Starting With Real Madrid

Forty minutes have passed, but Napoli's relentless attack shows no signs of stopping on the pitch.

The fans in the stands are utterly captivated.

When was the last time they witnessed such a ferocious offensive display?

The emotions of the fans rise and fall with the rhythm of the game, drawing gasps and cheers in waves.

Arrigo Sacchi, seated in the chairman's box, watches as the Napoli players orchestrate attack after attack. Listening to the astonished exclamations of the Napoli fans, he too is filled with excitement.

It has been many years since Italy saw such electrifying attacking football!

Even Carlo Ancelotti, whom Sacchi holds in high regard, hasn't played with such aggression; his style leans more towards defensive counterattacks.

Of course, Ancelotti can't be blamed for this. The aging roster of AC Milan is a reality he has to contend with what more could he do?

But Napoli is fundamentally different.

Although Frosinone is not a particularly strong opponent, the fact that Napoli can force this Serie B team into such a dismal state demonstrates the effectiveness of their tactics.

Did you know?

After 40 minutes of play in the first half, Frosinone had only managed a single shot.

How did they get that shot?

During a rare counterattack into Napoli's 30-meter zone, their Venezuelan striker Maggiotta couldn't wait any longer and fired off a hurried shot.

It was at the 33-minute mark.

In other words, Frosinone was kept from taking a single shot in the first 30 minutes of the game by Napoli's relentless pressure.

And what about Napoli?

First, Hamsik opened the scoring, followed by Cavani.

Then, the young Swiss-Croatian midfielder Rakitic smashed a long-range shot past Frosinone's goalkeeper.

(Note: Rakitic held dual Swiss and Croatian nationality, but during his youth career, he played for Switzerland. So in 2006, Sacchi referred to him as a Swiss youngster.)

After Frosinone finally managed to get a shot off, Napoli responded almost immediately with an attack. Vargas delivered a pass, and Gervinho finally found the net.

It wasn't easy.

The Ivorian teenager had squandered several golden opportunities before finally capitalizing on one.

4-0!

Napoli had essentially sealed the victory in the first half!

Yet the team kept pushing, still looking to score more.

Even from the stands, Sacchi could sense the passion and energy of the players on the field, along with their insatiable hunger for victory.

"This kid is something else!" Sacchi muttered to himself.

As he said this, his eyes shifted to the figure in front of the home team's bench on the sideline.

Sacchi had mixed feelings about Gao Shen coaching Napoli. He wasn't against it, but he wasn't particularly supportive either.

The reason was simple: this newly-promoted Serie B team didn't match Gao Shen's current standing and reputation. If he wanted to move, it should have been to Juventus or at least a mid- to lower-tier Serie A team.

But Gao Shen's lofty demands were never going to be accepted by those teams, so he chose Napoli.

De Laurentiis was a gambler, but this time, he got it right.

After watching just the first half, Sacchi could conclude that this Gao Shen-led Napoli was the real deal.

Their style was unmistakable!

That kind of suffocating high-pressure pressing left their opponents gasping for breath.

Cavani, Gervinho, Sanchez, Hamsik these four were very active up front, covering a lot of ground and showing great coherence.

The moment Frosinone's players gained possession, Napoli's players were immediately pressing them.

When had they ever encountered such a team?

No need to dawdle; as soon as they regained possession, they would launch a quick counterattack.

That's what struck Sacchi the most.

Many teams like to organize after regaining possession.

For example, AC Milan revolves around Pirlo as the playmaker, with Seedorf providing support.

Or Benitez, whom Gao Shen deeply respects, at Valencia would have Aimar leading the attack, supported by Albelda and Baraja. At Liverpool, it would be Gerrard and Xabi Alonso.

But Gao Shen clearly didn't operate this way.

Whoever regained possession would initiate the attack.

Even central defenders like Bonucci and Cannavaro would start the offense the moment they got the ball.

Of course, the advantages of this approach are obvious. If you rely on one or two playmakers, the opponent can focus their defense on them. For example, against AC Milan, the strategy is to neutralize Pirlo, a consensus among teams. This forces the team to liberate Seedorf and Kaka.

But if anyone can initiate an attack, it becomes impossible to defend against.

However, this strategy demands a lot from the team's tactics and even more from the players.

At the very least, your players need to have the ability to organize the offense, right?

But look at the players Gao Shen brought in: Gervinho, Cavani, Sanchez, and Hamsik in the front; Biglia and Rakitic in midfield, both with excellent passing ability.

