After the team meeting, Gao Shen was satisfied with the pyers' response.

  Judging by the expressions on their faces and the feedback they provided, Gao She his words had hit the mark.

  Carlo followed Gao Shen, Zidane, and Lucas back to the head coach's office. Once everyone was seated, the middle-aged Spaniard couldn't hold back his question any longer.

  "Gao, are you really fident about the Champions League group stage?" Carlo asked with a look of .

  Gao Shen g Zidane and then at Lucas, and the three of them burst into ughter.

  Carlo was a good man. An ho man.

  Gao Shen had known this ever since coag Real Madrid.

  Over the years, both Gao Shen and Lucas had ged in many ways, but Carlo? He remained as steadfast as ever.

  A, it recisely because of this unging nature that their retionship had gradually shifted from mentor and protégé to colborators, and now, to superior and subordinate.

  This wasn't to say Carlo's role in Gao Shen's coag team was unimportant.

  Far from it. Gao Shen had always felt that the team needed someone like Carlo. Without him, he doubted his staff would remain as grounded as they were.

  After all, Gao Shen was someone proo radical ideas.

  Carlo, oher hand, was serious, ho, aiculous a man who dared to speak his mind to Gao Shen, something the head coach valued deeply.

  Because of this, Carlo had bee indispensable, particurly when it came to overseeing the day-to-day training. Gao She he erfectly suited for the role.

  "Holy, if the whole team gives it their all, the ces are fifty-fifty," Gao Shen said, his tone calm and measured.

  "Fifty-fifty?" Carlo was taken aback. "Then why did you just..."

  Gao Shen offered a wry smile. "I had to say it. We o unify our mi."

  Many think that leaders like to make empty promises.

  But is that really a bad thing?

  The answer isn't shtforward.

  To lead a team effectively, you have to set clear goals. As a leader, you must expin why the goal is necessary, how to achieve it, and what it will mean for the team if it's aplished.

  Does this qualify as ay promise?

  Not necessarily.

  A team without a clear goal is like a ship without a destination. It drifts aimlessly and achieves nothing.

  So, being able to inspire fidend make promises is a fual skill every leader must master.

  Of course, making irresponsible promises should never be enced.

  When Napoli drew their group for the Champions League, the atmosphere withieam was fraught with tension. Gao Shen knew he had to act fast to stabilize the situation, or else the road ahead would be far more difficult.

  After all, his personal analysis told him the odds were evenly split.

  Zidane and Lucas agreed.

  Napoli's biggest problem was their ck of experience, pounded by how young their pyers were.

  Arrigo Sacchi, in one of his ns, had hat Gao Shen should focus on winning the three home matches. His advice wasn't unfounded.

  Away games—especially long-distanes posed a signifit challenge, both physically aally.

  Take, for example, the match against Zenit St. Petersburg scheduled for te October.

  In he temperature would hover around 20 degrees Celsius. In St. Petersburg? Zero degrees.

  Going from a mild Mediterranean autumn to freezing Russian ditions ht would require meticulous preparation.

  The club would o coordinate logistics. The coag staff would o pn ahead. The pyers would o adapt quickly.

  And therein y the gap between seasoned veterans and inexperienced rookies.

  This recisely why Gao Shen had worked so hard t Zidao his coag staff before the season started.

  The French legend had decades of football experience. He could guide the pyers, helping them navigate the uable nature of the Champions League both on and off the pitch.

  Sinapoli drew Real Madrid, Bayern, a, the entire anization had been mobilized. Lucas's analysis team had goo overdrive. Zidane and Carlo were prepariailed pns for the group's first match, and Gao Shen himself had already begun making notes for their visit to the Bernabéu.

  …

  "Juan, you're too ho. That's why he took your job," Lucas teased Carlo with a grin.

  It had been two or three years since Carlo had left Real Madrid, and by now, he'd moved past the sting of losing his position there. In fact, he often joked about it himself, which gave Lucas lise to poke fun as well.

  This casual banter showed how much Carlo respected and accepted Gao Shen as a superior.

  Carlo let out an awkward smile, his embarrassment evident. He khat Gao Shen taking over the Real Madrid job iece of history he'd never live down.

  "I'm just worried that if you say too much, it'll be hard to walk it back ter," Carlo cautioned.

  "Hard to walk it back?" Lucas ughed. "If the team pys well, it proves Gao was right. If we don't, we'll deal with the problems then. And if worse es to worst, 't we just e up with an excuse? There's always someoo bme."

  Lucas's words cut straight to the heart of the matter.

  After all, very few things in football or in life—are bd white.

  Take a goal ceded during a match. Is it the goalkeeper's fault? The defenders'? Or the eeam's?

  When a pyer underperforms, is it because they're out of form? Or because the opposition pyed exceptionally well? Or perhaps the opposing coaaneuvered them tactically?

  There are always multiple sides to every story, aes over these questions often lead nowhere. In the end, what matters most is moving forward.

  "Fernando is right," Gao Shen said, his tone serious. "The most important thing right now is that we're unified."

  At this point, Gao Shen turo Carlo and looked at him ily.

  "Sure, it might sound like I'm makiy promises, but hear me out: if we survive this so-called 'Group of Death,' I'm fident we go even further in the knockout stages."

  "If we 't be stopped in this group, then I don't believe anyone else stop us either."

  Napoli had a clear identity—a young, rapidly improving team with undeniable potential. Both the club's ma and coag staff k.

  For instance, ialian Super Cup match against Inter Min at the start of the season, Napoli had given Inter almost no breathing room. The match was a testament to how much the team had grown.

  If they could emerge from this brutal group stage, Gao Shen had every reason to believe they could make a deep run in the Champions League.

  Because in the knockout rounds, it's not just about individual pyer strength. The manager's tactid adaptability bee crucial.

  And this was Gao Shen's specialty.

  With his analytical abilities and the tactical library at his disposal, he could dismantle an oppo's strategy with precision. Gao Shen believed this was his edge against even the best managers in the world.

  It was also why he was eager to test himself against Ferguson.

  The legendary Maer United manager was renowned for his adaptability and tactical genius. Gao Shen wao see if he could outwit Ferguson, scoals, and win.

  Sadly, they hadn't drawn Maer United in the group stage.

  "Do you remember what I told you in 2006, before we went to London to face Arsenal?" Gao Shen suddenly asked Carlo.

  Zidane and Lucas perked up, curious.

  Carlo chuckled, nodding. "Of course. You said that if you lost, you wouldn't e back."

  Zidane and Lucas were stuhey hadn't expected Gao Shen to have been so bold back then.

  "At the time, I had nothing to lose," Gao Shen admitted, a bitter smile on his face. "I was just starting out, and I wasn't afraid of failure."

  "But now… now it seems like I've succeeded, like I've gained so much. Yet deep down, I'm still the same person. I'm not afraid of losing everything I have now because I know I earn it all back again."

  As Gao Shen spoke, his tone was calm, but his words carried an undeniable fidence.

  Carlo, Zidane, and Lucas couldn't help but be taken aback.

  Gao Shen wasn't exuding blind arrogance. His fidence was tempered, steady—a result of experiend hard-won success.

  "This will be my st season at Napoli," Gao Shen said suddenly, his voice firm.

  "I'm not thinking about anything else right now. All I want to know is how far this team I've built over the past two or three years go. What heights it reach?"

  "But ohing I know for certain: this team is far better than just a group-stage tender. I believe it go further. I believe it aim higher."

  "And so, I will make sure we advance from the group stage."

  His expression was resolute, his determination unshakable.

  "Because I want more fans and more people around the world this team—and tnize me!"

  "This is my goal. This is what I want to achieve!"