Lin Hai Ting Tao

Chapter 257 Internal Conflicts (Eruption!)

"The boos won't disappear? Wishful thinking!"

This was a banner hanging outside Napoli's Volturno training base, a counterattack by Napoli fans against Chen Hero.

Just after the end of the last league match, Chen Hero said in a post-match interview that he would continue to score goals to make the Napoli fans stop booing him.

This was the response he received.

Napoli fans are clear about what they love and hate; they are not people who will forgive Chen Hero so easily. So they felt that Chen Hero thought he could buy them off with goals, which was just wishful thinking.

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The Chinese media cheered and jumped for joy after Chen Hero scored his first Serie A goal, instantly praising him to the skies. It was as if Chen Hero could completely get rid of his current predicament, hat-tricks, braces, and four-goal hauls would be as easy as pie for him, and he could complete them without any effort at all.

Some media outlets even went to great lengths to be sensational, saying things like, "When Chen Hero was high above, his hair and clothes fluttered in the wind amidst the boos of the Napoli fans. He shook his head and headed the football into the goal... At this moment, it seemed familiar, yet we hadn't seen it for a long time—the giant bear in Russia has awakened from its hibernation!"

But the truth is cruel; the truth told them that the giant bear had only woken up by chance during a long hibernation, and soon fell asleep again.

In the next match, an away game against Lazio, Chen Hero started, but did not score. In the seventy-second minute, he was replaced by Zalayeta.

But this time the media's focus was not on him, but on the conflict between Napoli fans and Lazio fans.

Lazio's extremist fan organization "Irriducibili" and Napoli's extremist fan organization "Napoli Ultras" clashed in the stands, throwing burning flares at each other and smashing seats over, while also burning each other's flags.

This conflict even interrupted the game for ten minutes before it could be restarted. A large number of police officers intervened and arrested many people before the game returned to normal.

Chen Hero did not score in this game, and neither did the entire Napoli team. They lost to Lazio in this chaotic match.

Their league ranking dropped to eighth, after being in fifth place before.

After that, Chen Hero's performance in Napoli was like a drowning man struggling to survive in the water. He would pop up from time to time, and then sink again, splashing water everywhere, making the Chinese fans and media who cared about him anxious.

On October 23, in Napoli's first UEFA Cup group match, Chen Hero still started, but still failed to score. Napoli drew 0:0 with Hertha Berlin in the away game.

But in the ninth round of the league on October 29, in the match where Napoli defeated Reggina 3:0 at home, Chen Hero scored a goal, heading the ball into the net again from a corner kick. He scored his second league goal of the season.

After the game, some media commented that Chen Hero seemed to be playing a "tug-of-war game" with Reja. Whenever Reja planned to give up on him, he would use a goal to regain his position. After all, Chen Hero was a player bought by the club owner himself. As long as he could still score goals, Reja could not find a reason to put him on the bench...

And when he scored, everyone started cheering for his recovery, but he lost his shooting accuracy again.

Unstable form was the best summary of Chen Hero's performance during this period.

Perhaps the half-season in Russia was too crazy. Some media have already complained that Advocaat had fully exploited Chen Hero's remaining value, making him play on two fronts and starting almost every game. Chen Hero's form was crazy, but after the madness came exhaustion... He left his crazy form at Zenit Saint Petersburg, but brought his exhausted body to Napoli, so it would be a miracle if he could be in good shape.

On November 2, Napoli challenged AC Milan away. Chen Hero started and was replaced after seventy-five minutes. His form, along with the entire team, fell into a slump. The midfield core Hamsik was suspended because he received a strange red card in the last game against Reggina. Napoli, who lost their core and had no form, failed to score a goal and lost 0:1 away.

In the UEFA Cup, Napoli lost 0:2 to Galatasaray at home, and their chances of qualifying were in jeopardy.

Back in the league, Napoli lost 1:3 to Atalanta away. Lavezzi helped the team score a goal, but it was of no avail. Chen Hero was on the roster for this game, but did not play. Reja's reason was still rotation.

Just when everyone thought Chen Hero's form had fallen into a slump again, he suddenly broke out unexpectedly. On November 23, in the thirteenth round of the league, Napoli played against Cagliari at home. The score of this game was a 2:2 draw, and Napoli's performance still did not improve, but Chen Hero's performance was very good—he scored twice in the game!

Of course, both of these goals were scored from set pieces. But everyone didn't care how he scored them, as long as he scored.

Chen Hero was still not as tacit as Lavezzi and others in terms of teamwork, but he still wanted to score goals, so what should he do? Set pieces were his only way. In set pieces, Reja arranged for him to be the main attacker, so he could only try his best to seize every opportunity of set pieces to fight for his own interests and status.

A very strange situation appeared in Napoli—Lavezzi scored goals in open play, while Chen Hero repeatedly used set pieces to score headers.

