Napoli's preseason warm-up matches were still as chaotic as ever.

  Anyone familiar with both Gao Shen and Napoli would not find this surprising.

  As Gao Shen's No. 1 fan, Sacchi, mentioned in his n, Gao Shen never pced much importan preseason matches. For him, these games served as opportuo traieam, experiment with various tactical setups, and improve overall team chemistry.

  "I even heard that after losing to a Serie C team, he still had praise for his pyers."

  But that didn't stop the Italian media from spreading panic about Napoli's performance.

  This, of course, was entirely predictable.

  The media thrives oionalism to draw attention. Without these dramatiarratives, who would even bother following warm-up games?

  As a result, however, media ce often tradicted itself.

  Gao Shen once mocked this by saying, "Many neers are only fit for single editions. You read them today, and by tomorrow, you've fotten what they said. At best, they're just a way to kill time. But if you go bad read their past issues, you might start to wonder if these papers are suffering from some i fw. You could almost feel bad for them."

  Despite this criticism, Gao Shen made it a point to reend Sacchi's n.

  This shameless guy ed out a n every other day sometimes even daily which left Gao Shen w, in amazement, if writing ns was really such a lucrative gig.

  " you seriously make that much money with just a few paragraphs? If so, maybe I should quit coag and start writing ns myself. If it's just about hitting a word t, who couldn't do that?"

  That said, Gao Shen admitted that pared to other media outlets, Sacchi's ns were at least professional. He believed that readers who went through Sacchi's ns could signifitly improve their uanding of football.

  What's more, instead of buying a neer, you could just register a Twitter at. Sacchi would upload his ns there the night they were published, thanks to an agreement he had with the paper.

  At this point, Gao Shen couldn't help but think, as a minority shareholder of Twitter, should he pay Sacchi some royalties? After all, this ractically free advertising!

  …

  From mid to te July, Napoli pyed one or two warm-up matches a week, keeping a busy schedule.

  The oppos werely top-tier, mostly Serie d Serie B teams, all from within Italy.

  This even led some Italian media outlets to moapoli, questioning whether the club was really so poor that they couldn't afford to py abroad.

  Yet despite the retively weaker petition, Napoli's performances were insistent—up and down, uable.

  Ohing about Gao Shen stood out: he loved to mix things up.

  Evehe team's 4-2-3-1 formation seemed to be w well, he would suddenly switch to a 3-5-2 or even a 3-6-1.

  Maggio, one of the best right midfielders in Serie A when he pyed for Sampdoria, found himself beied as a right-bader Gao Shen's dire. Then, he'd be pushed up as a right winger, and sometimes he even pyed as a tral midfielder.

  This kind of experimentation wasn't limited to Maggio. Gao Shen stantly shuffled pyers into unfamiliar positions, making Napoli's overall tactics appear chaotic.

  To the media and fans, the team seemed utterly disanized.

  Those who knew Gao Shen and Napoli well uood that this ar for the course. But most fans didn't have that text. They only saw what the media portrayed criticism and accusations aimed at Gao Shen and his team.

  It was as if there was a "Neapolitan pill" being prescribed, a stant dose of ay for the fans and the effect was only growing stronger.

  However, a deeper analysis of pyer positioning and game time revealed a method to the madness. By frequently rotating pyers and altering formations, Gao Shen enced his team to develop better unication and uanding on the field.

  This rocess of f "empathy," as Sacchi described in his n.

  "Gao Shen is a ing strategist," Sacchi wrote. "He wants his oppos to have no idea what he's pnning."

  "Mark my words: he and his Napoli will surprise everyohis season."

  But no sooner had Sacchi written this than the media turheir criticism toward him instead.

  "Get lost, you so-called No. 1 fanboy!" they mocked.

  …

  By August, Napoli's squad was further thinned as eight of their pyers left to join their national teams for the Olympics.

  This she in personnel prompted Gao Shen to bee even more experimental.

  Arturo Vidal and Thiago Motta, both natural midfielders, were rotated as tral defenders. With fewer midfield options avaible, even the 15-year-old Marco Verratti was given a ce to py.

  When a reporter asked why Gao Shen was fielditi, he replied cheerfully, "Because I really like this kid!"

  And then there was Lorenzo Insigne, of course.

  This relentless experimentatio Napoli's performances tio be uable. Sometimes they looked impressive, while at other times, they were a plete mess.

  Fans and media alike grew increasingly anxious.

  The Italian Super Cup was just around the er, ahe team still seemed unprepared. How were they supposed to pete with Mourinho's well-drilled Inter Min?

