Coag for a full season is a pletely different cept than stepping in to put out a fire midway through a season.

  Although it depends on the specific situation, generally speaking, it's easier to step in midway to fix things.

  This is because when stepping in midway, there is already a clear picture of the problems. As long as those problems are resolved, the pressure of achievis is not as high.

  But a full season is different.

  The moment you receive the schedule, you must start formuting a detailed season strategy.

  After Gao Sheurned from South America, he locked himself in a house in the Bay Area of Naples. Every day, he watched videos with the coag staff, studied the schedule, created pns, and desigraining programs.

  In the evenings, he would read iactical library. He had now finished reading about Benítez and was studying Van Gaal.

  This is another manager worth studying. Van Gaal has profoundly influenced tless managers, including famous coaches like Bielsa and Guardio.

  The Ajax team coached by Van Gaal is also the model Gao Shen is trying to learn from.

  Gao Shen had heard many voices from the outside, but he didn't want to pay attention to them. He even told Carlo not to step forward to crify anything it wasn't necessary. If there was time for that, it would be better spent watg more videos and studying oppos more closely.

  Whether it's a mule or a horse, you have to pull it out to know.

  Whether you have gealent or not does not depend on what you say but on the results you achieve.

  ...

  There is a very important point in the season strategy, and that is the schedule.

  In the past two years, the Coppa Italia has frequently ged its petition format. Now, teams from the mid-to-lower levels of Serie A, Serie B, Serie C1, and Serie 64 teams, which directly py single knoatches from the first round until the quarterfinals are decided.

  From the fourth round, which is the round of 16, the top eight teams from st season's Serie A join in, and the format ges to a two-legged home and away system.

  In terms of timing, the first three rounds start in te August, with three matches pyed in one week.

  This is fatal.

  A single knoatch is very uable. For a newly formed team like Napoli, the margin for error is extremely low. This requires the team to make very detailed preparations for the season and adjust their status accly.

  After the first three rounds of the Coppa Italia, the first round of Serie B only begins iember, with Napoli hosting Treviso, who had just been relegated from Serie A.

  A newly promoted team meeting a relegated team although it's a home game, the challenge is signifit, to say the least.

  Not to mention, in the first three rounds of the cup, it is entirely possible for Napoli to enter a strong Serie A team.

  Looking at the league schedule, Juventus, the top oppo in Gao Shen's eyes, is scheduled to be pyed at home in November.

  Retively speaking, there is still plenty of preparation time for the match against Juventus.

  In addition, Serie B has a winter break of more than 20 days from te December to mid-January, which is also a very important period for adjustments.

  However, if the team reaches the quarterfinals of the cup, the winter break will be three or four days shorter than for other teams.

  But for now, that's not worth sidering.

  ...

  From a teical and tactical point of view, Gao Shen's requirements are very clear: high pressing, rapid transitioween offense and defense.

  These demands pce high requirements on the pyers' physical fitness and their ability to work cohesively as a team.

  But Gao Shen also set even higher standards.

  He wants every pyer to run an average of han 10,000 meters in the new season.

  This number is truly staggering.

  Not only does Bueura feel the pressure, but Carlo and Borrell do as well.

  Currently, the mainstream running distances are not so extreme. If a pyer runs 10 kilometers, they are either a midfield defender or a full-back. Who else but Gao Shen would demand that the eeam, except the goalkeeper, run an average of 10 kilometers?

  For this number, Gao Shen is not making an aimless demand.

  "Zidaold me that as early as 1998, during the World Cup in France, pyers from many teams, including France, ran distances between 9 to 14 kilometers, with an average of about 10.5 kilometers."

  "Of course, we 't use World Cup data to benchmark league requirements, but I think it's a worthwhile reference. I eve that in the four years, the running data across European football will increase signifitly, and ten kilometers will no longer be rare."

  Even Bara, who are known for their running, have pyers (except the goalkeeper) runnihan 10 kilometers in a game. This is because they move as a unit. They seem to run a lot, but the actual running distance isn't that high.

  However, under Pep Guardio, there was more of that collective movement and longer distances, resulting in more and more passes.

  Pass the ball and run it out!

  This is a basic principle.

  Therefore, in the few years, teams' passing patterns will beore intricate, whereas current teams' passing patterns are sparse.

  To put it simply, it's all due to the running distance.

  Why does Gao Shen dare to make such a predi?

