There's a saying that's quite true: Pns often fail to keep up with ges.

  Does that mean pnning is useless?

  No, this fact tells us that when pnning, we must fully sider various variables and leave room for adjustments.

  Drawing Juventus was indeed ued, but Gao Shen had already made preparations for this sario. He had sidered hooli should py if they drew a strong team like Lazio.

  Moreover, he even studied the possibilities of how the team should react if they lost in the Coppa Italia.

  All these tingencies were thhly pnned by Gao Shen and his coag staff.

  But having a pn is ohing; taking the game seriously is another.

  After the draw result came out, the coag staff immediately dedicated themselves to preparing for the game against Juventus.

  It was going to be a tough battle!

  A battle that would determihe morale for the start of the new Serie B season!

  What's more, there ersonal feud between Napoli and Secco, Juventus' sp director.

  After receiving the results, Gao Shen immediately called a coag staff meeting. Everyone had their own opinions about the game.

  ...

  As an intelligend data analyst, Lucas was always the first to present.

  He introduced Juventus' two games so far. Napoli had scouts follow the games and collect first-hand information, but because there were no game videos, the specific situations wereirely clear.

  After all, scouts ot see everything Gao Shen wants to know.

  "In the past two games, Deschamps used two different tactical setups. The first was a 4-4-2, and the sed was a 4-2-3-1."

  Lucas showed Juventus' starting lineups for these two games on the big s.

  Juventus' average age is on the older side, with pyers like Nedved, Del Piero, and Camoranesi not being young anymore. Thus, it made sehat Deschamps rotated the squad signifitly between games.

  Using a 4-4-2 formation against Martina, a team from the lower leagues, was not hard to uand. Deschamps wao attack.

  And indeed, Juventus scored seven minutes after the start with Maring the first official goal of their season, followed by Bojinov's sed ih minute.

  Against a, Deschamps opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Trezeguet as the tral striker and Marne, Nedved, and Bojinov f the attag trio from left tht.

  It was clear Deschamps still wao py offensively, so he pedved iag midfield position.

  Last season, Capello had used Nedved as an attag midfielder, and he even scored a goal against Real Madrid from this positiohe Spaniards uimated him as a left midfielder a him spa the middle to exploit.

  But this time, the strategy didn't work as pnned.

  They ceded an own goal in the first half, scored by Juventus' left-back Barzagli.

  It wasn't until the sed half that Bojinov and Del Piero, who came off the bench, reversed the score for Juventus, narrowly avoiding an upset.

  "From the perspective of the two games, Juventus' tactics lean towards attack, even in the sed game. That's why Deschamps used Trezeguet as the tral striker and moved Bojinov to the wing," Lucas analyzed.

  This is actually not hard to uand.

  Juventus, having been relegated as Serie A champions, still have a strong foundatioe losing several key pyers. They wouldn't have paid much attention to a mid-to-lower Serie B team like a.

  But who would have thought they almost suffered a shog defeat?

  "It's clear that Juventus have had problems with their attack, starting from st season all the way until now."

  Lucas showed several pieces of information on the big s that he had collected from various news outlets.

  "After Deschamps took over Juventus, he always wa in a forward and an attag midfielder, but instead, Zai and Marne were brought in."

  These two pyers are not bad, but her of them are what Deschamps was looking for.

  "During the game against a, Deschamps even pyed Marne as an ied left winger on the right side, and the effect was not ideal. So he subbed him off for Del Piero, and ihan a minute, Del Piero scored."

  There's always a bit of luvolved in football, but more often, goals happeo sistent factors.

  "So, I think Juventus' offeill has a lot of problems, and we have a ce," Lucas cluded.

  Gao Shen was sitting in the backmost positioing his on one hand, while fiddling with a pen iher, his eyes never leaving Lucas and the s. It was clear he was listening ily.

  This was Gao Shen's habit when deep in thought. Those who had worked with him for a long time khis well.

  After Lucas finished speaking, Carlo, the chief assistant coach, stood up to share his thoughts.

  "Deschamps is still a very strong coach. It's not hard to see his characteristics from his coag career. He was born a defensive midfielder. He tends to prefer solid defense, trolling the game, and then pying quick terattacks."

