After finishing the m training session, Lucas Biglia took a shower and ged into fresh clothes in the locker room. He greeted his teammates before leaving and made his way straight to the coach's office.

  When he reached Gao Shen's office, he noticed the door was closed, so he stepped forward and knocked lightly.

  "e in," came a deep voice from within.

  Biglia gnced around, then opehe door aered.

  The coach's office was bright and simple, furnished with a desk and chair, a et for files, a sofa, and most strikingly, a rge Sony TV hanging on the wall.

  Initially, some media outlets had accused Gao Shen of using the club's funds for personal indulgence because of this TV. When he requested it from Marino, he cimed it was for watg games, but people ter noticed he ofte faming.

  He had joked, saying, "It's productivity before you buy it, but iQiyi after you buy it."

  iQIYI?

  The Inter Min pyers didn't uand, but the bination of a big Sony TV and a Sony game sole? That, they got—it was cool!

  "Close the dao Shen said as he gnced over at Biglia, urging him to shut it with an almost spiratorial urgency, as though worried someone might see them.

  Biglia chuckled, closed the door obediently, and walked over to sit o Gao Shen, watg him py a game.

  Iy, Gao Shen was far from being a skilled football pyer, but in the virtual world, he had led Napoli to invincibility—a reputation everyone oeam aowledged.

  Biglia also pyed video games occasionally, but he wasn't very good at them.

  Right now, he was sittio Gao Shen, watg him trol a virtual Napoli team to take on Inter Min. The Argentine found himself growied, especially wheiced that Gao Shen had included him in the lineup. His mind started to race with thoughts was this some sort of hint?

  "Another day, I'm going to tell the game developers that they seriously uimated Biglia's stats," Gao Shen remarked, still focused on the game.

  Biglia looked at him, puzzled.

  "Your passing is rated way too low, and your tag too," Gao Shen said, turning briefly to grin at him.

  Biglia wasn't quite sure how to respond.

  Just then, Gao Shen suddenly grew animated. "Watch this long pass I'm about to make."

  He trolled Biglia's character, who received the ball from a teammate a a long pass forward. i used his body to block Cordoba, heading the ball down to Hamsik, who took a direct shot.

  Goal!

  "Beautiful!" Biglia cheered, ughing.

  "Even with lower stats, you're still effective," Gao Shen praised.

  It was only a game, but Biglia still felt a burst of pride at the pliment.

  …

  After finishing the game, Gao Shen tur off and poured a gss of water flia.

  It was only now that Biglia noticed there was music pying softly in the office, which had been drowned out by the game sounds earlier.

  "Boss, whose music is this?" Biglia asked as he sipped his water.

  "It's by a ese singer, Jay Chou. The song's called In the Name of the Father, a tribute to The Godfather."

  Biglia houghtfully.

  Listening to In the Name of the Father in Naples felt rather fitting, especially with the city's associations with the mafia.

  Gao Shen silently drank his tea, letting Biglia take in the song.

  "This singer is really talented. If you like it, I share all his songs with you," Gao Shen said, seizing the opportunity to introduce a bit of ese culture.

  Last Christmas, Gao Shen had sent each pyer a personal gift with a ese touch, handpicked by Su Qing in a. Meanwhile, the club's official gift was a high-e of Apple earbuds and headphones for everyone.

  So tely, during Napoli's games, nearly every pyer could be seen wearing the same headphones.

  And Gao Shen had taken every ce he could to introduce ese music to them.

  …

  When Gao Shen talked to his pyers, he liked to start with small talk befradually guiding the versation toward the topics he wao discuss.

  In the past couple of days, he had been chatting with five or six pyers each day, which required him to knoyer's temperament, family background, preferences, and current form. He also had to keep each versation brief.

  Fortunately, while Gao Shen might not cim to be the highest-level tacti, he prided himself on his skill in chatting with pyers, especially with his knack for delivering pliments.

  As he guided the versation, Gao Sheually shifted the focus to the uping match.

  He first asked Biglia about the ret Liverpool-Inter Min game, which he had specifically asked Lucas to study closely. He'd also instructed him to watch highlights of Inter's games against Sampdoria and Roma, all of which were intense midfield battles. Today, Gao Shen inteo "test" Biglia on his homework.

  Biglia answered Gao Shen's questions calmly, demonstrating that he had done his research thhly. He seemed well-informed on the finer details of the matches, especially when it came to Mascherano.

  Few people khat Biglia and Mascherano were actually close friends. Biglia was also a former teammate of Messi's, having won the World Youth Championship with him.