  Because defenses are being more meticulous.

  Football tactid teiques are stantly evolving upwards. When your defense bees meticulous to a certain level, you must find a way to ter it.

  How to do that?

  When you make your defense an imperable wall, I will create as muent as possible, with more running and more pulling, to create cracks in your wall.

  More importantly, my movement also effectively seize advantageous spaces, whether on offense or defense, which is beneficial.

  Cruyff once said: Fag offense on a ten-ne road is a failure of defense; fag offense in a narrow alley that allows only one person to pass is excellent defense.

  Sacchi once said something simir.

  They were all expressing the most fual truth: pressing is one of the most basic principles of football. pressing the spa the field is the key to winning, and pressing space requires running.

  Gao Shen is now veying this cept to the coag staff, and he will vey it to the pyers .

  After losing the ball, try to terpress immediately, while also pressing the oppo's attato a narrow alley that only allows one person to pass.

  Running is the foundation of everything.

  "This is a big trend. Only by adapting and doing our best to improve ourselves, improve the team, and enhahe level and quality of our training we ehat the team pys at its highest level och!"

  ...

  As a fan, Gao Shen did not uand the so-called rules thhly.

  But after being a head coach, especially after reading the books of various coaches iactical library, he found that rules are actually very important. Even a very subtle rule ge subvert existing tactics.

  For example, in 2005, FIFA made ges to the offside rule.

  Fans familiar with the 2005 World Youth Championship might remember the sed goal scored by a against Germany, where a German attag pyer was clearly in an offside position, but because he did not directly participate iack, and it was the pyer arriving from behind who formed a one-ouation, the goal was deemed valid.

  Before the rule ge in 2005, this would have been an offside offense.

  There is no doubt that this offside rule was made to ence attag py, but it disadvahe defending side. For all teams that use high pressing, it's simply subversive.

  Uhe inal offside rule, a team had to effectively trol an area of about 40 meters on the field, but with the new offside rule, this data expands to 60 meters.

  That is to say, a team that uses high pressing now has an effective trol area 20 meters rger than before.

  So, he is this area? How much more distance does this require the pyers to cover?

  Why does Guardio's Bara run so much?

  In addition to the need for passing and pulling, the more important reason is the o effectively trol a 60-meter area, so the oppo ot unch terattacks smoothly.

  This will also have another effect: more spa the midfield.

  With more space, physical tact between pyers is reduced, and teical midfielders gain more advaherefore, a midfield setup simir to Bara's Xavi-Ia-Busquets trio has more room to operate.

  At the same time, with more space, the old-fashioned 4-4-2 midfield setup no longer works because there is too much spa front and behind, making it unreasohus, formations like 4-2-3-1, 4-3-2-1, and 4-3-3, which further subdivide the midfield, have emerged.

  All of this is based on effective trol of a 60-meter area, which requires more running.

  ...

  Gao Shen expined his ideas very clearly to the core coag team, because they o implement these cepts into training and instill them in the pyers through training.

  A new era in European football has begun.

  A very important reason why Gao Shen did not use high pressing at Real Madrid was the ck of running ability among Real Madrid pyers.

  Ahat cks suffit running ability but blindly adopts high pressing will end up with a bae that gets torn apart.

  Therefore, if Napoli wants to implement a high-press defense effectively, the pyers must be capable of c the necessary distao trol a 60-meter area. This is the foundation for the team's successful defense.

  If this 't be achieved, Gao Shen won't even sider a high-press defense, and the entire approach will have to be reworked from the ground up.

  "Lorenzo, I believe you make this happen, and our pyers meet your requirements. Of course, this will require our full support in terms of training, facilities, diet, and other aspects," Gao Shen fidently enced.

  Everyone immediately looked at Bueura with sympathetic eyes.

  What be said?

  Gao Shen's demands are indeed very high.

  Among the six people present, probably only Gao Shen was truly vihat Bueura could pull it off.

  But that's because, in Gao Shen's experience, Bueura had do before and do exceptionally well.

  "Y me a new challenge every time, and eae is more difficult tha," Bueura replied with a bitter smile.

  Everyone ughed.

  Who could argue with that?

  When Gao Shen was coag Real Madrid, he had asked Bueura to adjust the team's fitness in just half a month. Now, the demands were even more extreme.

  But with a boss like this, what you do?

  It's also an opportunity to push oneself and improve.