If football is a war, then the success or failure of this war is often not determined only on the battlefield.
Before the war begins, both sides must make the most complete preparations.
Gao Shen used an impassioned declaration of battle to convince everyone on the coaching staff, unify all their thoughts and positions, and let them make the most meticulous preparations for this game in the next few days.
At the same time, Gao Shen also began to communicate and chat with players constantly.
As the head coach of the team, he needs to let the players understand his thoughts and why he does what he does?
For example, when playing against Inter Milan, they are clearly at a disadvantage, so why can't they defend and counterattack?
The reason given by Gao Shen is very simple, he wants to build Naples' confidence!
The 3-0 loss last season was a huge blow to the team.
Not only the players and coaching staff, but even him as the head coach were actually beaten very badly.
Now, everyone at Naples is under more psychological pressure when facing Inter Milan.
If it's just like this, it doesn't really matter, but the key is, what if it comes to the last minute and Naples competes with Inter Milan for the championship?
It's really the critical moment when the bayonet is drawn. Strength, morale, fighting spirit, willpower... these things have been fought to the extreme. Both sides have reached their limit. The last thing to fight for is confidence, and this is the tone!
Manchester United repeatedly staged classic comebacks in 1999, relying on this tone!
Many people ask, why is Arsenal always reversed by Manchester United?
Excessive physical exertion is one thing, but it also reflects that Arsenal is indeed inferior to Manchester United in terms of confidence.
The momentum of the Premier League hegemon cannot be matched overnight.
Wenger has never been a head coach with a strong aura. The Arsenal he built is more refined than tough. Especially after the departure of a strong player and captain like Vieira, the entire team's spirit has become even worse.
It's a sharp decline.
Is it really just because of the construction of a new stadium that Arsenal has become a four-place monster?
Compare it to Liverpool next door, the spirit of the team is completely different.
What Gao Shen wants to create is the character of Naples. He wants to completely instill his own personality and temperament into this team, so when facing Inter Milan, he has to fight hard!
On the contrary, if it were not Inter Milan, but a team with similar strength to Naples, or even weaker, Gao Shen would choose to defend and counterattack.
But now, Gao Shen wants to fight!
He wants the confidence and morale that was defeated in that 0-3 game to be restored again!
…
Some players understand Gao Shen's thoughts and provide support; some understand but have slight reservations; others do not fully understand, but are willing to do their best to cooperate...
This is actually quite normal.
There are dozens of people in a team, in a locker room, and it is impossible for everyone to be of the same mind as Gao Shen.
Different backgrounds, living environments, and growth conditions have shaped their different personalities and styles of behavior.
What Gao Shen can do is tell them what he thinks and then let them cooperate with him.
To put it simply, Gao Shen does not need their approval and sincere support, as long as they follow the instructions and do a good job.
After talking to everyone on the team, Gao Shen is confident that the team can do it.
After getting the player's approval, the next thing Gao Shen has to do is to do his best to prepare for the game.
Inter Milan can be said to be strong, but no matter how strong a team is, there will always be some problems.
For example, last season, Ibrahimovic, Crespo, Adriano, Cruz and Recoba, such a super striker can be said to be extremely luxurious, and the competition is also very fierce. During this period, Ibrahimovic
Qi even had a conflict with Mancini.
By this season, Recoba left, Adriano went into the cold palace, Cruz, who was more efficient, got more playing opportunities and performed better, while Crespo was just a little sluggish.
However, Suazo, whom the team introduced at a high price, did not perform as well as he did in Cagliari last season.
Mancini tried several times to use the combination of Ibrahimovic and Suazo, but the results were not satisfactory.
But recently, Mancini began to change his thinking and officially established Ibrahimovic as the offensive axis in the frontcourt.
In the last three rounds of games, Ibrahimovic has scored five goals and one assist, and his condition can be said to be red hot.
However, this will also bring a new problem.
…
"Suazo has proven to be incompatible with Ibrahimovic, and the most likely one is Cruise."
Gao Shen posted Cruz's No. 9 on the tactical board and put him side by side with No. 8 Ibrahimovic.
Inter Milan will still play 442.
Goalkeeper: Cesar.
Defence: Chivu/Maxwell, Samuel, Cordoba and Maicon.
Midfielder: Cesar, Stankovic, Vieira and Figo.
Forwards: Cruz and Ibrahimovic.
"Using Ibrahimovic as the offensive axis in the frontcourt allowed Inter Milan to further establish the team's offensive direction, which soon stabilized, but then came another problem, Ibrahimovic!
"
Gao Shen focused on taking a picture of Ibrahimovic's No. 8.
