning to Italy, he still wasn't utilized much.

It wasn't until 2013 when Ronald Koeman coached Feyenoord and brought Pellè to the Eredivisie again.

This time, Pellè shined, scoring 27 and 23 goals in two consecutive seasons, becoming a sensation, and later reaching the peak of his career with Premier League club Southampton.

Unfortunately, he was already in his early thirties by then.

The reason was that Pellè's technical characteristics did not fit the mainstream tactical trends.

Van Gaal was the first to see Pellè's characteristics, but for various reasons, Pellè did not perform well under Van Gaal.

Sometimes, one really has to admit that luck plays a big part!

Gao Shen appreciates Pellè very much. His characteristics align with Gao Shen's requirements for a centre-forward: tall and strong, able to contest, run, and compete in aerial duels. He serves as a crucial tactical pivot in the front.

But now, the mainstream forwards in Italy are of the type like Pippo Inzaghi, Luca Toni, Iaquinta, and Amauri pure goalscorers.

This made Pellè seem out of place, and his low scoring efficiency drew criticism.

Of course, this was not an isolated case. In 2006, even a target man like Drogba was criticized by countless people for his low scoring efficiency, so how could Pellè avoid the same fate?

In Gao Shen's tactical plans, Pellè and Cavani are two different types of players for different tactical environments.

Although Cavani is tall, strong, and has excellent heading ability, he is better at direct impact and is tireless. He is the kind of alternative forward who can cover all the way from the opponent's goal to his own.

Pellè, on the other hand, is the tactical pivot.

How to use them and when to use which player will depend on the match situation and opponents.

For Marino's question, Gao Shen just laughed and did not answer.

This made him seem very mysterious.

...

Gao Shen's arrival, coupled with De Laurentiis' verbal battle with Juventus, drew a lot of attention to Napoli before the season even started, and the players they signed gradually attracted media attention and reports.

The closer it got to July, the more media reporters paid attention.

Especially when the successive signings were gradually announced on the official website, the Italian media were surprised to find that Napoli had introduced a group of young players in their twenties.

At the same time, after Gao Shen took over the team, Marino stepped in and sold a large number of players. Some who hadn't been able to play last season were let go, and even key players like Giubilato, Consonni, Gatti, and Capparella were sent away one by one.

What is he trying to do?

Does Gao Shen really want to reach Serie A with a group of young players in their twenties?

Not only could the Italian media not understand, but even Sacchi said he could not fathom what Gao Shen was planning.

Turin Sports Daily even wrote an ironic article, claiming that Gao Shen wanted to replicate his success at Real Madrid but foolishly forgot that at Real Madrid, the core combat power was not young players like De la Red and Negredo.

"Real Madrid won the double crown relying on superstars like Zidane, Ronaldo, Beckham, and Raúl!"

Turin Sports Daily believed that Gao Shen was being blind and impulsive, and Napoli would pay the price for their decision.

Even *Gazzetta dello Sport* commented that Gao Shen's signings seemed very immature.

"According to insiders from Napoli, Gao Shen's signings have cost more than 15 million euros. Even in Serie A, this is a massive expenditure, but the players he brought in are seriously lacking in competitiveness."

"If you invest heavily but fail to lead the team to Serie A, then Gao Shen will pay the price for his wrong decisions!"

After multiple setbacks in finding a coach, Juventus finally succeeded when Blanc stepped forward and persuaded Deschamps to coach the relegated Bianconeri in Serie B.

Sporting Director Secco managed the overall transfers. Although they sold players like Ibrahimović, Emerson, Zambrotta, Vieira, Mutu, Cannavaro, and Thuram, Juventus remained strong.

This summer, Juventus spent only 3.6 million euros to bring in central defender Boumsong from Newcastle in the Premier League, Marchionni from Parma, and Cristiano Zanetti from Inter Milan, all on free transfers.

In other words, Juventus sold nearly 80 million euros worth of players but only reinvested 3.6 million euros in signings.

On this, Sporting Director Secco proudly said that Juventus didn't need to invest more money because they were confident about being promoted to Serie A.

"Only teams that have struggled their way up from Serie C need to invest huge sums of money to transform their squad. We don't need that," Secco sarcastically sneered.

Regarding Gao Shen's signings, Secco said he didn't understand them at all.

"That's why I refused to hire him as our coach in the first place. I found he knew nothing about professional football. He didn't even know how to handle a transfer, so I refused to give him transfer authority."

"Yes, Napoli gave it to him, but look at what he has done at Napoli!"

"I don't understand. He's dismantled the entire foundation of the team. Does he intend to get promoted to Serie A with a bunch of twenty-year-old kids?"

...

While Secco sneered at Gao Shen in Italy, Martín, the former chairman of Real Madrid, also spoke out in Spain, publicly accusing Gao Shen of betraying him at a critical moment and warning Napoli's chairman, De Laurentiis.

"He will bankrupt you, just like he did to me!"

Martín said that he was the one who, against all odds, decided to let Gao Shen coach Real Madrid; he was the one who paved the way for Gao Shen by settling the superstars in the locker room; he was the one who gave Gao Shen unconditional support and trust, which is why Gao Shen succeeded at Real Madrid.

"But what did I get?"

"At the most critical moment of my re-election campaign, he betrayed me. I know why: he wanted to please my opponent. But unfortunately, Capello will be coaching Real Madrid in the new season, and he will only end up coaching a newly-promoted Serie B team."

Martín said that Gao Shen did not understand football at all, and his coaching success was entirely due to his assistant, Maqueda, and others.

"I'm afraid many people don't know that when he was coaching Real Madrid, he visited Carlo's house every day to ask for help. He didn't even know how to set up a lineup or prepare for a game. That's why when he went to coach Napoli, he hired Carlo as his assistant."

Martín took the initiative to reveal these inside stories with only one intention to tell the world that Gao Shen's achievements at Real Madrid were fake!

Gao Shen is the biggest liar in the world!

This time, it wasn't just the Spanish media that picked up on the storyvItalian outlets and other major European media also followed suit.

Many had long harbored doubts: how could a 25-year-old coach lead Real Madrid and achieve such remarkable success?

Now, the answer might be coming to light.

Particularly concerning was Gao Shen's decision after joining Napoli, where he spent over 15 million euros to bring in a group of relatively unknown youngsters. To many, this seemed utterly absurd.

Even respected publications like L'Équipe and Bild expressed concerns about Gao Shen's future at Napoli.

While they didn't directly question his achievements at Real Madrid since the claims made by some, like Martin, were riddled with inaccuracies and seemed like mere sensationalism there was still a significant worry among fans, especially those unfamiliar with Gao Shen or supporters of teams he had previously defeated.

The real concern stemmed from his current moves at Napoli. This was his first season after a hugely successful stint at Real Madrid, and now he was coaching a newly promoted Serie B team, bringing in a roster full of young and unproven talents. It was understandable why people were anxious.

However, this uncertainty also brought unprecedented attention to the upcoming Serie B season. With not only fallen giants like Juventus but also many other well-known Italian clubs and newly promoted teams led by an ambitious coach, the league was shaping up to be a fascinating mix that drew in fans from all corners.

Amidst all this attention, Napoli's summer training camp quietly commenced.