"Although it's hard to believe, I think based on tonight's performance, Naples is even better than Inter Milan!"
This is what Sacchi said in a live interview with Live TV during the halftime break.
Sacchi's words surprised the media reporters who interviewed him on the spot.
Because Sacchi is talking about strength, not performance.
In Italian football, over the past few years, no team has ever been able to beat Inter Milan in terms of strength.
But Sacchi repeated his point with absolute certainty.
"Yes, in terms of strength, Napoli has made great progress, especially after winning the Serie A and Coppa Italia double last season, the overall strength has been greatly improved."
"Looking at this game, in fact, Naples did not adopt too aggressive tactics, but became more stable. But on the scene, they still steadily suppressed Inter Milan. This is the best proof."
Sacchi also reminded everyone, "In this game, eight of Naples' main players are not on the team."
The implication is that Naples can play like this without the eight main players. So when the main players come back, how strong will Naples be?
The first half ended with a score of 0-2.
International practice is that the home team goes first and the visiting team goes last.
Inter Milan conceded two goals in a row in the first half, but on the scene and during the game, Inter Milan's performance was not as good as Naples. Sacchi analyzed that this was because Mourinho made tactical mistakes.
"Through the game, it is not difficult to see that Mourinho did not play conservatively."
"This is his first game in Italy and his first game coaching Inter Milan. It is still at home. He wants to bring some confidence to the team, but we see that Inter Milan is in a very disadvantageous situation on the scene and failed to create much threat.
.”
"But the Nerazzurri were still unwilling to adopt a defensive tactic, which resulted in two goals conceded."
Sacchi recognized Mourinho's courage, but he believed that this also proved that Inter Milan could no longer suppress Naples in terms of strength, and the latter was becoming the strongest team in Serie A.
However, the reporter who interviewed him seemed not to believe his judgment and insisted that this was Sacchi's attempt to further solidify his reputation as the number one player.
But Saki smiled and asked him to make a bet.
"The Serie A championship this season still belongs to Napoli!"
The reporter was shocked, especially after seeing Saki's confident expression.
He doubts this possibility, because Naples' strength last season was seen more as a flash in the pan.
Although this team did not sell anyone this summer, can their players maintain the same form as last season?
Sacchi thinks it can, and it will be better.
"One thing that a lot of people overlook is the average age in Naples."
"Last season, he was about 21 years old. This season, after selling Domic and Garrick, we brought in Macho and Benatia. The average age is still 21 years old."
"Ignoring the average age, it is easy to come to a conclusion that seems accurate but is ridiculously inaccurate, that is, Naples was at its peak last season, and we all know that the peak cannot be maintained for a long time, so their state will
Slipping."
"But I would like to ask, for a young team with an average age of only 21 years old and most of the players in their early twenties, will their peak come so early? Is their potential so small?"
Sacchi's rhetorical question left the media reporters speechless.
The whole world knows that the peak period of a player is around the age of 24 or 5 at the earliest.
twenty one years old?
Even a genius like Messi is still 21 years old and far from his peak.
If he has not yet reached his peak, it proves that this player will continue to improve.
As players continue to improve, so does the entire team.
Even this kind of progress is not a simple accumulation of strength of one plus one, but will evolve into a leap forward progress where one plus one is greater than two, or even greater than three, or greater than four.
Once the players adapt, understand and integrate the head coach's football philosophy, and the team's overall operation and management are on track, the overall development and progress speed is very amazing.
It has been two years since Gao Shen coached Naples.
It can be said that he left a profound mark on this team.
And this team, this group of players, is playing the kind of football Gao Shen wants.
They become stable because they are stronger!
"Look, Napoli will shock us all this season!" Sacchi smiled confidently.
…
After the first half of the game, Gao Shen's truest feeling was exactly what Sacchi said.
He is both pleased and proud of the team's progress, and at the same time a little surprised.
In fact, the speed of this team's improvement really surprised him.
This also forced him to start adjusting his tactical ideas and change the team's playing style.
Why did Naples adopt such radical attacking tactics in the past?
Because of his lack of strength, once he fails to win the attack, the game will become difficult.
But now, even like tonight, when facing Inter Milan, Gao Shen did not let the team adopt the aggressive attacking tactics of the past that forced them to press the opponent's goal. This is because he has confidence in the team's strength.
If you have strength, there is no need to be radical.