Vargas on the left and Bonucci in the center also have distinctive passing skills.

Clearly, Gao Shen's signings were not made haphazardly; he chose players that fit his tactical requirements.

God knows where he found so many players!

Moreover, he dismantled and rebuilt Napoli's entire structure in just one summer. This requires not only a sharp eye for talent but also financial backing from Napoli, as well as tremendous courage on his part.

And now, he has built a team that nearly crushed their opponents within the first half.

Sacchi really wished he could peek inside the young man's head and see what he was thinking.

How did he pull this off?

...

Unlike Sacchi, who was full of praise but somewhat perplexed, De Laurentiis didn't understand the technicalities.

He didn't grasp the finer details, but what he knew was that Napoli played phenomenally tonight.

Wave after wave of attacks, leaving the opponent with no chance to retaliate.

A shot almost every two minutes, and every minute creating danger in the front third what could be more thrilling for fans than this?

Even better, Napoli's defense remained rock solid.

"Pierpaolo, admit it, I made the right bet!" De Laurentiis laughed heartily.

Marino, who knew the game well, also found the first half genuinely impressive.

You could already see the outline of Gao Shen's tactical intentions from this first half.

Aggressive, attacking, high-pressure football!

Wasn't this exactly what Gao Shen promised when he took over Napoli?

"To be honest, it's unbelievable. In the previous warm-up games, they looked quite disjointed," Marino admitted with a wry smile.

He wasn't wrong.

As someone who worked at Udinese for many years, he understood the role of warm-up games. But some of Gao Shen's methods appeared quite unorthodox.

For instance, he used Pellè not as a goal-scorer but as a player to contest aerial balls and link up play.

And then there were the two flanks, where Gervinho and Sanchez were often tasked with finishing in the box rather than just crossing.

Bonucci, David Luiz, and Cannavaro as centre-backs were encouraged to make long passes, and even goalkeeper Handanovic was asked to participate more in ball distribution and defense organization.

Gao Shen's methods were completely different from those of mainstream coaches, going against the players' usual styles, leading to a chaotic adaptation period.

The most typical case was Arturo Vidal, a Chilean player. In Colo Colo, he was a central defender. But after arriving in Naples, Gao Shen tried him in multiple roles: covering Hamsik's position, playing box-to-box, sometimes even stepping in as a right-back.

Look at that it's just outrageous.

Marino even half-jokingly thought that Gao Shen might one day experiment with putting a goalkeeper up front as a striker.

Constant trial and error led to chaos in Napoli's early tactics.

But who would have thought that after the warm-up matches, after a closed training camp at Fort Volturno, Gao Shen would bring out a team that played such an incredible first half?

Four-nil could it get any better?

If Napoli's finishing had been sharper, they could have easily doubled the score.

"Is he really a magician?" Marino murmured.

De Laurentiis, grinning from ear to ear, patted Marino on the shoulder and laughed loudly. "I don't know if he's a magician, but I'm sure he's a genius! A rare talent!"

De Laurentiis didn't know about others, but he had only one way to deal with talent put them to good use!

...

The first half ended with Napoli leading 4-0.

During the halftime break, Gao Shen heaped praise on his players but also pointed out areas that needed improvement based on the first-half performance, encouraging them to keep up the intensity in the second half.

After the break, Napoli continued to press Frosinone relentlessly.

In the 51st minute, Cavani made a cross. Sanchez, after controlling the ball and dodging the defenders, broke into the right side of the penalty area. When he could have gone for goal himself, he chose to pass.

Gervinho was there to meet it and calmly slotted it home 5-0.

Less than ten minutes later, Rakitic made a sudden steal, and after a quick combination with Hamsik, the latter sent a through ball. Cavani, after shrugging off the defenders in the penalty area, blasted a shot with his left foot to score again 6-0!

Following this, Gao Shen made a series of substitutions and tactical adjustments.

Pelle, Vidal, and Piá came on to replace Cavani, Rakitic, and Gervinho. Despite the changes, Napoli continued to dominate the game, though their pace slowed considerably to conserve energy for the upcoming cup match on Wednesday.

While they continued to create numerous chances, they couldn't capitalize on them in the same way as earlier. Pelle, in particular, had four shots but couldn't find the back of the net.

In the end, Napoli's commanding lead was never in question, as they secured a resounding 6-0 victory over Frosinone.