Chen Hero still hasn't integrated into Napoli's tactical system, he doesn't integrate at all. He just wants to use goals to demonstrate to the coach, see who you choose!

For Reja, this is really a very distressing thing.

Lavezzi is Napoli's star player, known as "Maradona II", and has a more tacit understanding with his teammates, and the team's tactics are all related to him. But at the same time, Chen Hero suddenly found his form and scored twice, and also showed an aggressive trend.

Logically speaking, it is a good thing for a coach if both forwards can score goals. But unfortunately, Lavezzi and Chen Hero's relationship is not very good, and the two almost never communicate on the field. At first, Lavezzi didn't pass the ball to Chen Hero, and later Chen Hero didn't pass the ball to Lavezzi either. When the ball reached their feet, they would shoot, break through, or pass to a teammate, but they wouldn't pass to each other, even if they were close at hand.

This contradiction is obvious to everyone. The Italian media also reported the news of the contradiction in Napoli's locker room. They said that Chen Hero and the Argentine gang didn't talk at all in the locker room and had no communication. They treated each other as if they were air.

The Argentine gang is not just Argentinians. In addition to two Argentine players, there is also a Uruguayan, Gargano. They all hate Chen Hero because of Chen Hero's remarks about Maradona—they are all fanatical believers of Maradona.

Chen Hero is someone who doesn't respond well to threats, so since the Argentine gang wants to be against him to the end, he will not back down either. During this time, Chen Hero rented a house, moved, and invited his teammates to visit, but he didn't invite Lavezzi, Navarro, and Gargano.

They don't like Chen Hero, and Chen Hero doesn't need to offer his warm face to someone's cold backside.

However, in this locker room "war", Chen Hero is generally at a disadvantage. After all, Lavezzi has the support of his Argentine compatriot Navarro and teammate Gargano. Moreover, he came to the team a season earlier than Chen Hero, and his network of relationships here is more stable than Chen Hero's.

Hamsik, as the team's number one star and main core player, has a decent relationship with Chen Hero. But in this matter, he can only remain neutral. After all, he also has a good relationship with Lavezzi, and it would be inappropriate to help one and not the other.

He can only take the initiative to hug Chen Hero after he scores a goal. But the people from the Argentine gang will not go up to hug and celebrate with Chen Hero after he scores a goal.

This kind of locker room conflict will naturally affect the team's performance on the field. Although both sides may not be willing to cause such a result subjectively, the objective fact is that a team that is not united internally cannot expect any combat effectiveness. This has happened in many teams, and even those giants cannot avoid it. During the years when the internal factions of Real Madrid were constantly fighting, their performance plummeted. When Barcelona had infighting, their territory was also handed over. Inter Milan also has factions such as the "Argentine Gang", "Brazilian Gang", and "Italian Gang". Even a club like AC Milan, which gives the outside world the image of a big family, has internal conflicts. Isn't Kaka jokingly called AC Milan's new football bully?

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On November 27, Napoli ushered in their third game in the UEFA Cup group stage. They challenged the Greek team Olympiacos away.

Because Napoli had previously had one draw and one loss, their chances of qualifying were in jeopardy, so they had to win this game away to keep their hopes of qualifying for the group stage.

Olympiacos is not a strong team—at least in the eyes of Napoli fans, a victory can be expected.

Reja also realized the impact of the team's internal conflicts on their performance, so in order to be safe, he didn't even bring Chen Hero to the away game. In his opinion, even if Chen Hero had just scored twice in the league, he was still an unstable factor in the team and would only intensify the conflict.

In such an important game, in order to be safe, let him stay in Napoli...

The reason is of course still—"We need to rotate."

In addition to Chen Hero, Reja sent the strongest lineup he could send to challenge Olympiacos.

As a result, this game was not what the Napoli people expected from the first minute.

They fell behind in the first minute.

They were two goals behind in the sixteenth minute.

They were already three goals behind in the twenty-third minute.

Although central defender and captain Paolo Cannavaro headed in a goal from a corner kick in the thirty-second minute, pulling one back. But ten minutes later, Olympiacos scored another goal, 4:1!

The suspense of the game has been completely killed.

After losing this game, Napoli has one last game left. With only one point, they have basically said goodbye to the knockout stage of the UEFA Cup in advance.

And all of this has nothing to do with Chen Hero...

While his teammates were suffering a crushing defeat in Piraeus, Greece, he was sweating profusely in the dungeon. He was almost level thirty-one, and he would soon be able to get another talent point.

For this reason, he was full of energy.

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ps, I forgot to say, Chapter 24 is the guaranteed second update~

I wish everyone a happy reading, later, Chapter 26 will be presented.

In addition, Chen Hero's depressed days are coming to an end...