Beckenbauer once said that the strongest is often the weakest.
For a team with a core, the core is often the biggest weakness.
The same goes for Inter Milan.
By establishing Ibrahimovic as the axis of the frontcourt attack, the implication is that as long as Ibrahimovic is locked down, Inter Milan's offense will be greatly affected, or even misfire.
"We can look at Ibrahimovic's heat map in the past two seasons, and the running distance is actually very small."
Gao Shen presented the PPT materials carefully prepared by Lucas.
"I still remember that when I was at Ajax, Ibrahimovic had a quarrel with Van Gaal because Van Gaal asked him to run, but Ibrahimovic believed that it was impossible for a high forward like himself to actively run.
Not Kluivert."
"After coming to Juventus, he was basically still like this. It's just that under Capello's training, he played relatively more team-oriented, but he still didn't get rid of his own problems."
What's wrong with Ibrahimovic?
The biggest problem with the Swedish center is his biggest advantage. As a high center, his skills are too good!
What does it mean?
Even though you can obviously rely on your body to make a living, you insist on relying on your skills to make a living. What does this mean for technical players?
Ibrahimovic's biggest problem is actually the problem of many technical players. For example, many technical players in the Naples team have this problem, that is, they are too obsessed with technology.
As an arrogant man, Ibrahimovic has been magnified to a very high level in this regard.
He believes that he can solve all problems with technology, and facts have proven that he can indeed do it.
Without encountering high-intensity defensive pressure.
So, why is he called the Champions League soft-footed shrimp?
Because in the Champions League, the defensive intensity increased, and he stopped playing.
"We can see that almost all of his movements are for one purpose, which is to facilitate himself to get the ball."
"This is a very self-centered player. When he was at Juventus, he couldn't do this before, but when he came to Inter Milan, especially after this season, no one can lower him!"
Gao Shen can't say whether this is a good thing or a bad thing?
In fact, with Ibrahimovic's characteristics, talents and abilities, especially his body, skills and flexibility, he can really reach a height that everyone looks up to.
But he was born with this arrogant character, and no one could control him, and no one could make him obedient.
Because of this, Mancini decided to use Ibrahimovic as the axis of the frontcourt attack.
Since I can't control you and can't let you play for the team, then okay, I'll let the whole team play around you. That should be okay, right?
Therefore, Ibrahimovic's performance has soared so far.
After knowing this, it is very clear how Naples will deploy targeted tactics.
Gao Shen's request is to cut off the pass to Ibrahimovic as much as possible.
After the Swedish center gets the ball, it's really difficult to defend.
Therefore, the best way to defend him is to prevent him from getting the ball.
Inter Milan's offense is based on Ibrahimovic's frontcourt axis. As long as Ibrahimovic can be restricted from getting the ball, in theory, it is equivalent to restricting Inter Milan's frontcourt offense.
This is very difficult, not easy, but it must be done.
In addition, pay attention to Inter Milan's two wings.
Needless to say, Figo is on the right, the Portuguese winger is still as strong as ever.
In the 0-3 match last season, Inter Milan's left winger was Solari, but now it's Cesar, who is also a good winger.
Mancini's strategy this season is to use a three-midfielder tactic in the Champions League, but use a four-four-two tactic in Serie A.
It is not difficult to see from this that Inter Milan is actually determined to win the Serie A league.
Facts have also proved that as long as they adjust, Inter Milan will basically have no rivals in Serie A.
Therefore, Gao Shen speculates that Mancini will still play 442 in this home game, using Cesar and Figo to play on the wings.
As for whether to use Maxwell or Chiwu on the left, it depends on what Mancini thinks.
…
After preliminary research on Inter Milan's tactics, the coaching staff also began to organize training according to their respective divisions of labor, especially some targeted tactics.
In one week, in addition to giving the team a day off, Gao Shen also had plenty of time to prepare for the game. He could schedule three targeted training sessions to simulate different game scenarios against Inter Milan.
It's not difficult to choose Naples' players, because for the time being, the team's starting lineup is relatively stable.
The only suspense is Biglia.
This player has almost recovered, but whether he can participate in the game depends on his body and physical fitness, as well as his condition by then.
In his advanced plan, he had no intention of setting aside a special substitution spot for Biglia.
There are only three in a game, each one is crucial and very precious.
If Biglia doesn't recover well, he'll use someone else.
"By the way, both Pastore and Valencia should be brought along to be included in the eighteen-man roster." Gao Shen explained.
Carlo and others looked at each other in surprise and nodded in unison.
Pastore actually performed quite well. He came on as a substitute for Valencia, but he is still not very used to it.
The defense of Serie A is difficult for many players to adapt to.