Because behind radicalism lies risk.
Beckenbauer said: The strongest is often also the weakest.
This is actually a contradiction.
The implication is that when you invest too many resources in a certain aspect and produce a wave of high-intensity output, hidden dangers will arise.
For example, behind the aggressive high-position press are hidden dangers and risks on the defensive line.
The weaker the strength and the more aggressive the pressing, the greater the risk.
This is what Gao Shen said to Pioli before.
But this has the advantage of concentrating efforts on big things.
My abilities and resources are limited, so I focus on local areas to create advantages and then capture the overall situation.
But when encountering a strong team or an opponent with strong targeting capabilities, this will not work.
For example, Napoli lost 3-0 to Inter Milan.
Therefore, truly strong teams often do not adopt overly aggressive tactics.
Because they prefer balance.
Since the strongest is the weakest, then as long as I don't pile up resources to become the strongest, then I won't have the weakest shortcoming.
But the balance here is not that of Capello's Juventus or Mancini's Inter Milan, which is mediocrity, mediocrity lacking in technique and creativity.
The balance here is the balance between offense and defense.
It's like a team can play a total of ten points. It turns out to be very aggressive. The offense accounts for eight or even nine points, leaving one or two points for defense. This risk is very high.
Later, as the strength increased and the overall progress improved, it became 73, or even 64.
Although only seven or even six points were scored, the overall performance was no less than the previous eight and nine points, or even better.
This is the situation in Naples now.
This is also what Sun Tzu said in The Art of War: Therefore, those who are good at fighting can be in an invincible position without losing the enemy. Therefore, the victorious soldier wins first and then seeks battle, and the defeated soldier fights first and then seeks victory.
The core idea is: As long as I live, it's fine. As for whether you die or not, that's your own business.
Seeing this, some people may wonder again. If this is the case, how will the winner be determined if two strong teams face off?
This is because the so-called balance is dynamic and will constantly change according to various factors such as the game, state, opponents, etc. This is why Gao Shen added an extra Pintus.
No team can maintain this balance anytime, anywhere, all the time, and there will always be some loopholes.
Just like Inter Milan, the same team and these players are invincible in Serie A, but they are ravaged in the Champions League. Why?
In addition to confidence, there is also the lack of hard power of this team.
There was no problem in Serie A, but in the Champions League, when encountering a strong team like Liverpool, many loopholes were exposed under the huge pressure from the opponent.
This will create another situation, that is, once the vulnerability is exposed the greater it is, the easier it will be to form a large-scale massacre.
So what if neither team has exposed vulnerabilities?
That was the match between Milan and Juventus in the Champions League final of the 2002-03 season.
This is actually the core of winning in the Champions League, especially the knockout stages.
Therefore, it is not unreasonable that the strong teams in the Champions League attach great importance to defense.
Gao Shen can now be very proud, very proud to say that Naples has truly begun to enter the ranks of strong teams.
In Serie A, they are the top teams.
As for the Champions League, this needs to be tested in the Champions League in the new season.
…
In the locker room during the halftime break, Gao Shen was smiling the whole time, making everyone feel his inner joy.
Regarding the team's performance in the first half, Gao Shen named Benatia, Thiago Motta and several other players, thinking that they performed very well, and also encouraged the team to keep up their efforts.
But he also made adjustments to some of the team's problems in the first half.
Mainly because Balotelli often moves to the center position.
"Vargas, you are too fierce. He is trying his best to avoid you now."
Gao Shen's words made everyone in the locker room laugh.
In fact, the same is true for Ibrahimovic against Benatia.
Inter Milan switches back and forth between 433 and 442, so Gao Shen also needs to make targeted adjustments just in case.
"The second half was the same as before, we continued to play steadily, used our strength to suppress our opponents, forced them to make more mistakes, and actively took advantage of our strength on both sides."
"In addition, the midfielder should pay attention to Muntari. This player has been very active recently."
"But we also have advantages. We didn't do well enough in the first half, and that was Cavani."
"Remember, neither Burdisso nor Cambiaso can restrict Cavani. We must actively attack this point and form a breakthrough from here."
Finally, Gao Shen once again emphasized that the final mobilization was also underway.
"Two years ago, we lost 0-3 here. I said at that time that I vowed to take revenge against Meazza and win a 3-0 victory."
"And now, we are only one goal away from this goal!"
