Starting With Real Madrid

After it was confirmed that Napoli would face Juventus in the third round of the Coppa Italia, Juventus sent out a message in their "circle of friends".  

"Asking about how to deal with Napoli"

Juventus' contacts immediately started replying.  

From Ascoli's head coach, Texel, to the player Paolucci, to various other individuals, including some media reporters, all left their comments in Juventus' circle of friends, each offering their clever strategies.  

All the feedback was finally collected and put into the hands of coach Deschamps and the Juventus coaching staff.  

After careful sorting and analysis, Deschamps and his staff finally had a clear understanding of Napoli's current situation under Gao Shen's management this season.  

What shocked them was that Napoli, under Gao Shen, was playing a completely different style of football compared to his time at Real Madrid.  

"Goodness, how is this possible?"

When he was coaching Real Madrid, Gao Shen was known for his conservative style. Many Real Madrid fans disliked him because of this cautious approach, going so far as to label him the "2.0 version of Capello."  

Everyone knew that Capello's style could be downright frustrating to fans, keeping things tight to the point of anger.  

Who would have imagined that Capello 2.0 would employ aggressive, attacking football at Napoli?  

Was Gao Shen going mad?  

When Deschamps first saw the scoreline of Napoli's games, he made some guesses, but he thought a 6-0 result against Frosinone was understandable. It proved that Napoli wasn't weak, especially after spending over 16 million euros on players.  

However, the 2-0 victory over Ascoli in the second match was the one Deschamps took most seriously because it held more weight.  

Initially, Deschamps assumed the game must have been closely contested, but it turned out he was wrong.  

"We only managed four shots in the entire game, none of which were on target. In some sense, we couldn't even string together a proper, threatening attack. The tempo of the game was completely thrown off."

"Napoli plays a somewhat strange football. They even managed to intercept our passes, nearly making our goalkeeper score an own goal..."

Deschamps could fully imagine how heartbroken Ascoli's head coach, Texel, must have been when he said this.  

Damn, what kind of football is this?  

However, based on the information provided by Ascoli, Deschamps and his coaching staff could basically deduce Napoli's tactics.  

High-pressing tactics!

European football coaches have been familiar with this strategy for years because Liverpool's Benitez played such a tactic.  

But according to Texel, "Napoli's tactics differ significantly from Benitez's. Although both teams use high-pressing tactics, Napoli is faster, not only when transitioning from defense to attack but also from attack to defense."

"Each of their players has a wide range of activity and coverage, but their formation is very compact. Sometimes, when they press up to our penalty box, their back line has already crossed the halfway line. Normally, the space they cover is about 30 meters or even smaller."

"There are several players in this team that need special attention. Cavani, the tall Uruguayan center forward, is like a mad dog. He keeps running, keeps pressing, keeps intercepting. The most crucial thing is, he is very difficult to handle he's strong, technically good with his feet, fast, and charges like a tank."

"Then there's the black player with the strange hairstyle I can't remember his name exactly. Anyway, that guy is really strong, really fast, and he's great with the ball. He's sharp when dribbling and needs to be watched closely." 

"There's a young Slovakian named Hamsik. He's like Lampard...no, his scoring ability is like Lampard, but he looks a bit like Nedved. His passing and his late runs are very threatening." 

"The weakest point in their front line is the right side, a 17-year-old kid. He is very young, but he plays with so much energy, desperately fighting for every ball. His ability to dribble past opponents is very strong, much like the guy with the weird hairstyle. You can't defend against him one-on-one."  

"There's also a midfielder with golden hair who seems to be Swiss. He's good at long shots. Be careful, don't give him any space outside the box. In the game against us, he hit the crossbar twice." 

"There's also a Peruvian player on the left flank. His runs forward are very threatening. He's quick and defends well. This kid is definitely one to watch out for."  

"And their center-backs..."

...  

Deschamps was left speechless after reading Texel's analysis of Napoli.  

He really wanted to call Texel and ask, **"For God's sake, are you saying Napoli is a team of World Class Players?"

With a great player in every position, how does this team still need to be in Serie B?  

Does Texel even understand what it means to be a successor to Nedved?  

If there were such a player, Juventus would snatch him up immediately!  

And those two who can't be stopped one-on-one, how much is a player like that worth? They'd turn up at Napoli?  

After reading these reports, Deschamps shook his head vigorously. "Isn't this a bit exaggerated?"