  In trast, Inter Min's preseason form was improving steadily.

  In July, Inter pyed three warm-up matches. They secured wins against the Saudi league champions and Bari, though their performances were somewhat ckluster. Later, iIM Trophy, they faced Juventus and A but failed to score, g a single goal.

  This led to some initial skepticism about Mourinho's team.

  However, in August, Inter participated in the Franz Bebauer Cup in Munich, where they faced Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. With a goal from Mani, Inter secured a 1-0 victory over Klinsmann's Bayern.

  In this match, Mourinho reverted to his favored 4-3-3 formation, emphasizing wing py and fluid attag binations.

  After the game, La Gazzetta dello Sport praised Mourinho's side: "Inter's defense was exceptional, and the team's identity shohrough. This was a statement victory for Mourinho."

  Calling a preseason match a "statement victory" might have been excessive, but it underscored Inter's growing momentum.

  Subsequent warm-up games saw Inter Min perform eveer, building fidence among their fans.

  Meanwhile, Napoli's insistent dispys only fueled more worry.

  Even Sacchi, in his n, urged Gao Shen to finalize his starting lineup especially for the Italian Super Cup, so they could start building chemistry.

  The absence of Napoli's Olympic pyers, especially their tral defenders, posed a signifit problem. Last season's defealwarts had both goo a, and with Domic sold off, only Paolo avaro remained as a reliable option.

  Gao Sheed several pyers in the ter-back role, including Vidal, Thiago Motta, Stephan Lichtsteiner, and Mehdi Benatia, but none produced satisfyis. This deepehe media's doubts about Napoli's ability to challeer Min.

  …

  Grosseto, Tusy, tral Italy.

  Gao Shen wasn't particurly familiar with Grosseto, but Napoli faainly were.

  Back when Napoli was fighting to gain promotion from Serie C to Serie B, Grosseto was one of their main rivals. They lost to Napoli in the promotion pyoffs and had to stay in Serie C for another year. Eventually, though, they earned promotion to Serie B and mao settle into a mid-table position.

  Iingly, Grosseto's current coach was her than Stefano Pioli, a familiar name.

  Yes, the same Pioli who would ter bee famous for his firefighting stint with A.

  After losing his job at Parma, Pioli had spent over a year and a half unemployed before taking charge of Grosseto iember 2007. Sihen, his team had performed admirably, allowing him to remain in his role.

  In a ter interview, Pioli revealed that during his hiatus, he meticulously studied every game Napoli pyed, from Serie B to Serie A, disseg Gao Shen's tactid strategies.

  He cimed that this period pletely transformed his tactical approach.

  Under Pioli's guidance, Grosseto began pying in a style that bore a strong resembo Napoli's. However, there were key differences.

  As described by the Italian media, Grosseto's pyers pressed like mad dogs, stantly running to create numerical advantages in specific areas and fog heavily on wing attacks.

  Much like Napoli, Pioli's team relied on intense pressing in the oppo's half, aiming to force the ball out wide and create turhrough aggressive group defending. Ohey won possession, they immediately unched terattacks.

  This simirity led some to predict that Pioli might achieve a Napoli-like success story with Grosseto this season.

  However, the club had an i limitation: a ck of fan support.

  Grosseto was a small city with a modest popution, and its stadium, which could hold just 9,000 spectators, rarely filled even half its capacity. For a friendly against Napoli, attendance was less than a thousand.

  The club's prospects seemed limited, but fao Shen, this was exactly what made them an ideal oppo.

  …

  Before the match, Gao Shen had a cordial chat with Pioli, who openly admitted to modeling his tacti Napoli's. They exged ideas for a while on the sidelines.

  Despite being sacked by Gao Shen's Napoli years earlier, Pioli expressed his admiration and gratitude, saying that studying Gao Shen's tactics had been a valuable learning experience.

  Gao Shen, in turn, didn't hold ba advice.

  Although he hadn't studied Grosseto's tacti detail, he had heard enough to identify their key weakness: their pressing game cked anization and bance.

  "If you push high and press aggressively, it has to be coordinated. If it's not, your bae will be exposed, and a simple long pass will undo all your hard work," Gao Shen expined. "Your pyers o either fully it to the press or take a step bad solidate defensively. Sitting halfway iween is what creates gaps."

  Pioli listetentively, nodding in agreement. This brief exge clearly left an impression on him.

  After their chat, Gao Sheuro the visiting team's bench. As he settled into his seat, assistant coach Lucas approached, a small grin on his face.

  "uys checked everywhere—no Inter scouts spotted," Lucas reported.

  Hearing this, Gao Shen smiled knowingly.