  In Gao Shen's view, both Biglia and Mascherano were versatile midfielders who could tribute to both offense and defense. Mascherano might be stronger defensively, but Biglia had the edge in passing and pymaking.

  As far back as his time at Real Madrid, Gao Shen had advocated for the 4-2-3-1 formation, calling it a highly adaptable system.

  It could be used for defensive ter-attacks, high pressing, short-passing py, or wide py.

  In essence, if the right pyers were avaible, it could handle anything.

  Over the years, some of the most iic midfield partnerships had e from 4-2-3-1 setups.

  For instance, Valencia's Baraja and Albelda, or Liverpool's Mascherano and Xabi Alonso.

  Upon closer iion, you'd notice a onality: these iic midfield duos typically sisted of pyers who could hah offense and defense. Purely defensive pyers like Mohamed Sissoko, by trast, didn't fit as well.

  Mascherano? He was never purely a defensive pyer; in fact, his passing and anizational skills were quite good.

  Si season, Gao Shen had been w to transform Biglia and Rakitito a dynamic midfield duo, though he had initially received some criticism flia's positioning.

  But sometimes, things just work out in ued ways.

  This season, Gao Shen realized that Biglia had improved his sense of positioning, his tag skills were solid, and his anization, distribution, and long-passing were all reliable. Meanwhile, Rakititributed more through his running, ce, and link-up py.

  To put it simply, Biglia was like a more defensive version of Pirlo, while Rakitic was a versatile all-rounder.

  But there was one issue.

  Biglia had a calm and reserved personality, but he cked the presence of a true leader.

  This was something Gao Shen had long wao help him develop.

  Lucas once created a data analysis fao Shen, showing that Biglia's passing accurad volume were almost on par with Xabi Alonso's—Biglia's passing accuracy was 88%, pared to Xabi Alonso's 89%.

  In terms of ces and key passes created, Biglia even slightly outperformed Xabi Alonso, averaging 0.3 more per game.

  On defense, Xabi Alonso excelled at interceptions, while Biglia was better at tackles, but Biglia's biggest weakness was aerial duels, where he was no match for Xabi Alonso.

  From these stats, it was clear that Biglia able "metronome" in midfield, excelling in anization and distribution. However, his physical limitations hindered him in aerial and physical duels.

  Napoli's double-pivot midfielders were both runners and passers, a unique approapared to other teams.

  …

  During the versation, Gao Shen mainly guided Biglia to express his own thoughts.

  For instance, why was Liverpool able to domier Min so prehensively despite their poor form?

  Clearly, the presenascherano, Lucas Leiva, and Gerrard was crucial.

  So, what exactly were they doing?

  And why, even with suinance, did they fail to create more sg ces and goals?

  Gao Shen first asked "why" questions, leading Biglia to think and analyze indepely. Then, he asked him, "If it were you, what would you do?"; "If our team wants to achieve Liverpool's tactical results, what challenges do you think we'd face?"…

  Gao Shen listened carefully to Biglia's responses, occasionally posing new questions, which made Biglia feel that every word he said mattered. This enced him to share his thoughts more openly.

  Many of Biglia's ideas were, in fact, suggestions Gao Shen subtly pnted in his mind, but by letting Biglia voice them himself, he made the pyer feel a sense of ownership over them.

  Finally, Gao Shen asked the question he was most ied in.

  "If we want to achieve what you described against Inter Min, what do you need from me?" Gao Shen asked this very carefully.

  Biglia took a deep breath, now fully uanding.

  Not only did he know what he o do, but he also uood what Gao Shen wanted him to do. He nodded resolutely, saying, "Boss, I think you've prepared us well enough. Don't worry, I won't disappoint you in this game!"

  "No, no, no, Lucas, I have to correct you ohing," Gao Shen shook his head firmly.

  Biglia looked at him, slightly taken aback. Had he said something wrong?

  "From the day you joined my team, you have never disappointed me. I believe in you more than anyone else, and I know that this time will be no different," Gao Shen said with a fident smile.

  Biglia nodded, feeling a surge of emotion.

  At just 22 years old, he onvied pyers like Mascherano, who had made their mark in top European leagues at a young age. But now, he felt he was han anyone, and his team was on the verge of a Serie A title challenge.

  He believed that, under Gao Shen's leadership, Napoli's ambitions would extend far beyond just the Serie A championship.

  "Boss, in this match, we will defiake down Inter Min at home and cim the top spot in Serie A for the third time!" Biglia decred passionately before he left.

  Gao Shen was very satisfied with his response.

  A man should be tough and resolute when it matters most!

  ***

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