Naples' away game against Roma is scheduled to kick off at 17:00 p.m.
After the game, it was almost 18:30.
After Gao Shen attended the press conference, the players packed up, and when the team took the bus back to Castel Volturno in Naples, the second game of the eighth round, Inter Milan's away game against Reggina, just started.
The coaching staff and players were all watching the game at Fort Volturno, but the players were in the players' lounge and the coaching staff was in the office.
Inter Milan did not try their best in this game, including players like Ibrahimovic, Crespo, Zanetti, Samuel and other players did not start, but sat on the bench.
On the front line, Mancini lined up a combination of Adriano and Cruz.
This is surprising because Adriano has not played for a long time.
Everyone knows that this Inter Milan center has already fallen.
As soon as the game started, Reggina took advantage of the home court advantage to launch a fierce attack on Inter Milan.
Inter Milan's players are not in very good condition and are slow to enter the game.
This wave of attacks lasted for a full eighteen minutes. During this period, except for a free kick in the frontcourt, Inter Milan did not have a single shot. This shows the gap between the two sides' on-the-spot performance.
But in the 18th minute, Inter Milan created a set-piece opportunity on the right. Figo took a free kick. Adriano hit the goal with a header, opening the scoring for Inter Milan.
Football matches are always so unreasonable!
Reggina performed better and was more active after the start. Inter Milan was obviously in poor condition, but it was Inter Milan who scored the goal.
Then Reggina took the initiative and they wanted to equalize the score.
Even after entering the 20th minute, a series of attacks forced Inter Milan to retreat into the penalty area. Three consecutive shots almost missed the goal, causing a tremor in front of Inter Milan's goal.
"Regina's offense is really not good!" Lucas sighed depressingly.
Inter Milan's performance is actually very sluggish, and the state is obviously not good. Otherwise, as long as they perform normally, Inter Milan will be suppressed by their opponents like this?
But even so, Reggina had the advantage on the court and created so many opportunities in a row, but failed to score.
Who else can you blame?
"They are just a relegation team, we can't ask too much of them." Carlo said with a wry smile.
In many cases, the gap between relegation in the top league and the wealthy teams is greater than the gap between the teams in the second-tier league and the wealthy teams. This was clearly reflected in Naples last season.
"Reggina's four-to-five pair midfield suppression was very good, Inter Milan's two wings were contained, and there was a serious lack of creativity in the middle. This team is a bit like Capello's Juventus."
Gao Shen analyzed it.
Back then, Capello's Juventus were too strong, too delicate, and lacked creativity.
This is generally the case with Inter Milan now.
So Gao Shen can imagine why Sneijder is so important to Inter Milan.
If exchanging Ibrahimovic for Eto'o is a rare opportunity, then Inter Milan's subsequent operations are equivalent to making up for the team's shortcomings.
After Ibrahimovic left, Inter Milan lacked a center. Mourinho had to use 433, but Eto'o was not suitable for this position.
So the Portuguese wanted Drogba, but Blanca brought in Diego Milito.
This is very crucial, not only adapting to the four three three, but also activating Milito and Eto'o.
The midfield was weak in creation, Mourinho wanted Deco, but Branca introduced Sneijder from Real Madrid, which solved the shortcomings of Inter Milan's lack of creativity in the midfield and lack of passers in the middle.
Without Sneijder, Inter Milan's offense can only go out wide.
As for Mourinho asking for Carvalho and Blanca bringing in Lucio, this is even more appropriate.
Samuel, Cordoba, Burdisso, Rivas and Chiwu, these Inter Milan central defenders all have a common characteristic, that is, they are all short, just over 1.8 meters tall, and some even have less than a meter.
Miba.
Carvalho is also a short central defender, which is obviously not suitable for Inter Milan.
Let me ask, if Carvalho comes and Inter Milan's central defender encounters the opponent's high center, how will he play?
Materazzi is 1.93 meters tall, but this veteran is already 34 years old and has a lot of injuries. Everyone knows that he can no longer play many games. In this case, the introduction of Lucio will greatly
Strengthened Inter Milan's defense.
The Brazilian central defender is definitely the central defender with the strongest personal ability in today's world football, and you don't even need to add one.
Note that it is personal ability, that is, individual combat ability.
In fact, David Luiz's individual combat ability is also very strong, but he and Lucio have one thing in common, that is, they both have an offensive heart.
Milito, Sneijder and Lucio, these three players supported the central axis of Inter Milan, and under the integration of Mourinho, they fully demonstrated the strong strength of Inter Milan.