Assistant coach Pezzotti was also stunned. "I guess Texel exaggerated a bit, after all, he lost."

"Yeah, he's coached all his life, and now he's lost to a 25-year-old rookie. He can't accept it, so he's trying his best to talk them up. It's a bit much." 

He didn't believe it.  

Or rather, he didn't fully believe it.  

If Gao Shen had the ability to put together such a team at Napoli in such a short time and develop such tactics, how could Juventus have allowed such a gem to slip away?  

Real Madrid wouldn't have let such a talented coach go!  

"But one thing is certain," Deschamps said, not completely dismissing Texel's points but taking them with a grain of salt. "Comparing this with other reports, it's clear that Gao Shen's Napoli plays a completely different style from his Real Madrid days it's more aggressive and forward-minded." 

"Yes, that's exactly what he said during his first press conference at Napoli," Pezzotti added.  

Deschamps sighed. From a 6-0 thrashing in the first game to a solid 2-0 win in the second, Napoli had kept a clean sheet and scored eight goals.  

Even if we disregard the first game, defeating Ascoli 2-0 especially given Texel's impression that Napoli still had more to offer in the second half suggested Napoli was no pushover. Their attack was indeed formidable.  

Of course, that's in comparison to a team like Ascoli.  

Deschamps had confidence in Juventus; their defense was at least upper mid-table Serie A level.  

"So, what's the plan?" Pezzotti asked.  

As the assistant coach, his job was to help the head coach execute his vision.  

"Napoli's players cover a lot of ground, and they run hard. We'll take a defensive approach first, stabilize our formation, and then counter-attack," Deschamps replied without hesitation.  

That was his tried-and-true approach.  

Pezzotti agreed with the strategy. "But how do we counter-attack?"

In a defensive-counterattacking setup, defense and counterattack must complement each other. If there's only defense without counterattacking, it's doomed to fail, and vice versa.  

Juventus' biggest issue right now was their lack of pace in transitioning to a counterattack.  

Everyone knew that pulling back into a tight defensive formation maximized defensive stability, but the downside was that the team was far from the opponent's goal when they regained possession. To be a threat, they needed speed.  

If they regained possession, slowly advanced, and only got near the opponent's penalty area after the opposition's three lines were already in place, then they'd be forced to attack a set defense.  

However, Juventus currently lacked players with the necessary speed to execute quick counters.  

That was why Deschamps had wanted to sign Saviola.  

The Argentine was not only fast but also highly skilled.  

Trezeguet was a high-scoring target man; Zalayeta was also a high target man. Del Piero had never been a speedster, and he was getting older. Bojinov was quick and technically good but too young at only 20 years old.  

"Should we go with a four-four-two?" Pezzotti suggested.  

Deschamps shook his head. "No, if we play 4-4-2, we'll lose the midfield battle."

Once the midfield battle was lost, the back line would be exposed to Napoli's attacks.  

Moreover, Napoli adopted a high-level pressing and a 4-2-3-1 formation, which is particularly noteworthy.

Pezzotti understood that Deschamps still wanted to stabilize the defense first and aimed to use a 5-4-1 formation.

With four backs and five midfielders, only one person remains up front.

Trezeguet, Sarayeta, and Piero are not suitable, so Bodinov is once again the risk-taker. Who to choose?

"Try Bodinov!" Deschamps gritted his teeth.

Since Gao Shen dared to use a group of young players in their twenties at Napoli, why shouldn't he dare to take this risk?

...

...

The day before the third round of the Coppa Italia, the Italian Football Association suddenly announced that the TV broadcaster had decided to broadcast only one game of the third round: the focus match between Naples and Juventus.

Once the news was released, it immediately sparked enthusiastic responses throughout Italy.

From the beginning of the season, the war of words between the two sides had been noticeable enough. Now, Gao Shen is leading Napoli to face Juventus, coached by Deschamps, at home. This is a showdown full of highlights, and it is a single knockout match.

Such a high-stakes game not only attracted fans from both sides but also Italian fans and many foreign viewers.

Especially since the league has not yet started, this focus battle is undoubtedly more eye-catching.

Everyone wants to see how Juventus, relegated to Serie B, measures up. They also want to see if the prodigy who has promised to build a strong Serie A team within three years can lead Napoli to defeat Juventus and advance further in the Coppa Italia.

But no one expected that before this highly anticipated duel, Napoli would suddenly suffer a significant and painful blow. Not only the entire team but even Gao Shen was furious and cursing.