  "Ba Monaco, he relied on this style of py to reach the Champions League final. Unfortunately, he ran into a Porto team with an eveer defense, and in that Monaco team, there was a striker like Morientes but primarily speedsters like Giuly."

  Carlo had worked in Real Madrid and articurly impressed by Deschamps' Monaco team back then because Morientes shihat season, making many in Real Madrid sigh i.

  "Looking at Juventus now, although they have high forwards like Moriehey don't have speedsters like Giuly, nor do they have pymakers like Rothen."

  Many praised Porto for what Mourinho had built, thinking he developed a group of outstanding pyers. However, Deschamps' Monaco team was equally endable.

  They had forwards like Morientes, Adebayor, and Pr?o, and wingers like Giuly and Rothen. They also had top defenders like Squild Evra.

  By success rate, that Monaco was not bad at all.

  The only difference was that Monaco were runners-up.

  It's a harsh world where everyone only remembers the champions, not the sed pce.

  In fact, Deschamps' coag style hasn't ged much. Even when he coached the Frenational team, it focused on solid defeh rapid, sharp terattacks. Mbappé shined in his system, thriving perfectly.

  Against a, Deschamps clearly wao push forward and attack, utilizing Trezeguet's advantage in the penalty box.

  But the effect was, as we saw, not ideal.

  So, what tactics would Juventus use when fag Napoli?

  The pen in Gao Shen's hand suddenly dropped onto the table.

  The sudden noise caused everyone in the meeting room to turn and look.

  "Deschamps will opt for a ter-attack!" Gao Shen said fidently.

  "If he doesn't want to py defensively, we'll force him into defense!"

  ...

  Ohe decision was made by Gao Shen, a lot of work began immediately.

  With only two days, Napoli could duct a targeted exercise, including the six-on-seven training that Gao Shen had previously arranged, which was also a long-term goal.

  Napoli's defense is built around high pressing. If they 't do that effectively, and the oppo breaks through with terattacks oer ahen there's no point in pying.

  As for the targeted tactics against Juventus, it boiled down to practig offense.

  But adjustments were needed in attack.

  "We should use Pelle!" Gao Shen suggested.

  "i has been perf very well, but he needs spaove. When there's space, he's quite useful, and he works really hard. But as a pivot and support pyer, we need Pelle."

  Carlo nodded in agreement. "But that kid Pelle still hasn't figured things out."

  That was a major problem.

  inally, Pelle came in as a tall ter-forward.

  Anyone who uands football knows that a tall and stroer-forward is always a killer in youth teams. Moreover, Pelle has good footwork and teique.

  However, as he grew older, his physical advantage diminished. Especially when fag more defensively strong oppos, Pelle found that his usual style of py no longer worked.

  What should he do?

  This fusioo his stagnation in development over the years.

  Italian coaches are not very good at coag this type of pyer, mainly because Italy itself doesn't use this kind of pyer effectively. Most pyers like Pelle have to adapt and transform themselves.

  But his height and strength were too good to ignore, leading him to waste his potential.

  After arriving in Naples, Gao Shen spoke with him several times. He even told Pelle to learn from Kluivert and see how he pyed at Ajax. Cass made a pition of Kluivert's Ajax performances for Pelle to study, but the kid still hadn't fully adapted.

  Some habits cultivated from a young age are indeed hard to ge.

  "I'll talk to him personally," Gao Shen said, frowning.

  At Real Madrid, he didn't o train pyers from scratch.

  Those were the best stars. Even young pyers were among the elite.

  Often, just a word from Gao Shen was enough for them to uand.

  Even young talents like Arbeloa and De Red had received the best youth training, and they kheir strengths and weaknesses well.

  In su enviro, Gao Shen only o use them acc to their characteristics.

  But Italy's youth training i years has indeed been poor, and Pelle is an absolute anomaly among Italiaer-forwards.

  At this point, Gao Shen found himself somewhat helpless, not knowing where to start.

  After the meeting, the coaches dispersed to begin their preparations.

  Time was limited, and everyone had tainst the clock.

  Gao Shen, however, stayed in the feren, deep in thought. After much deliberation, he decided to immerse himself iactical library. His focus? He wao see how Van Gaal trained Kluivert.