And without any one of these three players, it will be difficult for Inter Milan to win the Champions League!
Just like now, Inter Milan faced Reggina, who was far weaker than them, but ended up at a disadvantage on the scene, being beaten by the opponent, and the image was not to mention embarrassing.
Why?
Because the midfielder can’t get the ball out!
If there is Sneijder in the midfield at this time, or even if Sneijder is not needed, just give them Parejo, Reggina will die countless times.
Sometimes, football is as simple as that.
It can be said that it is complicated, but it is indeed quite complicated.
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Another thing that surprised Gao Shen in this game was that Mancini replaced Adriano with Zanetti in the 55th minute.
I have to say that this was a decision that left everyone including Gao Shen and even Carlo speechless.
Because he is so conservative!
You are a team competing for the Serie A championship. When facing a relegation team, even though it is an away game and in poor condition, you just want to be beaten passively. Why do you choose to make conservative substitutions?
"Now, I really understand why Inter Milan's mental will is so weak? It's not without reason that they can't get results in the Champions League." Buenaventura shook his head and smiled bitterly.
The strength is dominant. Although the state is not good, no matter what, we must show the courage of a strong team and fight with the opponent!
But what about Mancini?
His choice is to keep the three points.
Yes, this is a very wise choice. It is important to get three points, but the whole spirit and morale of the team are not good.
Making conservative substitutions is not the same as telling the players, I just want three points, and I don't care whether the scene is good or not.
Adriano was also very angry and even ignored Mancini when he came off the field and walked directly into the tunnel.
What was even more unexpected was that ten minutes later, Mancini replaced Vieira with Ibrahimovic.
Gao Shen and others were completely confused.
What do you think?
Adriano performed well tonight, wouldn't it be good to just replace Vieira with Zanetti?
"He might want to kill time by substituting people," Lucas guessed hilariously.
Everyone also smiled for a while.
Reggina was even braver, because they immediately replaced striker Barreto to continue to strengthen the offensive, directly posing a greater offensive threat to Inter Milan's goal.
Gao Shen even thought with some evil humor: "What if Reggina scores a goal?"
Everyone was stunned.
Don't tell me, it's really possible.
Because on the scene, Regina really had the advantage.
If it is really equalized, Mancini may be in serious trouble.
Fortunately, even in the end, Reggina failed to break Inter Milan's goal.
The home team's offense was really too slow and missed many good opportunities.
In the end, Inter Milan narrowly defeated Reggina 1-0 in the away game with Adriano's goal.
But this is obviously not the focus of Gao Shen and others.
Especially in the players' lounge.
The game hasn't even started yet, but there are many people cheering over there.
After the game, although Inter Milan also scored three points, because Naples defeated Roma 4-0 away from home, in the standings, Naples overtook Inter Milan and took the lead in Serie A with a three-goal difference advantage.
The position of the sheep.
After a month, Naples tops the list again!
The players all ran to the coach's office to celebrate the good news with the coaching staff.
But Gao Shen felt a little regretful.
"I was always expecting Reggina to score, but..."
At the end of the day, Gao Shen even jokingly said, "I even want to loan Cavani to them!"
Everyone burst into laughter.
Cavani is the top scorer in the Naples team. His efficiency is not very high, but he is very active and scores a lot of goals.
"Boss, they can't create so many opportunities. If I go there, I probably won't be able to score a few goals." Cavani is self-aware.
His scoring efficiency does still need to be improved.
"Then you have to hone your shooting skills and make it more efficient. We will play in the Champions League next season!" Gao Shen looked at the players in front of him and said with a smile.
"At that time, the defensive intensity we encounter will be greater than now, especially in the knockout rounds. There may only be one or two good opportunities in a game. We must seize it. If we miss it, it will be gone."
Not only Cavani, Pellet, Hamsik and Sanchez all nodded.
Callejon played in the Champions League when he was at Real Madrid, so he also knows how intense the Champions League matches are, especially the knockout rounds.
Even Real Madrid, which is so powerful and packed with superstars, is treading on thin ice, let alone Naples.
"Okay, let's go back and rest, we have to train tomorrow morning!"
Gao Shen clapped his hands vigorously, "Everyone must remember that we are once again at the top of Serie A, but I hope that everyone can work together this time to show a better state, especially against Juventus next week. We must
If we win, we will stay at the top of the list for a longer time!”
"It would be best if we could sit down all the time!"
The players were also very excited and all cheered in unison.
Topping the list again, the young people in Naples are full of morale!
